How small can a laptop PC be? For renowned maker Paul Klinger a handful of centimeters.
Miniaturization has been the watchword of technology since the late 1960s. The invention of integrated circuits, in particular, started a process that has allowed the creation of ever smaller and better performing chips. Without integrated circuits, we would have never had computers, let alone smartphones.
A process that the maker and developer Paul Klinger has taken to the extreme, creating smaller and smaller electronic devices. The latest work of his imagination is an ultra-portable laptop with a screen size of just 0.96 inches. It’s called ThinkTiny and is the perfect replica of a ThinkPad laptop from Lenovo (formerly IBM). The peculiarity, as mentioned, lies in its size: it is so small that can be carried easily in the palm of your hand.
ThinkTiny: the micro laptop
ThinkTiny is a tiny laptop with a 0.96-inch display and a design strongly inspired by the style of the famous IBM ThinkPad. The micro laptop follows in all respects the lines of the famous computer from the black shell, so that is present in plain sight even the pointing stick or trackpoint, which is the pointing tool in the shape of a red hemisphere embedded in the keyboard.
The device designed by Klinger is not exactly a computer in all respects as it is not able to faithfully reproduce all the features, but can be used to play a series of arcade games such as Snake, Tetris and Lunar Landar.
ThinkTiny: How it’s made
In a specially 3D printed case, Klinger was able to put in order: a 128 x 64 pixel OLED display, an ATtiny1614 micro controller, a 300 mAh battery and other micro components. The circuit board of the OLED screen has been modified and had the top removed to fit perfectly into the laptop shell. As always, maker Paul Klinger was quick to share on his Github page all the design files and code needed to replicate his work in the comfort of your own home.