[oclug] Linux "on the go" laptop, semi-wearable?

[Adrian Irving-Beer]

So I'd like to see if there's a way to do computing on the move,
without stopping and setting up my laptop, and without spending tons
on a whole 'wearable' computer system.

I figure the first step is finding a safe way to run the laptop on the
move without suffering heat death.  Assuming I can come up with some
thin heat-exchanging carrying case via materials and some custom
stitching, we'll put that aside for now.

The next question is "display and input".  I'd like to achieve X11
support, although text mode is the most basic requirement.  For X,
there's three possibilities:

   * standard display using portable LCD (input method needed),
   * mobile processor (e.g. PDA) with native X server support,
   * mobile processor with VNC client,
   * mobile processor with telnet/SSH/serial port (text only).

One idea I toyed with was the notion of a PDA, wired to the laptop.  I
believe some PDAs can establish a live network connection over their
syncing cable, so the PDA would essentially become a client on a tiny
peer-to-peer network with the laptop.  The PDA has the advantage of
its own input system, and being much more socially acceptable than
wandering around with a Borg-like HUD. :)

VNC is particularly of interest, as it allows for disconnection and
reconnection while retaining state, and is probably more common than
X11 support on the Windows-based devices.

Another option is a tablet PC, a similar concept to the PDA thing.
I know very little about tablet PCs, however; in particular, I don't
know how they handle input.

Finally, a pure portable LCD VGA display might work, although the
input issue would still have to be solved.  That could theoretically
be done with wearable technology, e.g. a "Twiddler", although merely
having one (and the requisite extra wire running across me) would be
pushing the social acceptability factor. ;)

Any thoughts?  Ideally, the system would have something of the
convenience of a PDA, but bolstered with the processing power,
applications support, and mass storage of the laptop.
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