Tablet vs. Laptop vs. Combo

So, my latest personal technology debate.  Which should be the next system that I invest in for my family members consumption.  Let me state that if I had more money than sense, I would invest for everyone (4 of us) to have Apple products across the board, but that option is way too expensive.  As well the two children should be taking theirs to public school and a loss of that kind of value would be crushing.

As  my primary goal, these new devices should replace older machines and multiple under-powered devices.  In an attempt to consolidate for the kids onto a specific device/platform by which they could accomplish school work.  That choice being more than adequate for their mother who does email and navigation mostly, and for myself something grander than a smartphone, but would clearly be under-powered for vitalization or some of the other purposes that require I have a modern desktop performance system.

Gaming is not coming into the equation at all.  This also drops some of the performance requirements.  I can add that I have an affinity for Linux over all other operating systems for the management of security. As I have mentioned before, Apple would be my mainstay if not so expensive, so I do not shy away from the most productive choice just because it is not my ideal.  In this comparison there are devices which are Win8, Android, and basic systems I would install Linux on.

So I started a quest with a budget.  Since that is probably the most limiting factor, let's discuss it as secondary.  €400-500 per person is what my target is.  This puts me in the high end tablet range or low end laptop.  My first inclination was to go towards the tablet, so that it would be as portable as possible with the longest battery life.  But I personally need to be able to use a hardware keyboard.  So, I know that a bluetooth keyboard can be added to most any device, I didn't want to have yet another thing to try and keep charged as a separate thing.  This has all gotten me down to looking at the following devices closely.

Asus Transformer Pad TF701T (Android 4.3)
Microsoft Surface 2 (Win8 RT)
Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 (2014 edition) (Android 4.4)
Lenovo Miix 2 10  (Win8.1)
Asus Transformer Book T100 (Win8.1)

Reviewing point I used were apps, operating system, size, ports and expandability.  Due to some software limitations (like proper office suite missing for Android as well as limitations for Windows 8 RT to windows store only) leaned me towards to the new entries in the "convertible" space.  The Asus Transformer Book T100 and the Lenovo Miix 2 10.  With very similar specs, I've made a short list of the actual differences.

Lenovo Miix 2 10    (+full hd screen, -non standard micro-usb charger, - usb 2.0 only)
+Full HD screen
+rear camera
+larger kb keys
- kb numbers out of alignment
- magnet attach, with 3 fixed positions (no flexible hinge)

Asus Transformer Book T100 (Win8.1)

-HD screen

-kb a 95% like netbook
-no rear camera
+usb3
+physical locking screen to dock
+kb #'s align


I had hoped to find a device that also had built in 3G.  It would seem that that module included on devices in my price range are not common at all.

The Asus came in a bit cheaper, but not really enough to polarize my decision.  So based on these few differences between the two systems I made the choice to go with the Transformer Book T100 based on these points:

1. USB 3.0.  No matter how much I try, I will never be able to make USB 2.0 ports become a USB 3.0 port.
2. I found a cover for the T100 that can let it function in all the best tablet modes (stand horizontal and landscape) that does NOT block the normal keyboard dock section of the tablet. Coodio Smart Asus Transformer Book T100TA.
3. Linux adaptation has already started.
4. Physical latching mechanism for the keyboard to attach.

I'll bet getting the devices very soon as I have ordered them just recently.  I've been watching Win8 "howto" videos on youtube to bone up on the UI as I have not operated a Win8 machine as a daily driver yet.  I'll post back here again after they arrive to follow up on my impression with the machine after some use.

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CafeNinja

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

MultiBoot LiveUSB - multiple iso + persistence

I had found a usb multiboot solution some time ago and realized that I had not written about it.  I would like to demonstrate an amazing piece of software that does exactly what it claims.  It does it so well, that I have purchased two 8Gig USB keys to manage using this software.

The concept is the same as the Ubuntu USB-creator, or even the same as Unetbootin.  Both of those tools are only loading a single disk image (.iso) onto a usb key (typically 1G).  These tools are amazingly useful to try out liveCD versions of linux distributions without a full blown hard drive install, but also not at the mind-numbing slowness of a proper CD Burn as the CD-Rom devices are so much slower than disk access that you no longer get an experience for an alternative operating system that is enjoyable.

Both of the tools I have already mentioned have over the last year and a half come to incorporate also a persistence mode which means that unlike a burned CD, a usb key in persistence mode with extra space is able to maintain updates across reboots.  So if you add an application to a livecd .iso on usb key using one of those tools with the addition of persistence mode then any application installed would be persistent the next time the usb key was used for a reboot.

Being a very demanding geek, the idea of a collection of usb keys with single unique linux distributions seemed too troublesome.  One key for installing Ubuntu on machines of folks who are converting.  Another key with rescueCD on it for diagnostics and data recovery.  Another key for me to try out the latest version of distros.  And so the list goes on, and then I end up with a small grocery bag filled with 1Gig usb keys each unlabeled and with unique purpose.

Enter the best usb boot tool I have found to date.  MultiBoot LiveUSB.  This software is truly amazing.  Will manage as many distro's/livecd's that the usb key can store.   Will let you load as just the live version or _also_ with persistence.  There are some limitations to which distro's have persistence available.  Most of those limitation have to do with the manner in which the .iso's are made.  The tool also allows you to remove old distro's and add new ones.  The tool also has a list of distro's known to work which looks like the majority listing of distro's from Distrowatch.

I can't say enough about this tool.  An affordable 8G usb key can now be turned into a virtual "swiss army knife" of bootable linux distro's.  It supports much more and my description of the software here is abbreviated.  The website is in original french, but the application has been translated into many languages.  Seems at this time there is no windows or mac port of this app, so you need linux to manage it.  So just to be ironic, maybe you make a persistence install on a usb key with this application installed to manage all other usb keys.

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CafeNinja

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

EEE PC - Intrepid Ibex - resource round-up

So, my confession is that I did not upgrade my eee pc 700 8G just as soon as it was released. I did try out a fresh release of Ubuntu-eee which has the remix interface included and all the drivers "out of the box". I was a bit put off by the interface (not horrible, just not for me) and waiting until I found concise guides for upgrading to 8.10 with as little issue as possible.

I found two links which seemed to sum up everything I needed to do. The first is a howto provided by the ever-excellent Tombunutu blog. This guide is more or less the best method for upgrading to a standard 8.10 install and then changing the kernel to that provided by Array.org which has all the correct modules pre-compiled. Array also follows new kernel releases closely with the correct modifications made so that you don't need to recompile drivers each time you upgrade the systems kernel.

I have to confess that after the straight 8.10 install and updating to the Array kernel I made one fix, listed at Ubuntugeek in an article about Atheros wifi. I followed method 2 and only needed to add ath_pci to the blacklist.

In summary my upgrade looked very much like:

1.) Install 8.10 from usb.
2.) Method 2 of Ubuntugeek for working wireless.
3.) Change to the eee modified kernel from Array.

I know it's not a simple check-box selection + reboot, but I have to say that it's much easier than the process that needed to be done for 8.04. I'm thinking to try the new 9.04 Jaunty as frequently as I can to see if it delivers much of the "out of the box" functionality promised in 8.10.

Best of luck with your EEE upgrade, feel free to post your resources used in the comments. Please also share your success and problems (fail!).

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CafeNinja

EEE PC - Hardy Heron 8.04 LTS Howto

I've written that I put Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron on my 8G EEE PC 701, but I didn't tell the story of how I did it. So I thought I'd take a moment to explain all the steps I took.

First was the USB image for installation. Using a dedicated 1G usb key, I prepared it as a live image cd using the iso2usb script found here. This created a usb key from which I could boot just as if it were a live CD.

Second was the installation. I chose filesystem ext3 with no swap. I had issues with ext2 losing data, and removed the swap to decrease the read/write access on the drive. I would recommend a 70%/30% split between the root partition and the home partition.

Third, I used a second usb key to save a single folder with three items, one was the tarball downloaded for the madwifi source code, the ubuntutweak shell script and a simple text file for my steps to follow. The text file is the first paragraph from the Ubuntu EEE wiki page that describes the wifi fix.

Upon first reboot of the freshly installed system, the wifi won't work (ethernet port will). With the source and instructions on a second key, I copy them local on the non-networked EEE for permenent usage. I run the wifi fix first which requires a reboot before taking effect. I then proceed to get online since the ubuntutweak script will need internet access to download some files, packages and source. This batch of fixes will also require a reboot.

At this moment you would have a working EEE PC (700 models 4G/8G) working with all the hardware working. There are is still compiz - contrain y setting to fix and to remark the cdrom line of /etc/fstab. More problematic is that there have been kernel updates since the iso was released. Kernel updates break any/all compiled drivers. So the previously copied folder of wifi/ubuntutweak will be used any time there is a kernel update. This won't be an issue if you leave that folder on the system in your home directory.

I've used this through 2 kernel updates on my Ubuntu 8.04 system since instlaling on my EEE 701. I've also just walked through all of this on a brand new 700 model (purchased by a new user) which validates the process as working.

I have spliced this install/fix process together from the Wifi fix page and the general fix pages from Tux Family.org and give them credit for all of their hard work. Obviously once full support is built into Ubutnu (fingers crossed for 8.10) then this process will be a non issue. I hope my hints make your EEE PC transistion just a little bit easier. With the recent development of the Ubuntu Netbook Remix interface, my hopes are high.

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CafeNinja

XO-2 (OLPC) vs. EEE Pc vs. Monster Apple iPone

Not that I think the EEE PC or Apple are currently looking at this, but can you imagine the match-up of these three if they get the form factor and functionality they are showing in this video of the OLPC XO-2?  I would be hard pressed for where to put my money.  This would make your purchasing more political than practical as it has been in the past.

Watch and be amazed.  Before anyone goes nuts in the comments YES I understand it's a non-functioning prototype.  And I forgot that this might go head to head even with Amazon's Kindle.

Embedded Video

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CafeNinja

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Asus Eee Pc 901 - interesting tidbit

Not enough for a whole blog entry, but for sure worth noting is that Asus which has published the specs on the 901 (due out later this year for most parts of the world).

The really weird thing is the internal flash drive. If you get the linux model, then you get 20Gig internal SSD. If you get the windows version then you only get a 12Gig SSD. Way to stick it to the M$ fan-boys.

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CafeNinja