Hi there,

Does there exist something like this: Something that is small (fits in your pocket), allows inserting a standard USB keyboard or equivalent, and outputs the characters you type on the keyboard on a simple LCD screen? Would need to have batteries for that too of course.

I don't really know what such device would be named or what to search for...

Thanks!

Hi there,

Does there exist something like this: Something that is small (fits in your pocket), allows inserting a standard USB keyboard or equivalent, and outputs the characters you type on the keyboard on a simple LCD screen? Would need to have batteries for that too of course.

I don't really know what such device would be named or what to search for...

Thanks!

Probably not. Just the USB & monitor connection would pretty much make it bigger than pocketsize.

For example, here's a tiny Linux computer: http://www.handlewithlinux.com/smallest-linux-pc

I've seen palm pilots that have small foldable keyboards (nearly netbook size when unfolded) that could fit in a pocket. A broad pocket, granted, but that's the closest I can think of to what you're describing.

Hi there,

Does there exist something like this: Something that is small (fits in your pocket), allows inserting a standard USB keyboard or equivalent, and outputs the characters you type on the keyboard on a simple LCD screen? Would need to have batteries for that too of course.

I don't really know what such device would be named or what to search for...

Thanks!

Many cell phones and smart phones have text entry and support wired and bluetooth keyboards.

iPhone 4 + folding bluetooth keyboard = "something small with a standard keyboard that outputs characters on an LCD screen".

You could also take a look at:

This, this, and this.

Don't know, but you could build one without too much hassle provided you're not afraid of some soldering and microcontroller programming.

The Atmel AT90USB162 has built-in USB support (costs approx $5 on mouser), though the development boards seem to be a little bigger than pocket-sized (perhaps you can trim them down?) and you may need to wire up your own battery, since I think they are typically USB powered. You could wire a USB socket up yourself, though it's a little more effort because you'll probably have to solder a tiny surface-mount chip (not too hard, just need a magnifying glass and steady hands - a fine-tip soldering iron will help too). Connecting and driving an LCD from that should be straightforward.

Alternatively you could get a separate USB controller (or find some USB controller code online for use with a popular microcontroller) and set it up yourself. You can get credit-card sized breakout boards for a lot of microcontorllers that have the hard wiring done for you (except you will of course need to connect the USB controller yourself).

All in all, its not a terribly difficult project, even for a beginner, but if you've never done any electronics/microcontroller development, it may take some time to learn and get everything right. It would be a great learning experience though.

EDIT: Just found this board for the AT90USB162. Similar boards here, for different but similar microcontrollers. It shouldn't be very hard to connect an LCD and wire up a battery. LUFA supports keyboards, so you could use it to determine what keys are pressed and then output that to an LCD. As far as I know, wiring and programming an LCD is fairly easy.