x86 in an ipad form factor? Boo!
What linux tablets use RISC? I see PineTab does, but it’s for people who like to brag that they use Arch. Are there any that are more polished?
From what I understand, the RISC-V ecosystem is not polished enough yet, so the state of PineTab-V roughly represents the state of the entire platform for desktop Linux.
I see they also have an ARM model available. Shit… at $240 after shipping I might buy that for my 10 year old to get him into Linux.
As much as I like the idea behind Pine64, make sure you understand what you’re doing - their devices usually need some time before they’re useful, they might underperform, etc.
On the other hand, they’re usually priced well for what they offer, and I think the ARM model of new PineTab might look better than their usual new offerings. Make sure to find out, how polished it is before you buy.
Let’s not forget now that Purism is a scam. Librem 5 is a joke.
I just received mine after waiting 3+ years actually. It is pretty sweet with waydroid and KDE connect. I’m still not daily driving it because of the lack of a maps application with navigation though.
I use Organic Maps on Android, but it also has a Linux version nowadays. I haven’t tried it, but if it’s the same codebase, that might work for you?
On Sailfish OS I used to use Pure Maps, which seems to be available on Flathub. I don’t know if it works on the Librem 5 though, but you might want to give it a try? There’s also an optional dependency for offline maps.
Their company is run by scammers it seems. Louis Rossman’s videos are informative.
Another Linux tablet is definitely good news. I like Purism’s stated values and their laptops are very solid, the Librem phone was a disappointment for me personally though.
I’m really excited about Linux tablets, but quite apprehensive about Purism as a company. Starlabs’ new tablet does also seem like a compelling package, luckily.
Since I don’t know either: could you tell me a bit about your thoughts about Starlabs and Purism?
In addition to what the other commenter said: AFAIK Starlabs is the only Europe based manufacturer that makes their own Linux based laptops (non Clevo/similar computers). I personally don’t have any experience with their stuff though, but I’ve never heard similar complaints about them that are levelled at Purism.
Purism’s corporate charter recognizes them as a social purpose corporation, it sounds very good in theory, but I think it’s been a struggle for them to pull off. Under this charter they’re supposed to value creating products and services that benefit society more than simply making profits. Unfortunately, I think being so idealistic has caused them to over promise and under deliver, as was the case with the Librem 5 phone imo.
I have some links saved about purism dramas, in case you are interested:
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Zlatan-Todoric-Interview
https://old.reddit.com/r/Purism/comments/dmhfcz/purism_then_and_now/
https://old.reddit.com/r/Purism/comments/my8u2l/psa_librem_14_units_appear_to_have_been_modified/
https://old.reddit.com/r/Purism/comments/owahb4/librem_5_usa_read_before_ordering/
From this blog review on June 2023, it seems that camera, WiFi and bluetooth are still not working properly.
PineTab2 seems more like a developer tinkering/testing device rather than a Linux tablet alternative for Android/iPad.
Yeah, that’s generally the idea behind Pine64 devices. Also note that they encourage you not to order if you expect refunds for issues like broken pixels.
They’re very cheap because of that though.
