Re: [PLUG] Linux friendly tablet?

[Julien Vehent <julien@linuxwall.info>]

On 2012-07-06 1:16, JP Vossen wrote:
> As many of you know I'm more of a tool guy (e.g. swiss army knife) than
> gadget guy, but it seems like it might finally be time for a tablet.
>
> I refuse to have any iDevices in the house, so that basically leaves 
> Android,
> AFAIK.  While in theory devices build on top of Linux should be Linux
> friendly, not everything is (see TomTom).
>
> So what is a good, inexpensive Linux friendly tablet?  Use cases as 
> follows:

I got one for those LePan 2 a couple months back, and I'm very happy with 
it:
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0381568

It runs Android 3.2 so well I didn't feel like rooting up and installing 
cyanogen (yet).

> * Stay-at-home Mom, for email, web surfing, simple apps, etc.  (WiFi only 
> is
> fine, we're not doing any kind of data plan, if that even applies to 
> tablets)
> * Kid friendly (6 & 8), preferably edutainment-type stuff
> * Angry Birds is apparently a requirement (hey, that teaches ballistics,
> right?)
> * Cut the rope, ditto

Yeah, it does all that. The latest angry bird is pretty cool on it. I also 
enjoy the astronomy apps that let you point at the sky and shows you what 
stars you're supposed to find. Works nicely, when the GPS isn't freaking out 
:)

> Related, recommended apps?
>
> * Astronomy, ideally including satellite info

Ha, well, I just mentionned that. Sky Map is cool.

> * Video creator (hate to admit it, but iMovie is pretty awesome)

On a tablet ? Haven't tried. Video creation is usually something I want 
horsepower for.

> * eBook reader (but won't work well in direct sun, right?)

Aldiko. Readable in full sun (not as well as a regular book), and you can 
dim it enough at night to not end up looking like one of those big eyed fish 
:)

> * Movie player

MX player. Does the job.

> * Netflix?  (Optional, we have the DVD-only plan now)

Yes. But it won't take DVDs :p

> * What else don't I know about?

Open Street Map. Downloadable locally via Osman to go on trips. 3D google 
earth. dropbox. k-9 mail. Firefox. IMDB. sketch n draw. amazon Kindle app. 
Hell, it even has Skype !



- Julien
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