MNT Research's Pocket Reform Takes the Open, Modular Laptop Concept to New, Smaller Dimensions

MNT Research, creator of the MNT Reform family of open-hardware modular laptops, is working on something even more portable: a tiny PC dubbed the Pocket Reform, boasting a compact ortholinear keyboard.

Designer Lukas F. Hartmann unveiled the original Reform design three years ago as a modular, fully opensource laptop built around an Arm-based computer on module, mechanical keyboard, and option for a touchpad or classic trackball pointing device.

A year later, Hartmann's MNT Research was back with a second edition — boasting a range of upgrades including a larger and improved screen, more powerful computer on module, better keyboard, and a simplified case design in place of the eight-piece 3D printed chassis of the original.

The MNT Reform, however, isn't the slimmest of devices - largely thanks to the decision to use user-swappable 18650 battery cells in place of the usual pillow-style lithium polymer battery found in modern laptops. For maximum portability, then, a new design is required — and that's where the Pocket Reform comes in.

"We have just finished our first functional prototype of Pocket Reform and are now testing it with our users to make further iterations and changes in the development," Hartmann writes of the clamshell device project. "These renderings give a first glance to how Pocket Reform might look. We're thrilled seeing our vision transforming into something tangible."

Designed around a compact ortholinear keyboard, where the keys are arranged in a grid with no angle or offset, the clamshell chassis is a combination of wood and transparent acrylic. The top half holds the display, while the bottom half houses the keyboard — just like a traditional laptop but smaller, bringing to mind something between the since-abandoned market segments of palmtops and netbooks.

"Pocket Reform does not require special skills or high level expert knowledge to understand, assemble or repair," Hartmann claims. "We aim for simplicity in the design to enable the users to hack and customize Pocket Reform or even use its parts to build something else out of it.

"We design Pocket Reform with basic standard parts which are documented and open source. In this way we enable our users to work with the device and come up with personalized versions and different futures. It is also possible to use its single components of Pocket Reform as standalone parts."

A physical prototype of the Pocket Reform was shown off at MotionLab Berlin this week, and more information on the project is available on the website. Pricing and availability, however, have not yet been confirmed.