The NexDock 360 transforms a smartphone or Raspberry Pi into a 2-in-1 laptop

[Redaktion]

Nex Computer has returned with its latest laptop shell, the NexDock 360. The machine features a 13.3-inch touchscreen in a 2-in-1 convertible form factor, along with a 44 Wh battery, a large trackpad and inputs to connect a smartphone or a Raspberry Pi.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-NexDock-360-transforms-a-smartphone-or-Raspberry-Pi-into-a-2-in-1-laptop.514579.0.html

[A]

If you have a wire hanging, is there a point? They should have made a slot where you can store your phone.

[T. Downing]

Ok, point one...find a laptop with an hdmi input that can accomodate numerous thousands of items and call me...Thanks!  Sorry, that is the
last point!

[blackICEchrome]

Having the phone or Raspi tethered with a cable pretty much defeats the purpose of having a mobile device right (laptop, tablet 2in1) why not RF or Bluetooth connection. Nearly right just misses the mark.

[vertigo]

Agreed. I thought this was going to have some sort of slot to dock the phone into, but this setup really doesn't make sense. For the same price, I'd rather just get a cheap laptop and be able to do real work instead of an oversized toy OS "computer."

[Faris Hanafiah]

Agreed. I thought this was going to have some sort of slot to dock the phone into, but this setup really doesn't make sense. For the same price, I'd rather just get a cheap laptop and be able to do real work instead of an oversized toy OS "computer."

Lol, cheap laptop? At around $269 (without shipping cost since it depends on the country in question), all I can get with a so-called cheap laptop is a crap Intel Celeron CPU that can't even do multitasking and a lowly RAM, doesn't matter if it runs Windows 10 or Chrome OS. Plus, the NexDock has longer shelf life as it doesn't have any CPU or GPU driver inside it. When I upgrade my current phone to a latest one, the NexDock can enjoy the upgrade as well. Try that on a cheap laptop.

[Faris Hanafiah]

If you have a wire hanging, is there a point? They should have made a slot where you can store your phone.

That is a good point. When Razer showed off their Project Linda lapdock concept, they put the phone on the bottom-middle of the lapdock where it can act as the trackpad. That is a good idea to me.

[vertigo]

Agreed. I thought this was going to have some sort of slot to dock the phone into, but this setup really doesn't make sense. For the same price, I'd rather just get a cheap laptop and be able to do real work instead of an oversized toy OS "computer."

Lol, cheap laptop? At around $269 (without shipping cost since it depends on the country in question), all I can get with a so-called cheap laptop is a crap Intel Celeron CPU that can't even do multitasking and a lowly RAM, doesn't matter if it runs Windows 10 or Chrome OS. Plus, the NexDock has longer shelf life as it doesn't have any CPU or GPU driver inside it. When I upgrade my current phone to a latest one, the NexDock can enjoy the upgrade as well. Try that on a cheap laptop.

That's true about the upgradeability, but typically with stuff like this people will buy the newer, improved version after 2-3 years anyways, in which case that argument loses its standing. Meanwhile, you have a "laptop" that's very difficult to use as such, since you have it tethered to your phone by a cable. I bought a $250 Pentium-powered laptop a few months ago for temporary use while waiting for my new one to arrive, and it was surprisingly capable. I wouldn't want to use it long-term, but for someone who doesn't do much on their computer, i.e. just email, internet, office work, watching videos (as long as screen quality isn't too important), and even some coding or other things that aren't crazy demanding, it would be adequate.

What we really need is upgradeable laptops, like the model in a recent article. Of course, they ideally also need to be cheap. And yeah, using the phone as the touchpad sounds like a neat idea, I just wonder what kind of effect that would have on the "computer's" battery life, having to power the phone while its screen stays on. Can't be good. The real problem is the fact different phones have different shapes and sizes, different ports (though at least micro-USB has finally seemed to die with new phones, there are still plenty of existing ones out there with it), and different port locations.

[kevinp22]

Goodness sakes people...I feel you are missing the point.  I LOVE THIS IDEA!!  I had a similar item back in the day with my Motorola phone.  If you have a set of earbuds (bluetooth) and this device, you are SET!!  I can't wait for this to be delivered...I am in the Information Technology field and, therefore, I carry my phone everywhere!  Our "Windows environment" is served up to us through RDP...making my phone uniquely capable.  Having a "laptop" that upgrades automatically is AWESOME in my eyes.  Also...yes, I could buy a cheap laptop, or even a Chromebook (most of us do), but why bother when my phone is a NOTE10+ and is FAR more capable than a $300 laptop or Chromebook will ever be!  This is a NO BRAINER TO ME!

[vertigo]

Goodness sakes people...I feel you are missing the point.  I LOVE THIS IDEA!!  I had a similar item back in the day with my Motorola phone.  If you have a set of earbuds (bluetooth) and this device, you are SET!!  I can't wait for this to be delivered...I am in the Information Technology field and, therefore, I carry my phone everywhere!  Our "Windows environment" is served up to us through RDP...making my phone uniquely capable.  Having a "laptop" that upgrades automatically is AWESOME in my eyes.  Also...yes, I could buy a cheap laptop, or even a Chromebook (most of us do), but why bother when my phone is a NOTE10+ and is FAR more capable than a $300 laptop or Chromebook will ever be!  This is a NO BRAINER TO ME!

It's not the idea we're taking issue with, it's the implementation. I also really like the idea of a cheap shell I can use to turn my phone into a laptop, and while it would absolutely not replace an actual laptop for 90% of what I do, it would be nice for certain things, and I can appreciate that, for many people, it would suffice for most of what they use a computer for. The problem is making it cumbersome to use by having the phone attached with a cord instead of being able to actually dock it into the chassis. At the very least, it should have a padded compartment with a short cord that's large enough to just put even large phones in and plug them in with the cord, since making a true dock would be very difficult, though not impossible, due to the various size phones available.

[Gustafson]

Remember Asus Transformer TF101?

That was the real thing. This thing looks like a joke with a phone attached to its tail....