c100
91 points by tosh 3 hours ago | 76 comments

Aurornis 2 hours ago
I feel sorry for any company trying to launch a new compute product during this window of extremely elevated RAM and SSD prices.

This looks well built with a lot of attention to detail. It’s impressive that the price isn’t higher for this level of machining and build quality on a low volume product.

I could see this doing well in some niche studios where they value design of all of the products in the office, but it’s a tough niche. The graphic and video designers are all going to be buying Apple. The CAD and engineering people want something with a real GPU. Most developers want a laptop that they can take with them. It’s nice that parts can be upgraded, but anchoring to that CPU is tough.

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applfanboysbgon 44 minutes ago
> window of extremely elevated RAM and SSD prices

Is it a window? It seems likely to me that we're going to be paying the LLM tax on all of our consumer electronics for the rest of our lives.

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kube-system 31 minutes ago
Yes, even memory manufacturers believe it is temporary which is part of the reason that supply has not increased to match demand and prices have spiked.
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applfanboysbgon 24 minutes ago
> even memory manufacturers believe it is temporary

Do they? Is that why they've committed to literally doubling their production capacity in 5 years?

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JimmyBiscuit 33 minutes ago
They cant outspend each other forever. And with all the datacenters not even being able to be hooked up compute isnt the problem, its powering it.
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wang_li 60 minutes ago
Cost of RAM and SSD seems like a secondary challenge. Trying to piss up a waterfall is more in line with the reality that products that are first about design and second about capability face when entering the current workstation and laptop markets that have been iterated on for decades and haven't seen a dramatic new redesign ever.

The closest such advance in recent years didn't happen and instead turned into the macbook neo. Apple could have released an OS for the iphone pro max model of phones that allow them to boot Mac OS when attached to a docking station. And sold a laptop formfactor docking station.

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LeanOnSheena 3 hours ago
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.

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Caracas288 3 hours ago
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nolist_policy 2 hours ago
So from these pictures they just put an off the shelf minipc in a aluminium case and ship it with a matching keyboard.
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amarcheschi 2 hours ago
I accidentally read "performative photos" and it still made sense. Mouse looks painful
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swiftcoder 53 minutes ago
> Mouse looks painful

There is something very "Apple 1-button mouse" about it, for sure

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rpcope1 2 hours ago
There's a lot of WTF here, including paying $1400 for a Linux workstation with 32GB of RAM and what looks like a mobile CPU, along with an integral keyboard that seems like it would give you RSI just looking at it. Who on earth is buying this?
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roryirvine 56 minutes ago
The form factor and "designed to run Workbench" bit made me think it was aimed at nostalgic Amiga enthusiasts without running afoul of whoever-owns-Commodores-trademarks-today.

But https://caligra.com/workbench/#pricing suggests it's an awkwardly-reskinned Fedora with a $240/year subscription fee.

So, er, yes. WTF?

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heyitsmedotjayb 3 hours ago
Who came up with this and then designed it around a non-standard keyboard layout... Jail is the only answer.
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Tepix 2 hours ago
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
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ramijames 2 hours ago
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...

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torginus 2 hours ago
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..
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Bluestein 38 minutes ago
What I really really really do not understand is the toolbox - it seemed like an LCD screen at first glance, but, no.-
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yipinwong 3 hours ago
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.

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TheOtherHobbes 2 hours ago
Famous Design House™ decided to make a custom computer. They took a nice PC, made a nice metal box for it, and attached another box to the back.

You can put things in this box, which is an unusual accessory for a computer.

They also made an OS which will cost a lot of money per seat per year.

Then they took many clean smooth fingerprint-free photos and made a web site to try to sell it.

The web site makes the box look nice but does a poor job explaining the rest.

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yipinwong 51 minutes ago
Ty for the info.

It sounds similar to System76, where they make pretty PC and OS (like Pop! OS) that goes with it

Oh yes, no matter how good a product is, if marketing sucks, it might not roll.

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john_strinlai 2 hours ago
>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.

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dgellow 2 hours ago
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

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rnadomvirlabe 3 hours ago
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?

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arn3n 2 hours ago
Usually the ads on hacker news are accompanied by a press release or a technical writeup so that I at least learn something new.
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conorbergin 3 hours ago
Nice, I've always wanted my desktop PC to be coupled to the keyboard.
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mym1990 3 hours ago
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.
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LeanOnSheena 3 hours ago
OS subscription is only for Enterprise accounts. I have one of the first units and I don't pay anything for the OS
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nolist_policy 54 minutes ago
Only for non-commercial usage tho.
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JR1427 2 hours ago
> The case is CNC milled from a solid block of aluminium

What a waste of material and machining time!

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torginus 2 hours ago
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.
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ffreire 2 hours ago
Why?
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syntaxing 2 hours ago
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.
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xnx 2 hours ago
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.
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syntaxing 2 hours ago
Overkill is the point. Same thing for iPads and iPhones. It gives a luxury feeling. That and Chinese manufacturing have made milling a very cost effective manufacturing method.
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serf 27 minutes ago
underwhelming specs, price, ergonomics. marketed for pros, but gated from them by a $240/yr contract for a fedora reskin.

another step back towards unix I guess, but bell didn't charge yearly.

(edit, remembered it wasnt at&t)

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torginus 2 hours ago
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.
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futuraperdita 2 hours ago
This is an expensive design object that just happens to contain a laptop.
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dsr_ 2 hours ago
Comparable to https://store.minisforum.com/products/minisforum-um790-pro-m...

but much larger, heavier and with a specific keyboard.

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themaxdavitt 56 minutes ago
Cute, but for a device targeted at us "experts" (see the Pentagram design brief linked elsewhere in-thread), this feels like a missed opportunity to explore the last couple of decades of advancements in HID design that many of us have benefited from (e.g., a mouse designed off hand curvature, or a split keyboard). If you want to see computers for experts (albeit in a more restrained design space), look at Framework.
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boguscoder 24 minutes ago
Im mostly curious if R&D was self funded or its a problem of kickstarter-like bakers now? This wont pay off
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orbital-decay 37 minutes ago
This looks like a cursed mix of different Apple eras. And has a paid Linux distro inside, amazingly powered by Homebrew of all package managers.
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kube-system 33 minutes ago
it looks like it took design inspiration from the Apple ADB mouse: https://i0.wp.com/applerescueofdenver.com/wp-content/uploads...
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esperent 59 minutes ago
Price aside, I'm all for mobile form factors that are not laptops. Laptops are an ergonomic disaster.

But I'm not a fan of connecting it to the keyboard instead. Why not just a mini pc with a built in battery?

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kensai 45 minutes ago
Are there any independent reviews of the c100? I want to know more about the keypads and bindings they added.
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jordand 2 hours ago
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.
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xnx 2 hours ago
I forgot all about the slabtop form factor: https://www.howtogeek.com/what-is-a-slabtop/
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hmokiguess 2 hours ago
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)
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ZihengQin 2 hours ago
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?
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iammjm 2 hours ago
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
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ygouzerh 2 hours ago
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.
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watusername 55 minutes ago
> digital nomad / people going to coworking spaces

Laptops with built-in screens make infinitely more sense for this population.

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zerkten 2 hours ago
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.
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erickhill 2 hours ago
I smell Amiga, especially if it is "designed to run Workbench."
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anentropic 55 minutes ago
Can you get one with the numeric keypad on the right side?
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insanitybit 2 hours ago
Looks extraordinarily unergonomic and I don't get why I would need a number pad as a developer.
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torginus 2 hours ago
As someone who does CAD on the side, I couldn't live without one.
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insanitybit 18 minutes ago
Yeah fair enough.
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lapkaaaa 3 hours ago
The tray is really funny, but i doubt it'll find many customers
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xnx 2 hours ago
The children yearn for the Osborne.
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zemlyansky 44 minutes ago
tool storage -> egpu dock
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roryirvine 29 minutes ago
You'd need better ventilation for that, surely?
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kelseyfrog 2 hours ago
Why does it have a frunk?
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ge96 2 hours ago
You can put your w in there
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convolvatron 3 hours ago
why does it come with attached storage unit for my calipers?
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floren 55 minutes ago
Cuz you're a MAKER, just see the box of BOJACK-brand screws on top of the power supply in the action shot.
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LoganDark 3 hours ago
> Caligra Workbench Operating System

This hardware runs an operating system that requires a subscription for commercial use? https://caligra.com/workbench/#pricing

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roryirvine 53 minutes ago
And they don't define what they consider to be commercial anywhere that I can see. It's not mentioned at all in https://caligra.com/legal/terms-of-sale/

Does checking work email count? Or buying something from Amazon?

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ppnpm 2 hours ago
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?
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iammjm 2 hours ago
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
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speak_plainly 3 hours ago
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?
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dist-epoch 2 hours ago
Basically Teenage Engineering doing a laptop.
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rvz 2 hours ago
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.

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caust1c 59 minutes ago
My RSI flared up just looking at this keyboard. Hard pass!
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iririririr 2 hours ago
flagged. this should be on showHN. pretty much an Advertisement
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juliend2 45 minutes ago
Wait, what's the ruler that can stay over any open program, in the demo video?*

Is it coming from another project or is it built-in?

I also like the multi-modal scratchpad on the bottom half of the screen.

Edit: ok this is not a distro in the classical sense.

Edit 2: call me perv. but I'd love to see the back of the box where all the connectors are.

* link: https://customer-i8ks9tgi5lkllj0i.cloudflarestream.com/c60aa...

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