Category: handhelds hacks

In the decade or more since small inexpensive Linux-capable single board computers such as the Raspberry Pi came to the mainstream, many a hardware hacker has turned their attention to making a portable computer using one. With such a plethora of devices having been made one might think that the Pi handheld was a done […]
[Abe] wanted the perfect portable computer. He has a DevTerm, but it didn’t quite fit his needs. This is Hackaday after all, so he loaded up his favorite CAD software and started designing. The obvious choice here would be a Raspberry Pi. But [Abe] didn’t want to drop in a Linux computer — he was […]
With today’s technology, emulating video game consoles from the 90s or before is trivial. A Raspberry Pi and a controller of some sort is perhaps the easiest and simplest way to go to get this job done, but to really impress the masses some extra effort is required. This handheld from [Eli] called the Game […]
The ESP32 family are the microcontrollers which just keep on giving, as new versions keep them up-to-date and plenty of hackers come up with new things for them. A popular device is a general purpose computer with a QWERTY keypad, and the latest of many we’ve seen comes from [StabbyJack]. It’s a credit card sized […]
A few weeks ago we brought you news of a new palmtop computer for hackers, powered by the new Espressif ESP32-P4 application processor. The Tanmatsu (Japanese for “Terminal”) is a compact handheld device with a QWERTY keyboard and an 800×480 DSI display, and while it currently exists at the final prototype stage there is a […]
What do you do with a circa 1985 Casio FX-451 calculator with a bad keyboard? Well, if you are [Poking Technology], you transplant the inside of the calculator to a new custom keyboard. There are two videos that cover the process in detail, which you can watch below. The calculator has a unique design. It […]
Handhelds are designed to be portable, but what if you need something smaller than OEM? The Steam Brick pulls basically everything off of a Steam Deck to make it as portable as possible. [crastinator-pro] found they rarely used the controller or screen on their Steam Deck, and the form factor was too bulky to conveniently […]
If you’re into handheld gaming, you’ve got a wide array of hardware options to choose from these days that are capable of running everything from console classics to full-fledged PC titles. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t enterprising gamers out there who are still building their own custom handhelds —  like the Retro Lite CM5. […]
The ESP32 series of microcontrollers have been with us for quite a few years now and appeared in both Tensilica and RISC-V variants, both of which deliver an inexpensive and powerful device. It’s thus shown up in quite a few handheld computers, whether they be conference badges or standalone devices, and this is definitely a […]
Despite initial interest in the 1990s and early 2000s, palmtop computers never really took off. Realistically most consumers were probably satisfied enough with smartphones as they became more widely available, but those of us who would prefer a real keyboard on our mobile devices are still feeling the pain. Today there are still a few […]