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Building Your Own Tablet PC?
GuNgA-DiN asks: "I would like to develop a prototype system for the Educational market using tablet PC's. I need to buy a few tablet PC's (with docking stations) and built-in wireless capability. Does anyone know where I could buy a barebones tablet PC kit? I don't want to spend $2,300 on one just to test out my idea. There are plenty of options available for end-users with pre-installed operating systems (read: WindowsXP Tablet edition). However, these are very expensive and will never make it to the low-cost Educational market. I need a barebones, build-it-yourself developer's kit that I can use to experiment with."
Along the same lines, does anybody have a list of Tablet PC's which can run Linux? That is, not just theoretically, but which someone has already done the work and published the methodology?
It is not likely that you will ever find a cheap tablet PC. Parts cost money. Tablet PC's are required to be small and therefore require expensive parts. The screen alown probably is around a $1000. While MS does screw everyone I doubt that the OS is a major factor for the cost as you imply.
When was the last time you saw a do it yourself laptop kit? The fact you don't basically proves my point. I can't believe that slashdot even posted this question. Oh, wait. I can.
This site sells tablets for "sub $1000." While Lindows claims they will be selling that same tablet for "around $500."
There are far more advantages to businesses than there are for a lone person.
Occam's razor is the blind faith in the natural selection of least resistance and in universal oversimplification. -- EF
...always getting advertised on Slashdot (except for when you want to find out what they're called - can anyone remember?)
Pretty cheap - in fact you could buy them all and just develop your own OS distro. Save you lots of time and $$$
All things in moderation; including moderation
Please name a few.
This is no troll, I sincerely don't understand how these things are practical in an educational environment, for business or for personal use.
I see these as another attempt by Microsoft to build an artificial need. These are slower at reading human input, more expensive, and really provide nothing more than one can alredy get with a laptop.
A piece of paper and pencil are much more durable, more field-ready, and much easier to replace. A laptop is more durable, faster at reading human input, and will ultimately last much longer than these things will (having the screen and the rest of the hardware components so close means that the LCD is going to last a relatively short time compared to its laptop counterpart).
Anyway, thanks in advance.
Notes From Under *nix: blas.phemo.us
Start with http://uclinux.org/. They have embeded device Linux and also sell kits for a couple of hundred AFAIK. Then go to http://linuxdevices.com/ as they specialize in telling people in the Linux community what is available for handhelds and such. Go to the products and see if there is somethign for you to use. There are places that make MB and hardware and such. It may be possible to get all the parts there.
Only 'flamers' flame!
These things will be used for mainly a factory or lab based environment where:
1) workers have to move between stations but still need access to order information, and need to fill out order processing forms
2) workers do not have room for a desktop computer or need mobility (i.e. supervisors running periodic checkups on workers etc.)
3) situations that only require thin clients (web browser) to perform all data handling duties
4) also you do not need to design where individual computers go. Departments just check one out, and go with it (of course this also raises the issue of security but that can be handled quite simply)
As far as the ability to read human input goes. I think that is not quite as big an issue, as I would think with these devices it would primarily be used for checking status or updating status of certain items (which would probably be done with a pull down list). I personally am very excited about these tablet PCs and am writing software to take advantage of them in the lab in which I work. It should make things quite a bit more efficient, and it could potentially eliminate the need for paper (I know we've all heard that before, but this has the actual potential for doing it). And it enables instant transfer of jobs between departments (if the software is designed effectively). Sure a lot of this could be handled by laptops, but you have to be sitting to use those. And in lab based environments, people are not going to be writing prose at their station, they are going to be checking things off and selecting from lists different options. Anyways, I can't wait to get some of these babies in. This is what I've been telling management will be happening for a long time, and now the time has finally come.
Occam's razor is the blind faith in the natural selection of least resistance and in universal oversimplification. -- EF
I don't want to spend $2,300 on one just to test out my idea.
This really means "my idea isn't worth $2300 to me."
- A.P.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
Can anyone suggest a cheap touch screen overlay for 10.4" lcds? I've been looking for one for my i-opener for a long time.