Pentaform AbacusBasic: Compact keyboard houses entire computer

With the new Pentaform AbacusBasic, the manufacturer follows in the footsteps of the Raspberry Pi 400, because the entire single-board computer is also located inside the keyboard in this model. The manufacturer relies on a quad-core CPU from Intel and up to 8 GB of RAM. Apple is also apparently planning to integrate the entire Mac in one keyboard in the future.

Pentaform AbacusBasic in detail

The concept of the Pentaform AbacusBasic is not new, but the execution is all the more exciting. Here you install a single-board computer in a compact, black keyboard, which also has an integrated trackpad. The keyboard computer is only 3.5 mm thick and is completely made of ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastic), i.e. recycled plastic.

Inside, an Intel Atom x5-Z8350 CPU with four cores and a clock rate of 1.44 GHz or 1.84 GHz in Turbo mode does its job. Although the chip offers a 64-bit architecture, it is already from 2016 and should thus only offer an extremely limited performance.

The integrated Intel Gen8 HD graphics unit operates at 500 MHz, and there is a choice of 2 GB, 4 GB or 8 GB LPDDR3 working memory, as well as between 16 GB and 128 GB eMMC system storage. The latter can be expanded by up to 512 GB via microSD card.

Thanks to HDMI 2.0 connectivity, the Pentaform AbacusBasic is also supposed to be able to display content in 4K resolution at up to 30 frames per second. This is joined by a 3.5 mm jack including HD codec for microphones (up to 24-bit/96 kHz), one USB 3.0, two USB 2.0, one USB Type-C and a Gigabit LAN port.

Wireless connectivity

What’s more, it’s particularly exciting that the AbacusBasic can be used almost anywhere thanks to “InfiniteConnect” via 2.4 GHz wireless connection. It also operates wirelessly via Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) in the 2.4-GHz and 5-GHz bands and supports Bluetooth 4.2.

It is also compatible with Windows 7, 10 and 11, as well as Linux, with Windows 10 said to be pre-installed. In addition, the Pentaform AbacusBasic has a modular design. The actual, compact computer module can apparently be attached to the keyboard on the left, allowing components to be replaced.

In addition, the keyboard computer is supposed to work particularly energy-efficiently and consume as little power as a light bulb. Here the manufacturer speaks of an energy consumption of only 31 kWh of electricity per year.

Price and Availability

The Pentaform AbacusBasic should still be available in June 2022. Then, however, first in the country of the manufacturer, Great Britain. There, the RRP is 120 British pounds, which corresponds to just under 140 euros. A 20% discount is offered via newsletter. More details can be found on the official product website.