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.
show comments
rpcope1
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?
show comments
LeanOnSheena
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.
themaxdavitt
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.
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.
Who came up with this and then designed it around a non-standard keyboard layout... Jail is the only answer.
show comments
yipinwong
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.
show comments
arn3n
Usually the ads on hacker news are accompanied by a press release or a technical writeup so that I at least learn something new.
esperent
[delayed]
conorbergin
Nice, I've always wanted my desktop PC to be coupled to the keyboard.
mym1990
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.
show comments
futuraperdita
This is an expensive design object that just happens to contain a laptop.
show comments
torginus
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.
JR1427
> The case is CNC milled from a solid block of aluminium
What a waste of material and machining time!
show comments
anentropic
Can you get one with the numeric keypad on the right side?
rnadomvirlabe
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?
jordand
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.
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
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?
show comments
hmokiguess
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)
insanitybit
Looks extraordinarily unergonomic and I don't get why I would need a number pad as a developer.
show comments
erickhill
I smell Amiga, especially if it is "designed to run Workbench."
lapkaaaa
The tray is really funny, but i doubt it'll find many customers
xnx
The children yearn for the Osborne.
caust1c
My RSI flared up just looking at this keyboard. Hard pass!
dist-epoch
Basically Teenage Engineering doing a laptop.
kelseyfrog
Why does it have a frunk?
show comments
ppnpm
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?
show comments
convolvatron
why does it come with attached storage unit for my calipers?
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?
rvz
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.
iririririr
flagged. this should be on showHN. pretty much an Advertisement
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.
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?
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.
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.
Here are some more informative photos:
https://www.pentagram.com/work/caligra-c100-developer-termin...
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...
Who came up with this and then designed it around a non-standard keyboard layout... Jail is the only answer.
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.
Usually the ads on hacker news are accompanied by a press release or a technical writeup so that I at least learn something new.
[delayed]
Nice, I've always wanted my desktop PC to be coupled to the keyboard.
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.
This is an expensive design object that just happens to contain a laptop.
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.
> The case is CNC milled from a solid block of aluminium
What a waste of material and machining time!
Can you get one with the numeric keypad on the right side?
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?
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.
I forgot all about the slabtop form factor: https://www.howtogeek.com/what-is-a-slabtop/
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.
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?
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)
Looks extraordinarily unergonomic and I don't get why I would need a number pad as a developer.
I smell Amiga, especially if it is "designed to run Workbench."
The tray is really funny, but i doubt it'll find many customers
The children yearn for the Osborne.
My RSI flared up just looking at this keyboard. Hard pass!
Basically Teenage Engineering doing a laptop.
Why does it have a frunk?
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?
why does it come with attached storage unit for my calipers?
> Caligra Workbench Operating System
This hardware runs an operating system that requires a subscription for commercial use? https://caligra.com/workbench/#pricing
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?
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.
flagged. this should be on showHN. pretty much an Advertisement