While it is common for a typical laptop to have a battery that lasts all day, the life of a game is usually measured in just a few hours. Therefore, we are seriously surprised by this home-built "laptop" that claims a two-year battery life.

The work of computing enthusiast Andreas Eriksen, the device is known as PotatoP. According to Eriksen (opens in new tab), the word "potato" is often used to describe an underpowered device; the PotatoP is intentionally "underspecced" to ensure long battery life, and the suffix "toP" indicates that the device is a laptop form factor. It all makes sense.

The prototype currently in operation is based on the Sparkfun Artemis (open in new tab) compute module, which outputs to a 4.4-inch Sharp Memory Display (open in new tab) with a monochrome resolution of 320 x 240.

Incidentally, the compute module has one ARM Cortex M4 core running at up to 96 MHz, a floating-point unit, 384 KB of RAM, and 1 MB of flash storage.

If PotatoP could run cyberpunk, rendering in monochrome at 320 x 240, the frame rate would be measured in frames per hour, not seconds. However, Eriksen has slightly more modest computing requirements: Compatibility with existing software is not a priority, nor is the need for powerful hardware. Minimal editors, word processing, spreadsheet applications, and whatever else you like to write are part of the fun!"

Power supplies are available.

Power comes from a 12,000 mAh PiJuice LiPo battery and a relatively small solar panel. Eriksen says the PiJuice pack is "much more than the battery needed for this." Most smartphone batteries are around 3,000-4,000 mAh.

In any case, the net result is a targeted battery life of about two years. Since testing this claim in the real world is, well, unappealing, we'll take Eriksen's word for it.

According to Eriksen, the 4.4-inch monochrome display is surprisingly easy to read. In the future, the company plans to add more solar panels, and eventually intends to power the device with ambient light, giving it virtually unlimited battery life.

Overall, it is an intriguing insight into what can be accomplished with off-the-shelf components and a well-honed mission, as opposed to billions of dollars in development and countless technological breakthroughs.