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I ditched my laptop for a pocketable mini PC and a pair of AR glasses — here’s what happened
(www.tomsguide.com)
this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2025
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"My whole desk setup now easily fits into a backpack and I can take it anywhere"
Man, I guess I've been fooled using laptops this entire time. IM SO STUPID
He addresses this by saying a laptop doesn't allow you to replace components, doesn't have mechanical keyboard and there's no ultra wide support.
The funny thing is, this device he's using doesn't allow you to replace components either. And there are 21:9 laptops and mechanical keyboards available.
Seemed like he's trying to reverse-engineer his way into justifying a use case for it, but just failed.
I read that as well, and it addresses none of that. Also, you can replace components on a lot of laptops, and ALL components on a Framework. This is why they are so sought after.
Whoever wrote this is making a bad faith argument and throwing an ignorant assertion out to serve a specific purpose, which...is not stated 🤣
Yeah, you can swap more on a framework laptop than the mini PC he's using.
However glasses, a mini PC, keyboard and battery is smaller than a laptop. Using whatever keyboard you want instead of what came with the laptop for forever is also nice.
It relaxes the X and Y dimensions
no screen. But it might take up more volume, depending upon the configuration. Like, laptops use flat keycaps and scissor switch keys to save space. He's using a keyboard with traditional, full-height keys and regular keyswitches. That alone is a not insignificant amount of volume.
EDIT: I have a split-ergo keyboard with standard full-size keyswitches that fits into a folding case, one half on each side. If I were going to carry an external mechanical key keyboard with a portable PC, that's probably what I'd use. Split ergo keyboards are expensive, though, so not as cost-effective as a standard one-piece mechanical key keyboard. [email protected]
Ha! I have mechanical keyboards subbed and split keyboards subbed. Didn't know of ergomechkeyboards. Thanks!
I mean if it did multiple virtual monitors the way vr headsets can I could see this being worth it...
Yeah they make laptop monitors but no ones gonna carry two 24" panels and a 30" ultrawide in their pocket.
It might be able to do that.
From memory, those Xreal glasses have this optional doohickey called a Beam that you can plug them into. If you have that, it can "project" a monitor into reality, not have it move with your head. So they can do the projection bit. Like, they aren't just dumb HMDs that throw an image in front of your eyes. They're AR, so like VR goggles, they do headtracking and such, but they're intended to have you view a mix of the real world and the virtual projected elements.
The problem is that if you're rendering a virtual image of a screen on a screen, you need to have the physical screen be significantly-higher-resolution to look right
you have to throw away some of your resolution on this. True of VR or AR googles. I'd think that the first practical monitor replacement HMD is gonna avoid doing any 3D projection of virtual monitors.
EDIT: Yeah, those goggles can do it:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Xreal/comments/182wwxb/can_i_use_3_virtual_monitors_and_2_physical/
Oh no I'm aware of the resolution limitations as a first gen vive owner. That being said from what I've heard some of the newer high DPI devices handle this a lot better.
It'll be a while but I think it will eventually have a practical use case as a portable workstation monitor.
I mean, you can get higher-resolution ones, but they aren't as high resolution as even the monitors that you'd virtualize. Like:
First, the guy is using glasses that are really designed for augmented reality, not as a monitor replacement. They're not optimizing for this use case.
We aren't yet at the point where traditional displays are really even maxed out in terms of usable resolution, and as things stand, HMDs have lower resolution.
If someone wants that "virtual projection" thing, HMDs have to be even higher-resolution than that.
One good thing about these AR goggles compared to trying to use VR goggles for this is that the AR goggles are spending the physical pixels they do display in the center of your visual field, as opposed to way off in the periphery. VR goggles need to have a really high field of view to provide immersiveness and let you see things in the corner of your eye, but for working with text and such, monitor replacement hardware only really needs to put something in the visual arc that you'd actually be viewing a regular monitor in, in the center of your field of vision, a smaller arc. So repurposing these for a desktop replacement is at least using the pixels that are physically-displayed more-efficiently than VR goggles would. That is, the XReal goggles here are at least closer to being optimized to be a "monitor replacement" HMD than VR goggles would be.
Here, follow this affiliate link to this overpriced portable machine.
You're not wrong but this is a distinctly different experience. Some these AR glasses allow you to have multiple giant virtual displays instead of the tiny ~14 inch one. Hence the reference to a "desk setup".
Although I would argue that it would make more sense just to plug the glasses into a laptop.
But also you can use your preferred keyboard and mouse (with more space for the mouse).
The point is that this is a fake assertion to push a product.
Whats a fake assertion? This thing doesn't need to completely revolutionize the industry or replace existing products completely to be viable and useful for some. I personally think it's a neat idea even though I have zero use for a portable device outside of my phone. I seriously can't comprehend why people seem to be getting outraged in the comments here over something that has zero effect on them or their life whether it exists or not.
Lemmy lately has been on an outrage fest it’s getting kind of exhausting. Topics in just about everything I follow are almost all outrage with out critical thinking.
Yeah, I don't get that either. I assume that they're thinking that the author must be trying to sell the glasses or something.
I've written numerous comments before talking about the challenges and pitfalls of building almost identical portable mini PC systems on here, and people didn't downvote those. And most of the outraged comments in this thread seem to be asserting that it must be some kind of paid promotion.
Hell, I've talked about these same Xreal glasses, among other HMDs.
I can work at my desk using only my laptop. Do I want to, and is it my actual setup? No, and no. My laptop is plugged into my ultra wide screen, my mechanical keyboard and my mouse. That's what he meant, and that's what I found interesting.
How is it fake?