The PalmPirate is an ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), also known as a palmtop. These were popular in the 90s, but have basically disappeared. I needed one for my work, and being unable to find anything suitable on Amazon, I decided to make it myself!

SPECS:

• 1.5 GHz quad-core CPU
• 4 GB RAM
• 5" capacitive touch screen (800x600)
• 32 GB solid state drive
• Full QWERTY keyboard + touchpad
• Supports Raspian, Kali Linux, Windows 10, and many other OSes

The name "PalmPirate" is a play on words -- a reference to the now-defunct PDA known as the PalmPilot.

All CAD work is original, however I was inspired by Adafruit's beautiful Mini Raspberry Pi Handheld Notebook, so I must give Limor Fried et al mad props for beating me to the punch! I like her version very much. However, for general computing I knew I needed a larger screen, so I opted for a 5" instead of 3.5". Her version also used a Pi 2, whereas the Pi 4 is significantly faster. IMHO, it's the first Pi to be competitive with a commercial laptop in terms of specs and capabilities.

I designed this palmtop for coding and financial analysis work, but it is capable of doing most anything a commercial laptop can do, including:

• Web browsing
• Email
• Social media
• Light gaming (I did manage to get Quake to run at full speed!)
• Watching YouTube videos
• Software development (C, Octave, Python, Java, Processing, Arduino C)
• CAD design
• Hacking Pentesting (penetration testing)

My FDM printer is at my other house (in other state!), so I had to use my SLA resin printer. I know... first world problems, right?? As a result, the build volume wasn't large enough to print the top and bottom pieces, so I designed it to print in sections and bolt together. When I get back to my other house, I'll publish a version for larger machines (eg LulzBot Taz) that doesn't print in sections.

LICENSE

I have decided to make the PalmPirate project OPEN SOURCE! These files are hereby released under a Creative Commons: Attribution license. Basically, do whatever you like with it, so long as you give me credit for designing it.

BUY IT NOW!

Would you like me to build you a PalmPirate? That can be arranged! My email address is PeteLaric at protonmail dot com, and I accept both PayPal (all major credit/debit cards), and bitcoin, with the latter being preferred.

If there is sufficient interest, I may launch a crowdfunding campaign for the project. Please let me know if you think this is a good idea!

Cheers!
~ Pete

DONATIONS

Donations are always welcome and greatly appreciated!

Bitcoin: 1EExevPZkgjoRFEbQzTFLpAoyDpwAdeQXw