Tablet

[Mataresa]

Tablet

Hi, I am thinking about buying a tablet, but since it would be my first one, I am unsure what I should go for. You guys probably have experience and could make some suggestions.

I want to mainly take meeting notes with it, read .pdfs and maybe watch some YouTube videos. So I was thinking, I would like to have one with an integrated keyboard in the cover, which has decent haptic feedback but is not too clunky. A pen would be nice to have but optional. I don't need a good camera, if any and don't want to play any games on it. As OS I would prefer Android, I think.

I probably can't have all my wishes, but maybe you know something that comes close.

 

[Alan989]

Hi, I am thinking about buying a tablet, but since it would be my first one, I am unsure what I should go for. You guys probably have experience and could make some suggestions.

I want to mainly take meeting notes with it, read .pdfs and maybe watch some YouTube videos. So I was thinking, I would like to have one with an integrated keyboard in the cover, which has decent haptic feedback but is not too clunky. A pen would be nice to have but optional. I don't need a good camera, if any and don't want to play any games on it. As OS I would prefer Android, I think.

I probably can't have all my wishes, but maybe you know something that comes close.

I'm not sure that any of us can help you as I don't think many of us have any tablets. I personally have one, but I barely use it as I'm either on the PC or the iPhone. The only time I really use mine is when my PC is in for repairs or for upgrades. Not too sure about everyone else.

 

[volsung]

I personally think tablets are great for what they are: media playback and entertainment. They're also great support devices that will substitute paper and notes in many cases. Phones are not large enough for this and usually not as powerful. They're also great for voice chat if you travel often.

There are quite a few fun and innovative Android games out there. Look up the mobile gaming thread.

As for brands, I like Nvidia's tablet but it might be expensive. If you're going for Android though the best route is the Nexus line. They get updates often and their hardware is excellent. They are also let you install other OSs, useful if you get sick of Android or if your model stops receiving system updates. Most other brands lock this, so you're stuck with whatever they give you. Avoid common brands like Samsung and Acer unless you want a disposable tablet.

As for keyboards, just get a Bluetooth mini keyboard. Some tablet cases come with one already. Styli are cheap and easy to find.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

I'm waiting for my Jolla tablet to arrive: https://jolla.com/tablet/

You get real Linux (glibc, Wayland and friends), but they also include Alien Dalvik for those who need to run Android stuff for some reason. I supported their crowdfunding, but they said they'll sell it as well.

 

[volsung]

I'm definitely interested in switching to a Linux tablet and phone soon. I'd like to be able to run Android stuff, for the reason that there are a bunch of fun games (unless they're also on Linux).

 

[Garrison72]

I second the Nexus recommendation. I got a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 and while it's great in interface and overall slim size, it struggles with newer games.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

Official Jolla handset doesn't work with US LTE networks, but in Europe it's fine. That's why I recently got a Nexus 5 handset and installed Sailfish there. Community edition doesn't have commercial packages at present (such as Alien Dalvik), but nevertheless it works surprisingly well. Jolla has some plan to enable commercial packages for community installations too, but so far it didn't happen.

For installation instructions on Nexus 5 see https://wiki.merproject.org/wiki/Adaptations/libhybris/Install_SailfishOS_for_hammerhead
Google really hammered it into manufacturers that their official Nexus devices should have unlockable bootloaders. Kudos to Google, since it enables running other operating systems on them like you'd do on your PC.

From real mobile Linux projects there is now also Plasma Mobile from the KDE: http://plasma-mobile.org but it's still in the early development and is not as polished as Sailfish.

In general, situation resembles the early days of Linux however. iOS and Android are like Windows back in the day, so you barely get any developers (like for games) to pay attention to such Linuxes. But now there is a new open project Shashlik from KDE, which aims to provide Android runtime for regular glibc Linux (similar to Alien Dalvik). See https://github.com/shashlik

Lot's of exciting stuff is being worked on now. Normally however, such installation would require native drivers, but getting them is extremely hard. Chip makers like Qualcomm don't care about anything unless you order from them in millions. Except for Intel, since they do provide open drivers for their SoCs. So the way such installations usually work is by using Android hardware drivers and Android kernels adapted to work with glibc. But since those drivers rely on bionic instead of glibc, they use a translation hack (project libhybirs). Somewhat annoying situation, but on the other hand better than nothing. Otherwise we'd have just iOS and Android around.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

Some details on production of the Jolla tablet:

https://blog.jolla.com/jolla-tablet-hardware-update/
http://reviewjolla.blogspot.com/2015/08/jolla-tablet-first-patch-out-of-factory.html

You practically never get such information from major manufacturers.

 

[volsung]

I want to buy a replacement tablet for my wife, but the Nexus 9 is a bit overpriced and the Jolla is not for sale yet. Also, she specifically wants NFC, which the Jolla doesn't have. What to do? Recommendations? We can wait a few months, got a lot on our plate right now.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

I personally prefer 7" tablets, 9" is not an optimal size. What about the same Nexus 7? In my practice, besides Jolla, only Nexus devices are flexible enough, and in dealing with other tablets I only had poor experience (because most of them have unlockable bootloaders).

 

[volsung]

Is there a linux tablet with NFC? I feel like the nexus 7 will just remind her of the incident, but maybe I'm being silly. Also a newer model would be cool.

 

[missilenoss]

Received Ipad mini 2 with Ratina screen version last christmans and I love it. I used to have Sony Xperia 10 inch tablet but it was too big for me to carry everywhere. Other then that it was perfect.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

Is there a linux tablet with NFC?

Not really, or at least not that I know of. All previous projects kind of failed, the last being the Vivaldi KDE tablet for which I was on the waiting list. Jolla were the only ones who managed to pull through something serious with this. Others suffered logistics problems related to manufacturing changes and etc (see the LWN article I linked).

Jolla have experienced people on staff who came from Nokia hardware division, so they are nowhere amateurs. Many of their engineers are former Nokia employees who quit the company once they cancelled their Linux projects (planning to sell their mobile division to MS, which was later simply killed off).

There might be some Tizen targeted Samsung tablets which I've never heard of.

---------- Updated at 11:20 PM ----------

Some images of the ready Jolla tablet (I like how they put the source code for Sailfish OS on the box ).

By the way, their handset has NFC, but I guess they didn't use it in the tablet to reduce costs, since it was a crowdfunded project.

 

[volsung]

The Jolla tablet looks fantastic and we're both sick of Android and Google and snooping. I might try and convince my wife NFC isn't all that necessary, heh. She's been saying she wants a Linux tablet so I hope the Jolla will really deliver.

So, how much will it cost?

Edit: And by the way how do you pronounce that? Joe-Lah? Hoe-Jah? Hoh-lah? Hoh-Jah? Oh and "Joya" means jewel in Spanish.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

So, how much will it cost?

As a backer, I paid $204. According to the campaign site, the expected retail price is $299: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/jolla-tablet-world-s-first-crowdsourced-tablet

Edit: And by the way how do you pronounce that? Joe-Lah? Hoe-Jah? Hoh-lah? Hoh-Jah? Oh and "Joya" means jewel in Spanish.

In actual Finnish it's "Yolla" (meaning a dinghy), but according to Mer developers I spoke with (who work in Jolla) it's supposed to be pronounced as "Dzholla", i.e. as in "joke". However even some Jolla execs say "Yolla", so it's kind of mixed up I use what Mer developers told me a while back.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

A recent review of the Jolla tablet: http://reviewjolla.blogspot.com/2015/08/jolla-tablet-video-with-new-display.html

I don't understand the term "retina" however. What is it supposed to mean? It doesn't sound like any of these screens have any kind of special layers (i.e. like eye light sensitive retina). If they simply mean that it has higher resolution, then what does retina have to do with it? Retina implies a sensor surface. Apparently it was coined by Apple and I find it to be weird and misleading in this context. Resolution of all screens is increasing, so there is no point to give misleading names to it.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

@volsung: Jolla just announced that they'll start accepting limited amount of pre-orders on the tablet in their store tomorrow. I guess it's the batch for early buyers who will be able to get the tablet before they'll open sales fully.

 

[volsung]

I hope they offer a pre order discount, or include a free case

 

[Mataresa]

Why is the black Nexus 9 130€ more expensive than the white one on Amazon. oO

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

Demand I suspect. White is more flashy while black is more classic which is usually more in demand. Though that difference seems too big. May be versions you compared actually have different specs?