Based on Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W, the Bee Write Back writerdeck is another DIY project that should be relatively easy to reproduce, since it relies on off-the-shelf parts, including an OLED and mechanical key switches and caps, as well as a 3D printed enclosure.
Simon (shmimel) had trouble falling asleep and found out that journaling helped him a lot, but he was not so fond of writing in a physical journal. So instead, he created the Bee Write Back journal/writerdeck as a distraction-free writing machine, and the result looks pretty neat.
Bee Write Back key components:
- Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W SBC with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A53 SoC, 512 MB RAM, WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2
- Display – 5.5-inch AMOLED screen with 1280 x 720 resolution($52 on AliExpress)
- Keyboard accessories
- 47x switches
- 47x keycaps
- YMDK Air40 keyboard PCB (about $30 on AliExpress)
- Power – Seengreat Pi Zero UPS USB HUB with 18650 battery holder ($25 on Amazon)
- Cables and fixtures
- Mini HDMI to Mini HDMI cable
- 2x USB-C to USB-A cables
- USB-C male to female cable
- Standaoffs and screws
- 3D printed parts – Screen cover, keyboard plate, base, screen retainer
- BoM cost – About $200 excluding shipping and printed parts
You’ll find the complete instructions to build the hardware and assemble the kit on GitHub, along with two (vibe-coded) Python scripts:
- writerdeck – A minimal TUI writing program for a dedicated writing device.
- claude-chat.py – A pager-style terminal chat client for the Anthropic API
That type of machine would probably not work for me, as my bad eyes would not tolerate a 5.5-inch display when typing text (I’m currently using a 32-inch 4K monitor), and some people may find the relatively noisy keyboard to be a distraction. However, this type of writerdeck obviously works great for some people. You can watch a short video and check out the assembly guide in the video embedded below.
Via Liliputing
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Interesting,
Usually I do not like these projects with such a bunch of cables going from here to there (USB/HDMI/Power).
But here, he managed this mess very well and made a really clever design (eg: the clipping back plate holding and securing the display is simple and elegant).
Also, I guess that with its HDMI display and USB keyboard, setup should work “quiet as is” with any kind of RBPi-zero form factor compatible boards.
Unfortunately, overall price is a bit discouraging if starting from zero but otherwise, there are a lot of good ideas here.
thank you Jean Luc
It looks well thought and elegant. I suspect it might be pleasant to use thank to the likely better keyboard than most laptops. The lack of keys might make punctuation and numbers more annoying to deal with however.
I “mostly” agree.
(*) Ah ! And yes, add on the left side of display an easy access to the GPIOs.
I’m not sure there is really a use case for such a device (probably a bit too large, having a folding or sliding keyboard could possibly have helped), but it definitely looks very cute and very neat!
Kudos to Simon for a very neat design (I especially liked the print-in-place hinge) and a well-paced, entertaining build video.
[Tongue firmly in cheek…] For a distraction-free writing tool based on Linux, having a keyboard with two “Win” keys would drive me to …y’know!
I wish I could buy a kit with all the parts from someone… not having a 3D printer yet makes things a little more complicated 😭
You could use an online service to have the case 3D printed for you and sent to your home.