Key Takeaways
- The BlackberryPi Handheld is a pocket PC project by Taylor Hay.
- The device is built using a Raspberry Pi 4, HyperPixel display, and 10,000mAh battery.
- Hay also opted to use a Blackberry Q10 keyboard and trackpad.
If you’ve ever been curious about building your own computing project, SBCs are the way to go. These boards are affordable, powerful, and versatile — and there are also a wealth of projects out there that are ready to be tackled. But if you’re still on the fence about building something of your own, and just want to read about an interesting one instead, take a look at this BlackberryPi Handheld.
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The project was built by Taylor Hay, and combines some interesting parts to form a fully functional Linux-powered PC. Hay has the project listed on Hackadaywhich was then picked up by Hacksterand as you can see, it’s quite compact, and almost resembles an over-sized Game Boy.
A little new, mixed with a bit of old
When it comes to the components, a majority of the parts come off the shelf, which makes this a relatively easier project to tackle if you’re looking to build one of your own. The device is powered by a Raspberry Pi 4 with 8GB RAM, and also makes use of a HyperPixel display and 10,000mAh battery.
What makes this build fascinating is that it also makes use of an ancient Blackberry Q10 keyboard with trackpad. The Blackberry Q10 was first released over a decade ago, and as far as keyboard hardware goes, Blackberry made some of the best ones for mobile devices. So, it totally makes sense to slap a Blackberry keyboard onto a mobile device like this.
As for the outer shell, it was 3D printed, and as you can see, it is a bit thick. But with this increased space, it can house a large battery, which can provide long hours of use. As far as the OS, Hay installed Kali Linux and for the most part, this is a super clean project if you want to build a pocket PC of your own. There’s little soldering involved by the directions are clear and should be easy to do.
So if you want to give this a try be sure to check out the Hackaday page to get the full details. And of course, if you’re not quite ready, there are plenty of other SBC projects to tackle too.