This is an expensive design object that just happens to contain a laptop.

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.

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...

I think they are going for the super premium polished user experience, yet they waste space with adding foreign window decorators to apps that are supposed to integrate them (Chrome, Zed). And not sure why having a single smallish window and tons of empty space is good practice, when tiling wms have shown how to manage lots of windows and large screen estate efficiently..

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.

Who came up with this and then designed it around a non-standard keyboard layout... Jail is the only answer.

Also it's close to ANSI layout, what about ISO? I want a german E1 layout(§), thank you very much.

    -- 
    § https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/E1_(Tastaturbelegung)#Umfang

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.

>unsure what it does and why they made it and how i can use for what...

its a computer. it does computer things, and you can use it for whatever computer things you want.

I’m not sure what you mean, it’s a mini PC. You can use it for anything you want.

The esthetic and form factor is the appeal

Here are some more informative photos:

https://www.pentagram.com/work/caligra-c100-developer-termin...

I accidentally read "performative photos" and it still made sense. Mouse looks painful

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.

> The case is CNC milled from a solid block of aluminium

What a waste of material and machining time!

Not sure on the first. Apparently almost all alumninum is recycled, and reused, as its melting point is super low compared to most metals, so its not quite as wasteful as it seems at the first glance.

iPhones are iPads have a milled CNC “unibody” as well… Being able to dictate where to have more thickness helps a ton on the luxury feel. Most of the chips are recycled anyway into new billets.

Unibody is a very appropriate technique for a small portable device that needs to be strong from force in many directions. It is overkill for a keyboard.

Why?

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.

I forgot all about the slabtop form factor: https://www.howtogeek.com/what-is-a-slabtop/

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.

OS subscription is only for Enterprise accounts. I have one of the first units and I don't pay anything for the OS

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.

Looks extraordinarily unergonomic and I don't get why I would need a number pad as a developer.

As someone who does CAD on the side, I couldn't live without one.

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?

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?

But is mobility really what they were going for? I’m not sure, because they also purposefully increased the size and weight by adding the frunk

I felt as well that they miss their window. This kind of rectangular shape with keyboard + computer would be great actually for digital nomad / people going to coworking spaces, but looks way to heavy.

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."

The children yearn for the Osborne.

The tray is really funny, but i doubt it'll find many customers

flagged. this should be on showHN. pretty much an Advertisement

Why does it have a frunk?

You can put your w in there

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.

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?

The mouse seems like the most obvious choice for mobility. Other than that: pens? Or maybe lock the phone inside for a distraction free environment

why does it come with attached storage unit for my calipers?

> 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?