A portable, clamshell cyberdeck built around an open-ISA RISC-V core and a paper-like (e-ink) display — the closest real-world echo of Gibson’s “neural slab”: low-power, readable in daylight, no glare, silent. Parts are chosen to be actually purchasable today, with a 3D-printable case.
Design intent: A distraction-free, off-grid, daylight-readable writerdeck/field terminal — not a gaming laptop. E-ink is slow to refresh, so this is a text/code/notes machine, which fits the “console cowboy” minimal-HMI aesthetic better than a color LCD anyway.
Bill of materials
| # | Part | Role | Example product | Price (USD) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RISC-V SoC board | Compute core | StarFive VisionFive 2 (JH7110, quad U74 @1.5 GHz, up to 8 GB LPDDR4) | ~$70–90 (4 GB); ~$100–120 (8 GB) | Best-supported RISC-V SBC. Has 40-pin GPIO, HDMI, MIPI-DSI, USB 3.0, M.2 NVMe, gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi (with module). Boots Debian/Fedora/Ubuntu RISC-V. Pi-shaped, so most Pi HATs and cases physically fit. |
| 1b | Alt compute | Smaller/lower-power | Milk-V Mars (same JH7110, Pi-form-factor) or Milk-V Duo S (ultra-low-power, microcontroller-class) | ~$50–80 | Mars = same chip, more Pi-compatible GPIO; Duo S = tiny, for a truly minimal slab. |
| 2 | E-paper display (EPD) | Display — “liquid paper” | Waveshare 5.83″ E-Paper HAT (648×480, B/W, SPI) | ~$30–40 | Reflective, daylight-readable, near-180° viewing angle, ~1–2 s full refresh. SPI attaches to the 40-pin GPIO. Pair with the Waveshare driver HAT for plug-and-play. |
| 2b | Alt display | Larger panel | Waveshare 7.5″ E-Paper HAT (800×480, B/W or B/W/Red, SPI) | ~$40–55 | Bigger reading area; same SPI interface. (G) variant adds red/yellow accent. Choose for writerdeck vs. compact. |
| 2c | Fast-refresh alt | If you need motion | Waveshare 7.5″ E-Paper Display with partial-refresh support, or a low-power transflective LCD | ~$50–80 | Full-color e-ink with fast refresh is still slow; use only if you need a cursor that moves smoothly. |
| 3 | Keyboard / keypad | HMI input | Corne CRKBD (split ortho 40%, QMK, hand-wired or PCB kit) or Planck EZ / OLKB Planck | ~$50–90 kit; ~$120 prebuilt | Ortholinear grid packs cleanly into a rectangular clamshell; QMK layers give you arrows/numbers without a number row. This is the community-favorite cyberdeck keyboard. |
| 3b | Alt keypad | Built-in pointing | ThinkPad-style keyboard with trackpoint (salvaged USB unit) or Rii K12+ (wireless mini KB + trackpad) | ~$25–45 | If you need a pointer without a separate mouse. Trackpoint = compact; Rii = cheap and self-contained. |
| 3c | Ultra-mini alt | Thumb typing | Solder Party BBQ20K (Blackberry-style thumb keyboard) | ~$25–35 | For a pocket/very-small slab. |
| 4 | Battery | Power | Waveshare UPS HAT (B) — 5V/5A, dual 18650 Li-ion, pogo-pin connector, Pi-compatible 40-pin | ~$30 (no cells) | Clips onto the 40-pin GPIO; provides regulated 5V, charge + output simultaneously, overcharge/over-discharge protection. Two 18650 cells (~2600 mAh each ≈ 5200 mAh) give roughly 2–4 h runtime. |
| 4b | Cells | Energy storage | 2× 18650 Li-ion, 2600–3500 mAh, protected | ~$10–20 total | Use name-brand (Samsung, Sony, Panasonic). The VisionFive 2 idles ~1–2 W, peaks ~5 W under load; e-ink draws almost nothing when static. |
| 4c | High-capacity alt | Longer runtime | USB-C PD power bank, 10000–20000 mAh, 5V/3A out | ~$25–40 | Simpler (no HAT) but no auto-shutdown/protection; fine if you treat it as an external pack. |
| 5 | Hinge | Clamshell pivot | Torque/friction hinge — buy or print. Options: (a) GoPro-style mount hinge (3D-printed, strong, universal); (b) metal torque hinge (e.g. Southco/Sugatsune laptop-style friction hinge, ~$8–15); (c) printed nylon-on-nylon friction sleeve over an M2/M3 bolt with spring washers | ~$5–15 | Printed plastic-only hinges wear out — use a metal friction hinge or a printed mechanism with a nylon sleeve + spring washers for durability. Must hold the e-paper panel at any angle. |
| 6 | Case | Enclosure | 3D-printed clamshell (STL from community or custom) — e.g. Jay Doscher’s Recovery Kit STLs (jaydosacher.com), ALX/Nearphuture deck, or a custom OpenSCAD/Fusion design sized to your panel + keyboard | Filament ~$15–30 | Print in PETG/ABS/ASA for strength and heat resistance; PLA is OK for a prototype but warps in a hot car. Print the hinge bosses to take metal inserts. Vent the SoC area. |
| 6b | Ready-made alt | Skip the print | Pelican/Pelican-style 1150/1200 hard case (used as the base, panel hinged into the lid) | ~$30–50 | The canonical cyberdeck enclosure; rugged, waterproof, easy to mount into. |
Estimated total
| Tier | Build | Approx. cost |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | VisionFive 2 (4 GB) + 5.83″ EPD + Corne kit + UPS HAT (no cells) + 2× 18650 + printed case + printed hinge | ~$220–270 |
| Balanced | VisionFive 2 (8 GB) + 7.5″ EPD + prebuilt Corne + UPS HAT + cells + Pelican case + metal torque hinge | ~$330–400 |
| Minimal slab | Milk-V Duo S + 5.83″ EPD + BBQ20K thumb KB + USB-C PD power bank + printed case | ~$140–180 |
Integration notes
SoC ↔ Display: The e-paper HAT uses SPI on the 40-pin GPIO header. The VisionFive 2 exposes SPI on its 40-pin header (Pi-compatible). Use Waveshare’s epd driver library; enable spi0 in the device tree. Refresh is partial (fast, ~0.3 s for text deltas) or full (~1–2 s, clears ghosting). Drive a console framebuffer (epd-fb) or a minimal Wayland/TUI app — not a full DE, which will feel sluggish on e-ink.
SoC ↔ Keyboard: USB (the Corne is USB-C). Map QMK layers for arrows, function keys, and a “deck mode” key. If you want the keyboard to be the only input, give one layer a mouse-key mode (QMK supports this) — no trackpad needed.
Power path: UPS HAT sits on the 40-pin header between the SBC and the cells. It supplies regulated 5V and reports battery level over I²C (sysfs). Configure the SBC to auto-shutdown on low battery via the UPS HAT’s GPIO interrupt. Charge via the HAT’s USB-C input while running.
Hinge mounting: Mount the e-paper panel to the lid half, the keyboard + SBC + battery to the base half. Route the SPI ribbon through the hinge (a short flexible FFC or a slack wire bundle with strain relief). Keep the hinge torque high enough to hold the panel but low enough to flip with one hand — ~1.5–3 Nm typical for a small panel.
Thermals: The JH7110 needs a small passive heatsink (or the starter-kit fan) under load; e-ink and the keyboard are passive. Vent the base; the battery HAT generates a little heat while charging.
Network: VisionFive 2 has gigabit Ethernet + Wi-Fi (with the optional module). For an off-grid writerdeck you may disable Wi-Fi entirely — true to the “neural slab, no distractions” ethos.
How this maps to the source dimensions
| Dimension | This build |
|---|---|
| SoC | RISC-V (open ISA) — JH7110, quad U74. Philosophically the “open” choice, closer to the hacker ethos than a closed ARM/x86 chip. |
| HMI | Ortholinear mechanical keypad (Corne) — a real, tactile interface, not a neural one. The honest real-world substitute for Gibson’s dermatrodes. |
| Display | E-paper — reflective, no backlight, daylight-readable. The closest material analogue to “a surface that shows text” without the glare of an LCD. Slow refresh forces a text-first use case. |
| Case | 3D-printed clamshell or Pelican hard case — the maker’s enclosure, individual and modifiable. |
| Power | 18650 UPS HAT — internal, swappable, field-serviceable cells. |
| Network | Optional Wi-Fi/Ethernet; can be disabled for a focused, off-grid “deck.” |
| Aesthetic form | Minimal slab + grid keypad + paper screen — restrained, functional, near-monochrome. Closer to Gibson’s underspecified minimalism than to the maximalist Alien-terminal look. |
| Function | Portable Linux terminal for text, code, notes, low-bandwidth work. |
| Use case | Distraction-free writerdeck / field terminal / open-ISA learning machine. |
Prices are approximate 2026 retail and fluctuate; verify at vendors such as Waveshare, PiShop US, Amazon, DigiKey/Mouser (for hinges and cells), and the keyboard’s respective store.
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