(Solved) I would like a small laptop to use to log medical data (Weight, Blood Pressure, etc) as I gather it. I need it to be small like 10’. it can be low power because I will probably use it only CLI, no GUI, but I need it to be inexpensive. ARM-based is ok, as long as I can SSH into my desktop machine.
If you are doing this in any kind of clinical environment it would be better to look first at the ability for the device to be cleaned or disinfected effectively and regulations around that in your area.
Favor fanless devices with as few ports as possible. I don’t know if there’s anything out there in a tablet form factor that only does wireless charging and has no usb/headphone/whatever, but that’s what you want.
I wonder if the steam deck will work for you. Its sacrifice of physical keyboard for portability will probably be the deal breaking issue if I were to guess, but not sure. I’ve seen plenty of people use them as computers for various field projects not game related. It’s cheapest is 350 if you don’t need a lot storage on the device and the storage is upgradeable. It’s compatible with normal USB c hubs for if you do need a physical keyboard or w/e. There are definitely some hangups that may make it undesirable and from what you described some of them are definitely possible, ie if you want to pull it out in the field and do a lot of typing without setting up a dock and whatnot, it won’t work for your needs. But if the fieldwork with it is mostly just start a program and connect a USB data source, and most typing will be somewhere with a desk (home office or w/e) then it may work.
I was personally looking for a Linux compatible laptop a while back (admittedly I asked the wrong community), and eventually came to the conclusion that my wife’s steam deck was actually a great solution for my needs, the main times I needed a keyboard I could just setup a simple dock and plug one it (though if you get a USBC or Bluetooth keyboard the only use for the dock is for holding it upright or additional peripherals), and most of my on the go use of it doesn’t need a lot of typing.
Use Termux, you need:
- Android Tablet/Smartphone.
- Bluetooth keyboard.
- Cheap stand 4 device.
That’s my setup to play tabletop rpg (DND5E) for a couple of years, all CLI using any text editor you like with markdown. I use: tmux, vis.
In your case: SC-IM, visidata, any text editor.
With Termux you can use packages from repo or from other distros with proot-distro, like: Alpine, Avoid, Debian, Arch, Fedora, Ubuntu.
In that case, if it’s just CLI, you don’t need a new computer. Use your phone or tablet to ssh inside your main Linux computer.
old netbook HP mini 210 it’s exactly 10’
