eSIM Studios
The makers of the Argon ONE line of accessories for Raspberry Pi computers have built a business around designing cases that add or change some key functions of the little computers by, for example, moving all of the ports to one side.
But the upcoming Argon ONE UP takes things to the next level. It's a laptop computer that uses a Raspberry Pi 5 Compute Module for brains, which makes it a more modular, customizable laptop than most.
While most modern laptops have user-accessible storage, allowing you to remove and replace the SSD, and some also have user-replaceable memory, few will let you replace the processor.
But since the Argon ONE UP is powered by a Raspberry Pi CM5, you can theoretically buy the module that most meets your need. All CM5 units have BCM2712 quad-core ARM Cortex-A76 processors, but there are models with as little as 2GB of LPDD4R-4267 memory or as much as 16GB of RAM. Other options include up to 64GB of EMMC storage, and optional support for WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0.
Several other companies have also released their own compute modules in the same form factor, which could open the possibility of using third-party modules with different processors in the Argon ONE UP. And if future Raspberry Pi Compute Modules use the same connectors as the CM5, then you may be able to upgrade the guts of this computer in the future.
In terms of hardware features baked into the laptop shell itself, it has a 14 inch, 1920 x 1200 pixel IPS LCD display, a backlit keyboard and multitouch trackpad, an M.2 2280 slot for user-replaceable PCIe 2.0 x1 storage. There's a 1080p camera above the display, stereo speakers, and a set of ports that includes:
While the dual USB 2.0 Type-C ports might not seem all that impressive from a speed standpoint (they top out at 480 Mbps data transfer speeds), the Argon One offers a surprisingly cool add-on that connects to those ports, giving you an external 40-pin GPIO header similar to the ones built into Raspberry Pi Model B devices.
There's a dedicated power button on the GPIO module, allowing you to turn it off when you don't want it drawing 5 watts of power from the computer.
The USB-C ports can also be used for power input.
You can access the Compute Module and M.2 slot by removing a panel on the bottom of the computer, which means that you only have to remove a few screws to add or remove storage or replace the CM5 system-on-a-module if you want to replace the processor, RAM, wireless capabilities, and other features.
The Argon ONE UP has an aluminum alloy body that measures 265 x 233 x 26.3mm (10.4″ x 9.2″ x 1″) and weighs about 1.3 kg (2.9 pounds), making it slightly chunky compared to other thin and light laptops, but still pretty lightweight.
You can't buy the Argon ONE UP yet, but it'll be available for pre-order soon through an upcoming Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. A preview page for the campaign is already available. I haven't seen any announcements about the price or claims about the battery life yet though.
via ETA Prime (YouTube)
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