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Linux Based Tablets Are Coming
CrypticSpawn writes "Read some good news on Diracian; there will be a Linux tablet coming out running Lycoris's Linux distribution, Lycoris Desktop/LX Tablet Edition. What's great is the tablet is the Protege by Toshiba, so you get a laptop and a tablet wrapped up into one. I guess I am a gadget fanatic, I love my Zaurus, now I want this. They even have pictures of it here. Also found another reference of this tablet on PC World, without the pics."
Right now one of the things it is lacking that it really needs is handwritting recognition, which they say will be in the next release.
Did I tell you I'm just about to submit my perpetual motion machine to manufacturing? Motion will be in the next release, though.
But seriously... I hope they're talking about the "next release" as in "the version that will go onto the tablet when it ships." A Tablet Pc is just an expensive doodle pad without the handwriting recognition.
It all goes downhill from first post
This is probably one of the most innovative parts of the posting :-) I don't recall anyone else claiming that before.
Let me just make sure I understand this correctly:
/. ramblings...
Windows Tablet PC == Bad
Linux Tablet PC == Good
Ok, continue on with the mindless
Im dreaming ofa big bndwdth, That can resist the
I disagree. The laptop/tablet combination is really a neat idea. You have a keyboard with a touchpad or nipple for mouse movement, but also a touch screen and stylus. The LCD rotates 180 degrees so you can have it in a laptop form factor (LCD and keyboard at 90 degrees), or in a tablet form (like a closed laptop, but with the LCD screen facing outwards). That way, you can carry it around like a notepad and write on it in tablet form, but then sit down, swing it around into a laptop, and use it for typing in a meeting.
I've been thinking about selling my current laptop and buying a tablet to replace it, but prices need to come down a bit more before I do that.
what's great is the Tablet is the Protege by Toshiba
Actually it's a Portege - we have one at work. I really like it quite a lot. There are a few software enhancements that need to be made to XP Tablet, but for a kick-start it's really quite nice. I could even go for one that is a bit thinner, has no keyboard, no hard drive, and 802.11G. Basically a thin client tablet that connects to a server and does everything "Terminal" or X-Server style. That way you additionally wouldn't have to lug around the processor and cooling. You'd get killer awesome battery life too. It would still need a simple 'cradle' style charger, though.
Tables are cool - they just need a little work.
No sig for you. YOU GET NO SIG!
Windows Tablet PC == Enormous licencing costs that bite into already razor thin margins
Tablet PC sales have been disapointing, and I understand that Microsoft made a deal with one of the manufacturers (I forget which one) that bundles the handwriting recognition software free with the OS while everyone else has to shell out for both. That's gotta be pissing the rest of 'em off.
Once the handwriting app's written, this'll be a perfect market for linux to make some headway in. I only hope they're not boneheaded enough to release the thing without handwriting recognition (maybe banking on the ability to use it as a laptop instead).
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Didn't notice if this has been mentioned yet but this tablet is an exact clone of a Toshiba model that has been available for quite some time now. The Protege 3500 runs on the PIII-M as well, only it comes with Windows XP. The price for the Toshiba version with Windows is around $300 cheaper in retail stores.
Speak for yourself -- don't be so quick to determine what "people" want. I have personally owned a Fujitsu Stylistic slate-style tablet PC, a Toshiba Portege 3500 Hybrid style tablet PC, and of course various standard laptop computers. The style I would choose? The hybrid. There is simply no loss of "convenience" as you put it. There is the obvious ADDED convenience of having ONE device instead of TWO.
Um, you do realize that Centrino is just the brand name for a particular bundle of hardware, right? Intel requires a low power proc, wireless ethernet and a couple of other things for a notebook to be certified Centrino. Most of the Centrino notebooks I've seen have had Pentium M processors, which is *gasp!* a PIII! Why? It's more efficient clock-for-clock than the P4 and draws less power. So why the rebranding? For people like yourself who think P4 > P3 without really understanding why they're using the "old" architechture.
Nope, it's a good thing.
As a Toshiba TabletPC user for the last year or so, I've had numerous times where I've needed to switch between tablet and laptop in a matter of minutes. As a freelance developer, there's no way I'm taking a tablet and a laptop to a clients, that's just nuts.
I tend to use the Toshiba in slate form at meetings - typing can be distracting and too time consuming, whereas with a slate I get to show my notes around and have others annotate them - it's much more natural. When I'm coding, it goes back into laptop mode because there's no way I'm using the handwriting recognition to do that!
Now I'd agree that a traditional laptop with pen input (Acer makes one I believe?) is a bit of a waste of time, but the Toshiba screen swivels around and lies face up on top of the keyboard which gives you a very useable tablet. To this extent, it does give you the advantages of both form factors in one package.
The other issue is market acceptability. Your market is much smaller if you release pure tablets. Making hybrids means that people are willing to try out the tablet features if it means spending a little more than they'd splash out for a laptop, rather than blowing thousands on something they might grow tired of after a month or so.
So to sum up, hybrid tablet/laptops are a good thing and in my opinion, they couldn't have chosen a better hardware platform for the Linux tablet.
You're missing the obvious advantage of having one device instead of two.
In fact, I was just passively reading slashdot in tablet mode on my Portege 3500, when I decided to flip it into laptop mode to quickly write this rebuttal to your ignorant posts. Now I will flip back into tablet mode and continue browsing slashdot like a book.
Now -- let's see... you suggest having two different devices... Am I supposed to carry two devices with me at all times? And if I were browsing this same article on my slate tablet, and wanted to write a length reply like this, I would have to boot up / start using my tablet, navigate to the same page I am already at, and write this reply? Or use a pen that is made for only short input?
I hope you can see that there are clear advantages to the hybrid style.
Microsoft, with their market share and cold hard cash, couldn't convince people that tablets were a "good idea" but some minute outfit, using an OS that's has the most arcane GUI of any of the major OSs is going to succeed ?
I don't think so.
Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.