[Linux-aus] Screen/keyboard/touchpad for server maintenance

[Les Kitchen]

Thanks, Arjen, Russell, Brian.  (Don't we all love Crowd Supply...)

On Fri, Nov 28, 2025, at 17:45, Arjen Lentz via linux-aus wrote:
...
> https://dopesplay.com/products/dopesplay-14-1-inch-1200p-hdr-ips-portable-monitor-with-keyboard-built-in-5000mah-battery
> 
> Easy to carry around in your backpack of tools, or just to leave in a rack.
...

The gadget Russell linked to on Aliexpress is the Crowview Note,
which I've been using for almost a year now.  I got mine directly
from Elecrow:

https://www.elecrow.com/crowview-note-all-in-one-portable-monitor-phone-to-laptop-device-with-full-featured-type-c-sbcs-mini-pc-pc-game-console-compatibility.html

I'm pretty happy with it.  Not on special as far as I know, but
all up, the price is comparable.  I use it with Raspberry Pi and
other SBCs.  I also use it with my MNT Pocket Reform when I feel
like having a bigger screen and less cramped keyboard.

It has a 1920x1080 screen.  Otherwise, it seems to have much the
same setup as Arjen's.  (Haven't checked Arjen's one in detail.)
Even though it can provide USB-C power from its battery for
in-field use, that's at only 5V.  So, good for phones and Raspi
and similar, but not a general USB-C PD solution.  It runs off a
14V mains power supply with barrel connector.

The keyboard is mediocre, but really no worse than most laptop
keyboards these days, and better than some.  In this I'm hard to
please.  In the past 25 years, the only good laptop keyboards
I've encountered are on the 2000-vintage Pismo Powerbook, and on
some of the older IBM/Lenovo Thinkpads, and on the MNT Reform
(big sister of the Pocket Reform).

Elecrow also offer adapter boards specially for the Raspi-5 and
nVidia Jetson boards.  You don't need them — you can also
connect just with cables.  But I guess the adapter boards would
be more convenient in some cases.

Elecrow have a bunch of other gadgets worth looking at.  I also
a while back got a CrowPi-L.  A similar kind of shell in a way,
but with a cavity and connectors designed to hold a Raspi-4.
Only a 1366x768 display, a limited keyboard (for example, no
PgUp, PgDn keys), and a tiny trackpad.  But a very nice idea,
with access to the Pi's GPIO pins through a connector on the
side, and a kit that goes with it of sensors and actuators, etc.
It comes with a USB wireless mouse included, I guess to make up
for the tiny trackpad.

One nifty feature is that there's a switchable adapter that goes
into the µ-SD slot, so you can switch select which one of two
cards to boot off.  The cavity cover is held on by magnets, so
you get pretty easy access to the Raspi-4 and its connectors.
One of the Raspi's HDMI ports goes to the CrowPi-L's screen; the
other to a full-size HDMI port on the side of the case.  Both
USB-3 ports are exposed, and one of the USB-2 ports.  The other
gets connected to the keyboard, trackpad, and a third µ-SD slot.
So you can add extra storage.  There's also a cooling fan, which
seems to run continuously.

One annoyance is that while it has a USB-C jack for power, that
seems to work only with the provided 12V power adapter.  It
doesn't work with USB-C PD.

But being tailored only to the Raspi-4 means only limited
processing power, but good enough for most everyday
web-browsing, mail, etc., and I guess for remote access to a
gruntier server.

With the Crowview Note, you don't have the convenience of the
SBC being tucked into a cavity, but you have much more
flexibility.

Have people been using any other similar gadgets besides these
two?


— Smiles, Les.