[vox] Best Linux-based tablet?

[Michael Cheselka]

Hello,

Have you checked out the Entourage Edge?  It's selling near $300 on Craigslist.

How about the OLPC?

Linux ARM devices are selling as Android devices, BTW

If you don't mind going without X you can run Debian or Ubuntu on most
Android devices.

Why don't we say Android/Linux like some people say Gnu/Linux?

If any of this stuff is too expensive, the prices keep dropping.

The Xoom looks great.  Maybe it's price will drop.

Regards,
Michael Cheselka
650-488-4820




On Thu, Apr 28, 2011 at 04:37, Bill Broadley <bill at broadley.org> wrote:
> On 04/26/2011 10:43 AM, Darth Borehd wrote:
>> I've been looking at tablet PCs.  I would like something primarily used for
>> e-book reading (mostly my own PDFs and OpenOffice documents).  I will mostly
>> use it with wi-fi at home and off-line while riding on a train.  Do you have
>> one you can recommend that is linux-based?  I would, of course, prefer it to
>> be as open-source and DRM-free as possible.
>
> DRM free ebooks is tough.  Sure there's the gutenberg project and
> related, but alas while DRM free music is common/easy, ebooks are not.
>
> Well what is "best"?  Cheapest?  Longest battery life?  Color?  Do you
> care about reading in direct sunlight?  Do you care about the speed of
> the display?  Speed of the CPU?  Multitouch Do you consider android =
> linux?   Do you care about x86 compatibility?  Flash?  Android market?
>
> Unfortunately consumer expectation killed off pretty much all the arm
> based (read that as can't run windows, thin, great battery life) linux
> netbooks and tablets about a year ago.  Finally ipad blazed a trail,
> proving consumers would buy millions of tablets even if they didn't run
> ms-windows.  Android has started to take advantage of this in the last
> few months, there's dozens of android tablets shipping in the $100-$600
> range.
>
> So there's the really low end e-book like tablets, often don't have the
> android market, often have android 2.x (not tablet optimized), often
> have B&W or lower quality screens, often lack multi-touch, sometimes
> have rather high display latencies.  Probably the leader on the low end
> is the Nook.  They typically have slower single core CPUs.  Often
> require significant hacking to make fun/useful.
>
> Few $200-$300 you get to the mid range, larger displays, always color,
> often multitouch, often a GPS, often a webcam.  Things like the Superpad
> 10.2" ($200) to the ViewSonic gTablet ($300).
>
> The high end is more direct competition for things like the ipad/ipad2.
>  Dual core CPUs, 512-1024 MB ram, high quality screen, android 3.0
> (tablet optimized).  Things like the Dell Streak 7", Samsung 2nd gen
> tablets, Xoom, and the new Asus Transformer.  The Xoom is WAY too
> expensive and isn't selling, but Asus just started shipping almost
> identical hardware for $400.00.
> ,
> So personally for my "best" tablet:
> * 7-9", 10" is a bit big for e-book type duty.  Most hardback pages are
>  on the order of 8" diagonal.  Anything larger gets tough to hold in
>  one hand
> * a nice color screen so I can do light video watching, light
>  web browsing, casual gaming.  Some e-book reading as well.
> * android 3.0
> * Dual core CPU and 512-1024MB ram.
> * Open bootloader.
> * 1280x800 (for a nice high DPI).
>
> So while the nice 10" tablets are shipping today (Asus transformer and
> Motorola Xoom), the nicer 7-9" tablets aren't shipping yet.  The one
> I've got my eye on currently is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9.  It's not
> shipping yet though.  If Dell delivers on the promises android 3.0
> upgrade for the Streak 7" that would be in the running as well.  Archos
> has (so far) been shipping pretty low end tablets, but has promised a
> high end tablet referred to as the Gen 9 that sounds promising, includes
> a very nice dual core cpu, and of course honeycomb.
>
> Oh, almost forgot the Tmobile Gslate (LG) is 8.9", 1280x768, honeycomb
> and is shipping.  Tempting.
>
> Try search android tablet on amazon, or maybe tegra tablet if you want a
> more complete list.
>
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