There’s no shortage of ways to turn a Raspberry Pi single-board computer into a laptop, tablet, or any number of other portable computing devices. But another one is on the way.

SB Components is teasing an upcoming crowdfunding campaign for the LapPi 2.0. It’s a DIY kit that lets you turn Raspberry Pi’s credit card-sized computer into a laptop with a 7 inch display and a detachable wireless keyboard. Update: SB Components says the LapPi will launch December 16, 2022.

Detailed specs aren’t available yet, and we don’t know how much the LapPi 2.0 will cost, when crowdfunding begins, or when the kit will ship. But here’s what we do know about the device so far.

It’s expected to have a “high resolution” touchscreen display, an official Raspberry Pi Camera (with an 8MP Sony IMX219 image sensor), built-in speakers, and a power supply, and a case that’s available in multiple color options (including clear, blue, yellow, and red… but the color appears to be just for the lid, with all the pictures revealed so far showing a clear body).

The LapPi 2.0 is also said to be “compatible with all Rpi boards, HATs, or expansion,” suggesting that the 40-pin GPIO header will be user-accessible.

Of course, the kit won’t be much use for folks who don’t already have a Raspberry Pi handy, as it’s exceedingly difficult to buy a new one these days, due to high demand and global supply chain shortages.

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9 replies on “LapPi 2.0 is a 7 inch laptop built around a Raspberry Pi (crowdfunding)”

  1. I think I can do better with my 3D printer. Or just applying a hinge and screen on a Pi400 and some gel-battery into the empty cavity inside.

  2. I was excited until I saw that this was super thick basically like the PiTop. I really just want something like a NextDock with a CM4 inside. Thin, lightweight, and a HUGE battery to last at least a few days.

  3. I installed Raspberry Pi OS on an old Asus Eee-PC 901. Works great, job done!

  4. I wish someone made a thinkpad with raspberry pi. I know there’s Lenovo X13s but that’s expensive as hell.

  5. Every time I see another thing like this, I kind of want it, but I doubt it will work well. One of the things I think will hold it back most is the power consumption. I’m not sure if they’re putting a battery in this at all, but if they do, it’s likely small. As much as I like the Pi, it’s not built for running on a battery and it does it poorly. Compared to the minilaptops we already have, it will probably have much shorter battery life while also having worse performance. This might be acceptable if it was cheap, but I don’t think that will happen either. As much as I’d like it to work out, I’m not hopeful.

    2. question is: why many people need this and any firm not seling good device?

      1. Huh? IIUC your comment is two questions?
        1) Why many people need this?
        2) Why has no company yet sold such a device that’s good?

        Again, IIUC, I think the answers would be:
        1) The more children – and adults! – who can learn to code in a package so portable and well integrated as the pi-top [3], the better.
        2) The pi-top [3] was really good for when it came out and the impression was that it would be upgradeable to the next RPi SBC but unfortunately the RPiF changed the board layout so much. That meant to still upgrade the pi-top [3] would require a more powerful SBC still in the RPi3B+ form factor (and the Radxa Rock 3A gets so close), or an updated hubv2 board, or such a carrier board as Waveshare came up with for RPi CM4 form factor SOMs. It’s a pity pi-top hasn’t continued investment in the pi-top [3] because their competitors are continuing to produce similar (but still holistically inferior) devices and pi-top just sold 100’s – 1000’s of them in their most recent sale.

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