I have to second the Transformer vote. I just returned from a month-long assignment abroad, during which time I had my Transformer 32GB + keyboard dock with me. The keyboard dock is a must for long sessions on ssh in my opinion, I can't imagine touch-typing with the on-screen keyboard. The extra battery it adds also helps on long flights away from a wall socket, and it doubles as a stand. The combo have now completely replaced my HP netbook (and fit nicely in its old case, I might add).:)
I am still looking for a decent ssh client that doesn't suck in the terminal emulation category (I use ConnectBot which works for most things, but the tab completion and SSH tunneling didn't seem to behave for me for some reason but it could be a PLBKAC issue). Daroon Player handled most of the media I threw at it (rips of my DVDs and transcoded MPEGs from my Mythbuntu recordings mostly) and Skype works great with the front-facing camera. The built-in browser works well too, though there were some sites (Gizmodo and Jalopnik) that occasionally experience scroll lock due to some Flash or other embedded object, but work fine if I just take the URL over to Firefox Mobile../ works just fine in both, thankfully. Pray you have access to WiFi though, wired ethernet using a USB dongle isn't an option as far as I know (which sucks when the hotel wants you to use a wired connection to sign up for the account you need to have to get onto the wireless network!).
You can get CM7 for the Transformer IIRC, though I still haven't taken the plunge to root it and install. Hoping for some ICS lovin' in the near future...
There's a healthy hacking community for Pioneer AVIC in-dash units (http://www.avic411.com/). The current generation (F-series) is basically a Mio Windows CE 5.0 Navi that runs iGo 8.0 and interfaces to an AV board for sound out. It uses a Parrot Bluetooth for the handsfree but it's not a full BT stack so no A2DP. The interface Pioneer had an external software house design has been rather bemoaned for some frustrating "quirks", so there's a lot of motivation to hack the units at the moment. There is a way to launch external apps from the iGo script interface now and there's even an effort to write a new interface from scratch that launches from the SD slot (sort of like MioPocket for some of the PNAs). There may also be a way to use SDIO 802.11b/g wireless cards with the units that was borrowed from gpspassion.com.
Pioneer will be releasing a new series of in-dash units soon (X series) and a 3.0 firmware release for the F-series that apparently removes the ability to use the backdoor method many of us use to hack the unit, so if you do decide to get one make sure it's only got the 2.0 firmware on it.
I've been using a Nomad IIc for the last 6-8 months whilst working out at the gym. The Linux command-line app I use is pretty straight forward, you can even batch upload a playlist via it's FTP-like commands. Since the app uses the Linux USB file system, I don't think it's portable to other *NIX platforms at the moment (but I may be wrong).
Since I use a treadmill or cross-country simulator as part of the workout, I like the light weight and smallish size (clips nicely on the hip or on an arm band) since it doesn't bounce around much. The Smartmedia cards are pretty cheap right now (I bought a batch of 3 128MB cards for ~$40/each at my local Fry's), so I can have different music for different days without having to remember to re-upload a new list.
The only complaint I have is the headphones are a little on the cheap side, and will need to be replaced soon thanks to the decomposing foam pads (though that's mainly thanks to regular use and a genetic pre-disposition to sweating while exerting myself, I think). Other than that, I'd vouch for it, and I seem to recall it was pretty cheap at Tiger and a few other online outlets.
During your recovery period, did you find the need to use any accessibility tools to accomplish tasks? If so, what were your impressions? Does Linux have the tools people with alternative interface needs (like text-to-speech) need to access their information?
Congrats on your recovery progress. I'm glad to see the world hasn't lost another good person to a drunk driver's carelessness.
Slashdot Mirror
Requires a USB key to apply the update via the bootloader. I had to do a factory reset after in order to get mine to download the control panel.
http://esupport.sony.com/US/p/swu-download.pl?mdl=HIDC10&upd_id=10724&os_group_id=18
I have to second the Transformer vote. I just returned from a month-long assignment abroad, during which time I had my Transformer 32GB + keyboard dock with me. The keyboard dock is a must for long sessions on ssh in my opinion, I can't imagine touch-typing with the on-screen keyboard. The extra battery it adds also helps on long flights away from a wall socket, and it doubles as a stand. The combo have now completely replaced my HP netbook (and fit nicely in its old case, I might add). :)
I am still looking for a decent ssh client that doesn't suck in the terminal emulation category (I use ConnectBot which works for most things, but the tab completion and SSH tunneling didn't seem to behave for me for some reason but it could be a PLBKAC issue). Daroon Player handled most of the media I threw at it (rips of my DVDs and transcoded MPEGs from my Mythbuntu recordings mostly) and Skype works great with the front-facing camera. The built-in browser works well too, though there were some sites (Gizmodo and Jalopnik) that occasionally experience scroll lock due to some Flash or other embedded object, but work fine if I just take the URL over to Firefox Mobile. ./ works just fine in both, thankfully. Pray you have access to WiFi though, wired ethernet using a USB dongle isn't an option as far as I know (which sucks when the hotel wants you to use a wired connection to sign up for the account you need to have to get onto the wireless network!).
You can get CM7 for the Transformer IIRC, though I still haven't taken the plunge to root it and install. Hoping for some ICS lovin' in the near future...
Or when Lucas/ILM sues the pants off him as they are apt to do.
There's a healthy hacking community for Pioneer AVIC in-dash units (http://www.avic411.com/). The current generation (F-series) is basically a Mio Windows CE 5.0 Navi that runs iGo 8.0 and interfaces to an AV board for sound out. It uses a Parrot Bluetooth for the handsfree but it's not a full BT stack so no A2DP. The interface Pioneer had an external software house design has been rather bemoaned for some frustrating "quirks", so there's a lot of motivation to hack the units at the moment. There is a way to launch external apps from the iGo script interface now and there's even an effort to write a new interface from scratch that launches from the SD slot (sort of like MioPocket for some of the PNAs). There may also be a way to use SDIO 802.11b/g wireless cards with the units that was borrowed from gpspassion.com.
Pioneer will be releasing a new series of in-dash units soon (X series) and a 3.0 firmware release for the F-series that apparently removes the ability to use the backdoor method many of us use to hack the unit, so if you do decide to get one make sure it's only got the 2.0 firmware on it.
I've been using a Nomad IIc for the last 6-8 months whilst working out at the gym. The Linux command-line app I use is pretty straight forward, you can even batch upload a playlist via it's FTP-like commands. Since the app uses the Linux USB file system, I don't think it's portable to other *NIX platforms at the moment (but I may be wrong).
Since I use a treadmill or cross-country simulator as part of the workout, I like the light weight and smallish size (clips nicely on the hip or on an arm band) since it doesn't bounce around much. The Smartmedia cards are pretty cheap right now (I bought a batch of 3 128MB cards for ~$40/each at my local Fry's), so I can have different music for different days without having to remember to re-upload a new list.
The only complaint I have is the headphones are a little on the cheap side, and will need to be replaced soon thanks to the decomposing foam pads (though that's mainly thanks to regular use and a genetic pre-disposition to sweating while exerting myself, I think). Other than that, I'd vouch for it, and I seem to recall it was pretty cheap at Tiger and a few other online outlets.
Good luck finding the right fit!
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During your recovery period, did you find the need to use any accessibility tools to accomplish tasks? If so, what were your impressions? Does Linux have the tools people with alternative interface needs (like text-to-speech) need to access their information?
Congrats on your recovery progress. I'm glad to see the world hasn't lost another good person to a drunk driver's carelessness.