[ale] possibility of a non Android Linux tablet

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Hi all,

Here I am replying to my own email again.  Well, I've been thinking and 
thinking about this.  There's no doubt that I WANT a tablet, although 
that would be one more computer to maintain and one more to try to 
prevent from getting viruses.  Android is a huge virus target.  However, 
my NEED to go to Atlanta Bread Company or Starbucks and look at 
websites, check email, or check financial charts is not that great, when 
I can generally go back home in 10 minutes and get access to my 
computers.  When I had that Pandigital tablet for a few days, I couldn't 
get it to attach to Atlanta Bread Company's internet at all.  And, when 
I've had my laptop there, performance is spotty at best.  I can always 
take my laptop somewhere if I really want to.  In the end, I think I 
might want to keep or reallocate the $ 200 more than I want to have a 
tablet.  I think that I might just get a new slim case for my 15.6" 
laptop as well as a separate power supply.  That way, if I want to go 
portable, I can just put the computer into standby mode, put it in the 
case and go.  Now, if I had a couple of thousand dollars to burn, I 
wouldn't flinch about spending $ 200, but that's not the case.  
Regardless, thanks to those who responded.  I learned a good bit about 
the HP Touchpad tablet and the Acer Aspire One netbooks during my 
research.  If I were going to buy something, it would probably be either 
one of those or a Kindle Fire or an Acer Iconia tablet.

Sincerely,

Ron

On 2/23/2012 8:42 PM, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
> Hi Michael T.,
>
> I was wondering, what did you have to do to the Fire to get it to run 
> ICE?  And, are you still limited to Amazon's limited set of options, 
> or do you have the full Android Market?  I'm presuming you rooted the 
> device.  Are you using Cyanogen Mod 9?  If so, was it hard to do?  Can 
> you attach a keyboard to the Fire?
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ron
>
> On 2/22/2012 7:52 PM, Michael Trausch wrote:
>>
>> Ice Cream Sandwich on the Kindle Fire. I don't need all the bells and 
>> whistles.
>>
>> Only thing I would like is the ability to insert a SIM card and use a 
>> Bluetooth headset, and be able to have the tablet actually *be* the 
>> phone...
>>
>> --
>> Sent from my Ice Cream Sandwich powered Kindle Fire!
>> Pardon any typos...
>>
>> On Feb 22, 2012 5:50 PM, "Ron Frazier (ALE)" 
>> <atllinuxenthinfo at c3energy.com 
>> <mailto:atllinuxenthinfo at c3energy.com>> wrote:
>>
>>     Hi guys,
>>
>>     I just recently bought a Pandigital SuperNova tablet for $ 200
>>     from Best
>>     Buy, kept it a couple of days, and returned it.  I don't really
>>     have $
>>     300 - $ 500 to spend on a tablet.  It's actually a really cool
>>     device,
>>     with a 1 GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, and 4 GB of shared
>>     storage.  It
>>     has an 8" capacitive touch screen, SD card slot, USB host capability,
>>     HDMI out, wifi, bluetooth, and dual cameras.  It's pretty snappy
>>     to run
>>     and plays video on Youtube well and displays web pages well when
>>     you add
>>     the Dolphin web browser.  I really liked it, BUT ...  I was really
>>     annoyed by the fact that it is running Android Gingerbread 2.3, will
>>     probably never be updated, and doesn't have the Android market place.
>>     It has Getjar, and I installed Amazon market.  However, you still
>>     have
>>     only about 1/10 the selection of applications that you would with the
>>     Android market place.  I was particularly bothered by the fact that I
>>     could not install Firefox, nor the Barnes and Noble Nook program
>>     without
>>     having access to the Android market place.  It has a built in BN app,
>>     but it's not the same thing.  I could potentially root it and install
>>     the Android market place, and it may be possible to install the
>>     Android
>>     market place without rooting it.  However, it would become more
>>     obsolete
>>     over time and possibly more subject to viruses.  Also, every time
>>     there
>>     was a firmware update from Pandigital, I would be worried about
>>     the hack
>>     failing.  In the end, I decided to return it.
>>
>>     I'm wondering if you guys know of any similarly priced
>>     alternatives that
>>     are running Android 3.2 Honeycomb or Android 4.x Ice Cream
>>     Sandwich.  In
>>     terms of screen size, I don't really need 10".  I think 8" is
>>     about the
>>     biggest thing I can thumb type on when it's in landscape mode.  It's
>>     also a nice size to carry around, but still big enough to read
>>     the print
>>     on the screen without a microscope.
>>
>>     I was also disappointed in some ways with Android, although I
>>     didn't get
>>     to play with it too long.  For example, though, you can't even print
>>     from your applications without adding a $ 13 specialized app from the
>>     app store.
>>
>>     I was also wondering if anyone knows of a solid Linux tablet
>>     that's not
>>     Android.  That would give me more of the features I'm used too
>>     and more
>>     traditional applications.  I don't want to primarily use the
>>     tablet for
>>     content production, but I want it to be able to run my same (or
>>     equivalent) applications when I need them and I'm out and about.
>>      I want
>>     to be able to attach a keyboard and mouse and do real work on it if
>>     needed.  Most of the time, though, I'd use it for content
>>     consumption.
>>     It would strictly be a backup computer for when I'm away from my
>>     desk.
>>     I may consider a netbook, if there's nothing really in the tablet
>>     space.  It looks like non Android Linux tablets aren't really
>>     there yet,
>>     but maybe you guys know of some.  I'd like to see Ubuntu or Debian
>>     running on a tablet.  The CPU's and memory are certainly powerful
>>     enough
>>     for some versions of Linux.
>>
>>     I've only just begun research into non Android Linux tablets, but
>>     I ran
>>     across this link which looks interesting.
>>
>>     http://www.zdnet.com/blog/open-source/spark-the-first-free-software-linux-tablet-is-on-its-way/10255
>>
>>     Sincerely,
>>
>>     Ron
>>



-- 

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone.  I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such.  I don't always see new messages very quickly.)

Ron Frazier

770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT c3energy.com

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