UMPC Version Idea: PINEPALM PRO

[gareththefab]

I would be interested in such a thing for travel. Especially if it had a cell modem!

[letarg]

I would be interested in such a thing for travel. Especially if it had a cell modem!

cell modem, and RJ-45 and old phone RJ-11 (land line) is possible in one usb-c cable. 4 device (irda too) on one cable connect when are neded

I rather thinking about https://twitter.com/pwavrobot/status/117...0070645760

[Pinitus]

Superinterested.

Maybe you can also add the 13MP as a back camera, as the Caos Communicator.

This is a great idea.

[Pinitus]

I want to buy 5 now

[Hackberry]

"Would you buy it?"

Yes, without hesitation.

"Do you like pocketable UMPCs with a clamshell form factor and keyboard?"

YES ! If it's totally usable with both thumbs, keyboard and mouse, while standing : the DragonBox Pyra allow to use the mouse with its nubs for example while the GPD MicroPC has a touchpad. That's not possible with a Pinetab or Pinephone even with an attached keyboard.

I'm very interested by a Pine64 UMPC if it's a reparable device built for durability and not a disposable one after 3 years of use. It could be available with a UMPC with whom users accept it to be a bit thicker than smartphone/tablet allowing it to be reparable.

[oaklarch]

I some vague ideas about hacking a Pinebook Pro into a smaller form factor. I don't own one (yet) but as far as I see 1) it's in the same form-factor as several other smaller laptops/chromebooks and b) it uses a common 30 pin eDP connector (please correct me if I'm wrong). There are three options (mind you, possible options):

1. There are eDP to LVDS/ eDP to MIPI adapters used for NanoPC T4 and LattePanda Alpha respectively. Both come with their own 7" panels but:

* in case of the T4 the output is a very common 40 pin LVDS able to plug *any* lcd of any size and resolution (as the controller reads the info from the onboard EDID chip). The problem is the eDP in. Out of all the pinouts on their board they used the most obscure 30 pin 4 lane one (afaik only a couple of Macbook Retina panels have it). I'm trying a dumb 2-lane adapter right now, hopefully I'll get some results.

* nothing can be done in case of the LattePanda's one, as not only MIPI is a closed standard but they can even make pinouts differ between the revisions of identical LCD panels. I suspect at this point they make it out of spite. And I seriously wish every member of the MIPI consortium could only use a single toilet bowl on Earth unique to them and none else. On the plus side, the LattePanda one's eDP pinout is the same 30 pin/2 lane.

2. The smallest native eDP panel I know of is a 9" VVX09F035M10/M20 by Panasonic. The funny thing is, its pinout seems also incompatible. How. How did they fudge the most common pinout. How. I've just got mine for inhumane experiments so I'll try figuring out the actual pinout (couldn't find any datasheets on this one).

If at least one of these options gives any positive results the rest is purely technical (PBP's motherboard is small enough, while the battery is a rather simple 5volts +/-/thermistor one, there are smaller compatible ones that can be salvaged).

With all this I have a question to Pine64 folks: is it possible to buy just a motherboard+side board combo (the spare parts section only has the motherboard)? Thanks in advance.

[oaklarch]

...

1. There are eDP to LVDS/ eDP to MIPI adapters used for NanoPC T4 and LattePanda Alpha respectively. Both come with their own 7" panels but:

* in case of the T4 the output is a very common 40 pin LVDS able to plug *any* lcd of any size and resolution (as the controller reads the info from the onboard EDID chip). The problem is the eDP in. Out of all the pinouts on their board they used the most obscure 30 pin 4 lane one (afaik only a couple of Macbook Retina panels have it). I'm trying a dumb 2-lane adapter right now, hopefully I'll get some results.

* nothing can be done in case of the LattePanda's one, as not only MIPI is a closed standard but they can even make pinouts differ between the revisions of identical LCD panels. I suspect at this point they make it out of spite. And I seriously wish every member of the MIPI consortium could only use a single toilet bowl on Earth unique to them and none else. On the plus side, the LattePanda one's eDP pinout is the same 30 pin/2 lane.

2. The smallest native eDP panel I know of is a 9" VVX09F035M10/M20 by Panasonic. The funny thing is, its pinout seems also incompatible. How. How did they fudge the most common pinout. How. I've just got mine for inhumane experiments so I'll try figuring out the actual pinout (couldn't find any datasheets on this one).

In case anyone's interested here's the follow-up.

Option 2 failed as it seems Panasonic LCD requires either additional initialization sequence or configuration on the eDP chip's part. 

For option 1, T4 lcd also failed (seems like more than a simple pcb converter is needed).

Surprisingly, LattePanda's eDP display works as expected on all my eDP laptops/convertibles I've tried it with. Moreover it's an eDP to LVDS, not eDP to MIPI as I previously thought. The converter in question is PS8625 by Parade Technologies while T4's one uses NXP's PTN3460.

That being said, would it be feasible to make such a converter as a standalone circuit for sale at the Pine Store? Both chips can read EDID info from the LCD so no need to hardwire a specific panel either. And there's quite a lot 7-10" LVDS panels out there either less than 25-30 dollars new or dirt-cheap if salvaged from dead tablets.

[XanderL]

If it had an MX5 formfactor with current specs I would be interested.