Recently I had an opportunity to bring my Pi 400 on a trip to visit relatives in their home, and paired with the official 15.6" monitor, I felt I had my ideal laptop replacement - modular, pi-oriented, and no reliance on proprietary batteries.
The experience was adequate, but disappointing enough to have me reconsidering getting a real laptop again.
First area of disappointment was managing the cables. Now, while it's nice to have the cut-out in the bottom center of the official monitor, it takes some positioning, threading, placement, etc., to get the cables connected and neatly threaded through there, and yet avoid having the "kickstand" rest on the cables coming from the front. What's more, the cables are sufficiently stiff/inflexible that every connector feels like it's getting an undue amount of torque (perhaps I sell them short and this feeling is unwarranted). WIth the traditional Pi form factor, it's often hard to get the SBC (cased or bumpered) to lay flat on the desktop due to its lightweight versus the stiffness or cordage going into it (which is often "naturally" giving the SBC connectors some torque).
Second area of disappointment was the inflexiblity of location. Not that I expected to sit on the couch with this setup, but power cable lengths are such that you're not likely to have it at the kitchen table or counter, and even if it reaches, you have that bunch of cords behind the monitor.
Before the official monitor came out, if I traveled with the Pi, I relied upon finding at my destination (hotel room or home) a television with HDMI input. I could connect a Pi to that near where the TV plugged in, and (if necessary) use a wireless KB/trackpad like the Logitech k400r for input. Because there was always the chance that no such TV would be there, I was thrilled when the Pi monitor came out. I suppose it could still be brought, but only deployed when no suitable TV is at the destination.
Although I did realize in advance the potential downsides/annoyances of such a modular setup, I think I dismissed them (to myself) a bit too easily. I didn't predict well how I'd feel about dealing with them. So while I really like the official Pi monitor, I'm not that enamoured of using it as part of a Pi-oriented laptop substitute.
I'm curious to hear what others (who have tried such a setup) feel about its practicality serving in this kind of "travel monitor" role.
The experience was adequate, but disappointing enough to have me reconsidering getting a real laptop again.
First area of disappointment was managing the cables. Now, while it's nice to have the cut-out in the bottom center of the official monitor, it takes some positioning, threading, placement, etc., to get the cables connected and neatly threaded through there, and yet avoid having the "kickstand" rest on the cables coming from the front. What's more, the cables are sufficiently stiff/inflexible that every connector feels like it's getting an undue amount of torque (perhaps I sell them short and this feeling is unwarranted). WIth the traditional Pi form factor, it's often hard to get the SBC (cased or bumpered) to lay flat on the desktop due to its lightweight versus the stiffness or cordage going into it (which is often "naturally" giving the SBC connectors some torque).
Second area of disappointment was the inflexiblity of location. Not that I expected to sit on the couch with this setup, but power cable lengths are such that you're not likely to have it at the kitchen table or counter, and even if it reaches, you have that bunch of cords behind the monitor.
Before the official monitor came out, if I traveled with the Pi, I relied upon finding at my destination (hotel room or home) a television with HDMI input. I could connect a Pi to that near where the TV plugged in, and (if necessary) use a wireless KB/trackpad like the Logitech k400r for input. Because there was always the chance that no such TV would be there, I was thrilled when the Pi monitor came out. I suppose it could still be brought, but only deployed when no suitable TV is at the destination.
Although I did realize in advance the potential downsides/annoyances of such a modular setup, I think I dismissed them (to myself) a bit too easily. I didn't predict well how I'd feel about dealing with them. So while I really like the official Pi monitor, I'm not that enamoured of using it as part of a Pi-oriented laptop substitute.
I'm curious to hear what others (who have tried such a setup) feel about its practicality serving in this kind of "travel monitor" role.
Statistics: Posted by cspan — Sun Apr 13, 2025 9:31 pm — Replies 1 — Views 64