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Pine64 launches the cheapest Linux Tablet ever priced at just $99.99

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Re: Pine64 launches the cheapest Linux Tablet ever priced at just $99.99

#52

Anybody here remember the HP Touchpad firesale where HP liquidated their stock of cancelled not-quite-iPad-competitors for $99.99 and people went nuts for them? It's weird how that felt like a great deal and yet this one is expensive enough to make me question if I could get anything close to that much value out of it. The HP firesale was back in the days where a decent tablet cost around $500 and it was a screaming…

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Re: Pine64 launches the cheapest Linux Tablet ever priced at just $99.99

#53
post #37

I wonder why they price their products so cheap. They seem to be totally overrun by demand. And give a terrible user experience when you try to order from them. Friends of mine have ordered (and paid!) Pine64 products weeks ago and get no information when they will be shipped. When you send them an email, it either gets ignored or you get a reply by someone who does not speak English. Telling you something like "Yes…

Counter-perspective: On price: By releasing things as cheaply as they can within reason, this vastly broadens who can get one. Given that they depend on the community to create most if not all of the software, this means that software support gets there much earlier than it would otherwise; compare the progress on the Librem handset to the PinePhone: one took three years, has gone over the predicted timeframe multipl…

> By releasing things as cheaply as they can within reason, this vastly broadens who can get one. Given that they depend on the community to create most if not all of the software, this means that software support gets there much earlier than it would otherwise;

This is exactly it, if we want linux on phones to be a real experience that can offer something on par with Google and Apple, then the very first step is getting hardware into hackers hands; the software will never follow if there aren't any users. The exact kind of person you want using these devices is someone willing to pay less money and pay with their time instead.

Re: Pine64 launches the cheapest Linux Tablet ever priced at just $99.99

#54
post #39

I like to see things getting cheaper, but I've got to wonder: is cost a problem that is important to solve for Linux tablets? If utility is limiting these kinds of devices more than price, then cutting a few bucks from the purchase price isn't going to change things much. Is it like lowering the toll on a bridge that doesn't go anywhere most people want to go?

The first step to making it a place where people want to go is making it easier to build that place.

For the next billion users of the web/computers $100 is still a big investment.

Re: Pine64 launches the cheapest Linux Tablet ever priced at just $99.99

#55

I hate this “race to the bottom” behavior that a lot of Linux OEMs are doing. We need a flagship Linux product, not cheap throwaway products that will tarnish its reputation. This is Android all over again.

The Developer Edition XPS 13 is already a flagship Linux product.

Re: Pine64 launches the cheapest Linux Tablet ever priced at just $99.99

#56
I bought a RCA Cambio 12.2 tablet last summer for something to play with ($220). It has decent specs (Celeron N4000, 64GB storage, 12" display at 1920x1200) except for the 2GB RAM handicaps it greatly for Windows 10 usage. I put Debian on it and I've been working on getting drivers for everything. If I can get all the drivers I need, it'll be a pretty sweet little tablet.

Re: Pine64 launches the cheapest Linux Tablet ever priced at just $99.99

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

4gb is fine if you run a lighter DE. I program go/python/c++ directly on a Jetson Nano w/ vim and firefox and haven't had any huge issues

OTOH a touchscreen-enabled device is exactly where a heavier DE might make some sense. GNOME3 is still only borderline-usable on 2GB of RAM (though you can obviously work around this by adding swap).

I don't think that heavier = better at tablet UI; yes, GNOME3 went that direction, but so did matchbox.
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