Ready, Aye, Ready

Link: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/03/26/all_in_one_pc_cybernet/

Self-contained PCs built into a keyboard have been going around for a while and, to be honest, I've never understood the appeal. While the description of "Amiga-like" is fair, given the design of the A500/A600/A1200, these are just under-powered PCs in small housings. There's nothing innovative or particularly interesting about them.

Beyond the lack of expandability, the problem with keyboard computers is the cabling. While one cable is flexible, that property disappears when several are involved. It certainly always gets in the way when you're trying to adjust the position of the computer for reasons of comfort. In addition, the overall footprint tends to exceed that of a normal system as it all has to sit in front of the user on a desktop. Laptops escape this design constraint by merging the screen in and typically reducing the cable down to a single power cord. When I owned an Amiga 500, one of the things I did was buy an external case and repackage it into a Checkmate A1500 pizza-box case with a separate keyboard. It wasn't much less portable (although, to be fair, the new case weighed a ton) but it was far more comfortable to use.

From that point on, I've not bought another keyboard computer. The design is a vestige of the Spectrum/C64 world and one well left behind. I really don't understand why anyone's trying to take another stab at it.