alt Hacker Newsc100
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I have one of the units from the first run where 96GB of RAM was offered.
Personally speaking I was buying it primarily for the design aesthetic (an industrial design partner from Pentagram was involved), but I've come to enjoy the Workbench OS UI features and associated shortcuts; I use it as a secondary work machine for various data science applications.
I can attest to the general build quality which so far seems high to me.
Here are some more informative photos:
https://www.pentagram.com/work/caligra-c100-developer-termin...
There's a lot of WTF here, including paying $1400 for a Linux workstation with 32GB of RAM and what looks like a mobile CPU, along with an integral keyboard that seems like it would give you RSI just looking at it. Who on earth is buying this?
Who came up with this and then designed it around a non-standard keyboard layout... Jail is the only answer.
I found the UI really interesting. Nice to see a group really trying something new. This really feels a lot like the raw experimentation of computer types and styles in the 80s.
https://customer-i8ks9tgi5lkllj0i.cloudflarestream.com/c60aa...
This looks like a cursed mix of different Apple eras. And has a paid Linux distro inside, amazingly powered by Homebrew of all package managers.
Looks cute, but unsure what it does and why they made it and how i can use for what...
Site looks good but it might mean c100 have no substance, thus at least had to make the site and their gadget pretty.
Nice design, but the website is vague. What about the actual tech specs (not simply GB of ram and SSD space) or a picture of the "user-replaceable" internals? How about a picture of the port layout? About the workbench operating system, the information is also surprisingly light.
Am I missing context here that others have that make this website sufficient?
Usually the ads on hacker news are accompanied by a press release or a technical writeup so that I at least learn something new.
Nice, I've always wanted my desktop PC to be coupled to the keyboard.
We're truly living through the cash grab era. $1400 + a yearly subscription for an extremely vague product that will likely lose support in 2-5 years.
Cute, but for a device targeted at us "experts" (see the Pentagram design brief linked elsewhere in-thread), this feels like a missed opportunity to explore the last couple of decades of advancements in HID design that many of us have benefited from (e.g., a mouse designed off hand curvature, or a split keyboard). If you want to see computers for experts (albeit in a more restrained design space), look at Framework.
> The case is CNC milled from a solid block of aluminium
What a waste of material and machining time!
This is an expensive design object that just happens to contain a laptop.
Dunno, they're promoting this to run their custom OS (which is Fedora based, but has brew apparently?) Not sure what is this, is this a cloud thing, hence the subscription? But the HW too expensive/powerful for that? Considering that is the main differentiator, yet they barely say anything about it, and it's quite hard to find screenshots, or any demos.
Are there any independent reviews of the c100? I want to know more about the keypads and bindings they added.
Price aside, I'm all for mobile form factors that are not laptops. Laptops are an ergonomic disaster.
But I'm not a fan of connecting it to the keyboard instead. Why not just a mini pc with a built in battery?
I got an unsolicited LinkedIn connection request from a Sales Rep at Caligra (who wrote in the note) offering to 'send one over' to me essentially as a "trial" of this workstation. Says a lot that this is a serious part of their sales strategy.
Can you get one with the numeric keypad on the right side?
I forgot all about the slabtop form factor: https://www.howtogeek.com/what-is-a-slabtop/
Good look. What are the advantages over MAC or cloud VMs? If it is $500~$1000 it could be a good gift. And is the current size a little big? Could it be put into a bag?
My fingers are curling up at the look of the angle on that keyboard. I love the idea and the aesthetic, but I could never use this full time.
For a second, I thought that top part was like a tmux screen where I could run a multiplexer with agents and ... geez I'm tired, so much AI ugh. (Worst part is that I think I'd have fun with something like that)
I smell Amiga, especially if it is "designed to run Workbench."
Looks extraordinarily unergonomic and I don't get why I would need a number pad as a developer.
The tray is really funny, but i doubt it'll find many customers
The children yearn for the Osborne.
Basically Teenage Engineering doing a laptop.
why does it come with attached storage unit for my calipers?
So a toolbox attached with a keyboard that has opposite layout, some new shortcuts and an OS that can be reproduced easily. So what's the point? One can go for design and hardware but is this really something that stands it out in 2026? I was wondering what I would put in the toolbox, maybe earphones, mobile stand, stationary?
> Caligra Workbench Operating System
This hardware runs an operating system that requires a subscription for commercial use? https://caligra.com/workbench/#pricing
I'm glad PC manufacturers are taking snack drawers seriously. A shot of the IO would be nice and is the computer in the keyboard or in the snack box?
My RSI flared up just looking at this keyboard. Hard pass!
After seeing the price and the build quality, there's no more excuses for developers to suggest that they can't afford a Mac or Windows or Framework computer after buying this.
This should be the standard quality for Linux machines.
flagged. this should be on showHN. pretty much an Advertisement
Wait, what's the ruler that can stay over any open program, in the demo video?*
Is it coming from another project or is it built-in?
I also like the multi-modal scratchpad on the bottom half of the screen.
Edit: ok this is not a distro in the classical sense.
Edit 2: call me perv. but I'd love to see the back of the box where all the connectors are.
* link: https://customer-i8ks9tgi5lkllj0i.cloudflarestream.com/c60aa...
I feel sorry for any company trying to launch a new compute product during this window of extremely elevated RAM and SSD prices.
This looks well built with a lot of attention to detail. It’s impressive that the price isn’t higher for this level of machining and build quality on a low volume product.
I could see this doing well in some niche studios where they value design of all of the products in the office, but it’s a tough niche. The graphic and video designers are all going to be buying Apple. The CAD and engineering people want something with a real GPU. Most developers want a laptop that they can take with them. It’s nice that parts can be upgraded, but anchoring to that CPU is tough.