Linglong, a Chinese PC maker, has revealed its foldable keyboard PC. While not a new concept, it’s packed with the latest from AMD. Housing an 8840U, this puts the keyboard PC pretty much in line with handhelds like the Ayaneo 2S.
Equipped with either 16 or 32GB of RAM, the Linglong keyboard PC can also take a 2230-sized NVMe SSD (like many mini PCs, handhelds, and laptops).
Linglong is planning to offer 512GB or 1TB options. It’s also got two USB-C ports and a USB Type-A. It’ll accept a 100W GaN charger and has a 16,000 mAh battery, providing 60-watt hours. For controlling it, next to the space bar is a small touchpad.
Weirdly, during the presentation on BiliBili, the host mentioned that rather than providing a screen, it’s recommended you use AR glasses. This would keep the device super portable, and provide a much bigger workspace than traditional monitors.
All of this comes at the cost of around $412 or $495 for the fully fleshed version. However, don’t expect to rush to order one. According to Tom’s Hardware, there are only around 200 being made for testing at the moment.
The 8840U inside is the next step up from PC manufacturers’ current favored APU, the 7840U. We’ve put the chip and its adjacent cousin, the Z1 Extreme, through its paces already, and for low to mid-range gaming, it’s almost perfect.
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While nearly identical in power, the 8840U and its brethren are more capable at AI tasks thanks to the added NPU (Neural Processing Unit).
PCs that are buried inside a keyboard aren’t a new concept. Commodore, Atari, and plenty of others managed to get personal computers in the home through the design ethos in the 80s.
The all-in-one tactic also hit Raspberry Pi, as the Pi 400 encases a custom Pi 4 into a tinker’s all-in-one.
Linglong’s seems to be the next step in this bizarre PC evolutionary chain, offering a powerful mini-PC in a super portable form factor. There’s no information on a full release.