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."

Comments

Re:Tablet PC's

[Trusty Penfold]

list

lindows tablets?

[burns210]

This site sells tablets for "sub $1000." While Lindows claims they will be selling that same tablet for "around $500."

Re:Cost

[Skyfire]

First of all, laptop kit:
http://www.ecs.com.tw/products/ibuddiexp.htm

Second of all, cheap tablet:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/11/13/203524 7&mode=nested&tid=137

here's the actual tablet:
http://www.stepupcomputing.com/products.asp

Re:Tablet PC's

[emag]

It seems from a quick perusal of that page, that at the very least, the majority of the "tablets" listed are not, in fact "Tablet PCs", but are a beast that most people haven't really ever heard of called "digitizer tablets". Usually, graphic artists and other artsy geeks (notably, not me since I lack any kind of artistic talent) have these things because it's a more "natural" interface than a mouse for drawing and the like on PCs. Unfortunately, most (all?) don't actually have a display component, or any stand-alone processing capabilities at all.

It also seemed like a lot of links on the page were dead, or it was for *really* obsolete hardware.

Re:Am I the only one thinking...

[Directrix1]

There are far more advantages to businesses than there are for a lone person.

Those remaindered touch screen PCs that are...

[floydigus]

...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 $$$

Re:Cost

[MrResistor]

The i-Buddie isn't really a laptop, it's more like a desktop built on a laptop chassis. Notice that it has no battery. Too bad, really. I was really excited when I first heard about it, but just having a portable computer, with no battery, seems kind of pointless.

The tablet is interesting, but I'd say it's still to expensive for what the article is asking for. Of course, it's almost certainly cheaper than building your own. It's not like you can go down to your local computer shop and pick up a tablet chassis and motherboard...

Re:Cost

[JabberWokky]

Actually, it's a rebranded desknote (see the .com and .biz). I've been researching them heavily, and have been thinking about getting one. Most people I know (and even myself) always use a laptop with a power outlet (even at Dennys or waiting for new tires), so it's no biggie. Dropping in a Pentium 4.3 Ghz into this gives you far more than any laptop can do, and since it uses standard desktop CPUs, memory, etc, it's far cheaper. Plus, if you really really want, you can get an external battery for $100 that gives you 1.5 hours or so.

--
Evan

uxlinux.org..

[josepha48]

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.

What the hell is up with you cheap bastards?

[Wakko Warner]

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.

Re:What the hell is up with you cheap bastards?

[Wakko Warner]

Sometimes you need to make sacrifices in order to make money. If this guy really is living hand-to-mouth, he ought to look into getting a research grant or small business loan, if he's really serious about it. If he isn't serious about it (which is honestly what it sounds like, to me), he should pack it in and let the professionals handle it. Nobody is going to take him seriously if he waltzes into a meeting with a cardboard tablet PC demo box.

- A.P.

Re:Cost

[AvitarX]

Isn't ECS a totally garbagew company?

I baught one of their motherboards... oops.

I went online and found so many, I got x number of these with 3/4 not working posts when I searched.

My computer had an uptime of approx 5 mins when using mine.

I would not spend anymore then 30 dollors on one of their products ever again.

Touch Screen!

[jovlinger]

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.