interesting tablets

[David Collier-Brown]

I have a previous atom netbook that I use as my writing-and-dev machine,
and it's quite good.  To replace it I'll want a machine with flash disk
(or cache) and a wodge of memory. The lack of the latter, including
video memory, is the current bottleneck on the machine. For command-line
compilations it's as fast as a much larger machine. For a memory-hog GUI
(eclipse), it's too slow at everything.

--dave



On 04/07/2014 02:01 PM, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
> On Mon, Apr 07, 2014 at 01:00:15PM -0400, D. Hugh Redelmeier wrote:
>> There's a new generation of tablets appearing.  They have Atom processors, 
>> running in 64-bit mode.
>>
>> They seem aggressively priced: maybe Intel is trying to buy its way
>> into this market.  These Atoms are much better than the Atoms from
>> years ago which folks have disparaged.
> That's what intel claims everytime a new atom generation is released,
> and so far every time they have lied.  I am going to wait and see before
> I trust intel's statements about their new atom and performance.
>
>> These tablets make me dream of running a conventional Linux distro on
>> them, but I don't know the likelihood of that.
>>
>> Last Fall, the Ausus T100 and the Dell Venue 8 pro convertible tablets
>> looked interesting.  These ran Windows 8.1 (not RT).  They used Atoms
>> in 32 bit mode.  One stupid barrier to Linux was 32-bit-only UEFI.  No
>> Linux distro supports that.  Seems like an easy-to-overcome problem
>> but it doesn't seem to have happened.  One good about these is
>> that they had well-integrated keyboards -- conventional Linux distros
>> need keyboards.
>>
>> A new generation of Atom-based tablets seems to be appearing.  So far,
>> just for Android.  They look interesting:
>>
>> + very nice displays
>>
>> + inexpensive
>>
>> + 64-bit mode
>>
>> - will the firmware supports loading a conventional distro?
>>
>> - are there reasonable keyboard options (eg. ones that link up to
>>   form a clamshell, like a notebook)?
>>
>> "Asus MeMO FHD Pad 10.1" 16GB Android 4.2 Tablet With Intel Atom Z2560
>> Processor."
>> <http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/asus-asus-memo-fhd-pad-10-1-16gb-android-4-2-tablet-with-intel-clover-trail-plus-z2560-processor-blue-me302c-a1-bl/10275832.aspx?path=f9c89eba4ff3bcb603e78c3ecd2ab0a2en02>
>> Today only: $229.99
>> Note: FHD is today's jargon for 1920x1080 (Full High Def).
>>
>> - standard resources: 2G RAM, 16G flash
>>
>> - does NOT say IPS (says "LED" which is true of all displays now, but
>>   stating "LED" usually means "Not IPS")
> This review
> http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Asus-Memo-Pad-FHD-10-Tablet.99907.0.html
> claims it is IPS.  Also the 178 degree viewing angle would tend to
> indicate it is IPS.  Also it is 1920x1200, not 1920x1080, so it is full HD
> and then some.  Almost certainly the same lovely screen as the Asus
> TF700 has.
>
>> http://www.onda-tablet.com/onda-v975i-quad-core-intel-bay-trail-t-9-7-inch-retina-screen-ram-2gb-tablet-pc.html
>> Similar resources (twice the flash).
>> US$209.90 from China.
>> IPS screen, 2048x1536 (nicer resolution and aspect ratio)
>> I asked a bunch of questions on that page but my question hasn't shown
>> up yet.
>>
>> These are a fifth of what I recently paid for an ultrabook.  Of course
>> the ultrabook is better in a number of ways, but one of these tablets,
>> with Linux and a clamshell keyboard, might have satisfied most of my
>> requirements.  In fact, the size of these tablet (10") might be better
>> than the 13.3" of my netbook.
> I think I will stick with my real laptop.
>


-- 
David Collier-Brown,         | Always do right. This will gratify
System Programmer and Author | some people and astonish the rest
davecb-0XdUWXLQalXR7s880joybQ at public.gmane.org           |                      -- Mark Twain

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