The project started out with me seeing a fellow maker friend using a cardputer, and i thought it was cool - but then i tried using it myself,
and the tiny keyboard drove me crazy and the screen was so small i needed glasses - not ideal. Since i wanted to build a Cyberdeck anyway but was laxking experience,
i thought i would try and make one from scratch to get some experience with this stuff, and i can get a grant from outpost.

Started out thinking “how hard can it be to build a Cardputer clone?” lol.

Went back and forth on where to buy stuff. Reichelt, Mouser, Amazon, Keycapsss, AliExpress — none of them have everything. Finally realized I should just design the PCB first and let JLCPCB/PCBWay assemble whatever they can, then I only buy the leftovers myself (switches, battery, display, speaker, keyboard stuff).

The plan: everything on a custom PCB, bare components, no dev boards. Took a while to get that through my head — kept getting suggested dev boards with displays attached. No. From scratch.

Spent way too long on AliExpress browsing parts. Added ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16R8 for €8.59, AMS1117 for pennies, a battery — then realized shipping was gonna kill me if I buy everything separate. So fine, JLCPCB will source the ICs, I’ll just get the mechanical stuff myself.