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?
Aurornis 8 minutes 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.
LeanOnSheena 1 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.
So from these pictures they just put an off the shelf minipc in a aluminium case and ship it with a matching keyboard.
amarcheschi 54 minutes ago [-]
I accidentally read "performative photos" and it still made sense. Mouse looks painful
ramijames 45 minutes 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.
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..
futuraperdita 22 minutes ago [-]
This is an expensive design object that just happens to contain a laptop.
heyitsmedotjayb 1 hours ago [-]
Who came up with this and then designed it around a non-standard keyboard layout... Jail is the only answer.
Tepix 14 minutes ago [-]
Also it's close to ANSI layout, what about ISO? I want a german E1 layout(§), thank you very much.
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.
TheOtherHobbes 7 minutes 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.
john_strinlai 30 minutes 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.
dgellow 42 minutes 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
arn3n 54 minutes 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.
torginus 24 minutes 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.
conorbergin 1 hours ago [-]
Nice, I've always wanted my desktop PC to be coupled to the keyboard.
mym1990 1 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.
LeanOnSheena 1 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
JR1427 56 minutes ago [-]
> The case is CNC milled from a solid block of aluminium
What a waste of material and machining time!
torginus 33 minutes 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.
syntaxing 32 minutes 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.
xnx 28 minutes 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.
syntaxing 6 minutes 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.
ffreire 26 minutes ago [-]
Why?
jordand 24 minutes 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.
rnadomvirlabe 1 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?
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.
ZihengQin 33 minutes 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?
iammjm 28 minutes 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
ygouzerh 18 minutes 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.
insanitybit 25 minutes ago [-]
Looks extraordinarily unergonomic and I don't get why I would need a number pad as a developer.
torginus 17 minutes ago [-]
As someone who does CAD on the side, I couldn't live without one.
hmokiguess 51 minutes 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)
erickhill 51 minutes ago [-]
I smell Amiga, especially if it is "designed to run Workbench."
lapkaaaa 1 hours ago [-]
The tray is really funny, but i doubt it'll find many customers
xnx 30 minutes ago [-]
The children yearn for the Osborne.
dist-epoch 14 minutes ago [-]
Basically Teenage Engineering doing a laptop.
kelseyfrog 57 minutes ago [-]
Why does it have a frunk?
ge96 17 minutes ago [-]
You can put your w in there
ppnpm 49 minutes 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?
iammjm 26 minutes 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
convolvatron 1 hours ago [-]
why does it come with attached storage unit for my calipers?
rvz 34 minutes 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.
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.
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.
https://www.pentagram.com/work/caligra-c100-developer-termin...
https://customer-i8ks9tgi5lkllj0i.cloudflarestream.com/c60aa...
Site looks good but it might mean c100 have no substance, thus at least had to make the site and their gadget pretty.
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.
its a computer. it does computer things, and you can use it for whatever computer things you want.
The esthetic and form factor is the appeal
What a waste of material and machining time!
Am I missing context here that others have that make this website sufficient?
This should be the standard quality for Linux machines.
This hardware runs an operating system that requires a subscription for commercial use? https://caligra.com/workbench/#pricing