Scroll down to the price before you think this is another overpriced over hyped device. And it may be. I have not fully analyzed it. But... "Starts at $200". With a simple screen and a keyboard this could not only be a viable in vehicle system, but a go anywhere system. How close to a laptop it is - more tech knowledgeable folks will have to answer that?
"Photonicat 2 is an open source mini PC, router, NAS, and a UPS with 5G support and a 24-hour battery — just grab it and go."
The entire thing is open source too.
It's kind of like being able to take your in car android head unit or in car computer with you whereever you go. I like this better than any in car solution. We would be so much better off with a laptop that could also power our cars audio system. As you would then have a viable computer to take with you as well.
I have tried two different mini PCs and was not impressed. But I suspect this is much better engineered.
I'm all about multi purpose, take anywhere, devices these days. Battery power station (portable) vs in car dual battery system (stationary). Software based radio scanner vs stand alone radio scanner. (That's just off the top of my head at the moment. But I think about multipurpose alot more than I used to. Especially when applied to larger more expensive systems. But it obviously applies to everything. What's the most flexible? Makes it to the top of my want list in any given solution.)
https://www.hackster.io/news/the-ultimate-digital-survival-tool-for-modern-travelers-1fae694b5ff3#webview=1
Screenshot_20260111_153238_Chrome.jpgScreenshot_20260111_153226_Chrome.jpg
Okay, I'm sure the average person would do just fine with this, but
@12_Gauge_Chimp will attest to just how much tech I travel with, and I even left two backpacks and a third laptop home on my last trip.!
I'm one of those, "if it ain't got a terabyte of storage and 64GB of RAM, it's not a REAL computer" kinda nerds.
Quote from: NT2C on January 12, 2026, 06:15:39 PMOkay, I'm sure the average person would do just fine with this, but @12_Gauge_Chimp will attest to just how much tech I travel with, and I even left two backpacks and a third laptop home on my last trip.!
I'm one of those, "if it ain't got a terabyte of storage and 64GB of RAM, it's not a REAL computer" kinda nerds.
I can indeed attest to that.
I think about half of the luggage cart at the hotel on our trip was just tech stuff.
Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on January 12, 2026, 06:23:11 PMQuote from: NT2C on January 12, 2026, 06:15:39 PMOkay, I'm sure the average person would do just fine with this, but @12_Gauge_Chimp will attest to just how much tech I travel with, and I even left two backpacks and a third laptop home on my last trip.!
I'm one of those, "if it ain't got a terabyte of storage and 64GB of RAM, it's not a REAL computer" kinda nerds.
I can indeed attest to that.
I think about half of the luggage cart at the hotel on our trip was just tech stuff.
I mean, when you have a Pelican case for just your keyboard, your "Geek Badge" is firmly in place.
Quote from: NT2C on January 12, 2026, 07:12:40 PMQuote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on January 12, 2026, 06:23:11 PMQuote from: NT2C on January 12, 2026, 06:15:39 PMOkay, I'm sure the average person would do just fine with this, but @12_Gauge_Chimp will attest to just how much tech I travel with, and I even left two backpacks and a third laptop home on my last trip.!
I'm one of those, "if it ain't got a terabyte of storage and 64GB of RAM, it's not a REAL computer" kinda nerds.
I can indeed attest to that.
I think about half of the luggage cart at the hotel on our trip was just tech stuff.
I mean, when you have a Pelican case for just your keyboard, your "Geek Badge" is firmly in place.
That's a very good point. :smiley_clap:
Quote from: NT2C on January 12, 2026, 06:15:39 PMOkay, I'm sure the average person would do just fine with this, but @12_Gauge_Chimp will attest to just how much tech I travel with, and I even left two backpacks and a third laptop home on my last trip.!
I'm one of those, "if it ain't got a terabyte of storage and 64GB of RAM, it's not a REAL computer" kinda nerds.
I believe you. And you're one of the ones I wanted to hear from about this. Whats your evaluation?
I used to have a little sweet set up for doing reports in the field while on surveillance. In fact I recently came across an old file. And couldn't figure out what it was. It was from my old Palm Pilot from back in the day. Lol. All I used it for was writing reports. I had it and a small portable keyboard. It was a godsend at the time. Because full keyboard phones had not come out yet. And I was still writing with qwerty only. You'd have to make audio recordings with a cassette recorder. Or make handwritten notes. Being able to type digital notes with a tiny portable Palm Pilot and keyboard was the height of tech. Lol.
Quote from: Moab on January 12, 2026, 09:26:56 PMQuote from: NT2C on January 12, 2026, 06:15:39 PMOkay, I'm sure the average person would do just fine with this, but @12_Gauge_Chimp will attest to just how much tech I travel with, and I even left two backpacks and a third laptop home on my last trip.!
I'm one of those, "if it ain't got a terabyte of storage and 64GB of RAM, it's not a REAL computer" kinda nerds.
I believe you. And you're one of the ones I wanted to hear from about this. Whats your evaluation?
I'm not seeing that it really does anything that a used Toughbook can't. I'm also cautious about all-in-one type devices. My experience is that they don't do any of their functions as well as a standalone device can. There's also the "single point of failure" aspect to consider, though a laptop shares that issue.