Lightweight Linux laptops/tablets
Hello, Just wondering for ideas for something that meets my needs. Requirements: * Must be lightweight - e.g my existing tablet is only 540g + keyboard. * Must have 4G data support (I think this rules out ASUS tablets). * Must have (standard) keyboard (e.g. with escape and backspace keys in standard locations) that is usable on train without tables (I think this rules out most other tablets). * Don't particularly care about OS, although I note that applications I use (e.g. ssh clients) don't appear to be particularly great on Android. Willing to try ChromeOS. * If ChromeOS or Android based, should support installing 3rd party OS or at the minimum have regular updates (rules out Samsung Android). Optional extras: * Good battery life (possibly conflicts with being lightweight). So far, a Google search suggests that the HP Chromebook 11 ticks a lot of these boxes (e.g. according to one review is the lightest Chromebook available - not sure if this is still current information), although it is missing some desirable features for a Chromebook (e.g. no touch screen, no standard HDMI socket, and only 2GB ram) and is considered by at least one review to be "Frustratingly slow". Any other suggestions? Thanks
On Tue, 14 Apr 2015 12:01:19 AM Brian May wrote:
Just wondering for ideas for something that meets my needs.
I think that the first thing you need to do is to determine which type of device best suits your needs. The Android SSH client ConnectBot is quite good for what it does. But Android doesn't support task switching well and this limits the ability to do most things that you want to do, if you could have multiple SSH windows open on a tablet at once (and a 10" tablet with 2500*1400 screen is capable of that) then it would be a lot more usable. Also no matter what you do a tablet keyboard is going to suck a bit. A light device will have a poor keyboard, it's just a matter of engineering. The EeePC 701 was a great system for what it was, but the keyboard sucked. Have you looked at some of the recent small/light Thinkpads? They look very impressive.
Requirements:
* Must be lightweight - e.g my existing tablet is only 540g + keyboard. * Must have 4G data support (I think this rules out ASUS tablets).
It might be a little early in the discussion to talk about 3G/4G support, but why do you want 4G? I have great difficulty sticking within a 2GB/month data plan on 3G and I also don't generally have speed problems with 3G. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/
* Must be lightweight - e.g my existing tablet is only 540g + keyboard. * Must have 4G data support (I think this rules out ASUS tablets).
It might be a little early in the discussion to talk about 3G/4G support, but why do you want 4G? I have great difficulty sticking within a 2GB/month data plan on 3G and I also don't generally have speed problems with 3G.
In Bendigo I've seen Telstra 3G so congested that it doesn't work, while 4G is okay. Most of the time it's the other way around though, which is a real pain as even though 4G speeds are ~20Kbps and 3G speeds are 8Mbps, my phone still stays on 4G. But sometimes you just need the 30Mbps upload that 4G has to offer (and the 80Mbps download) :) James
80mbps download would be ok for 200 seconds a month on my plan. 30mpbs upload would be ok for 600 seconds a month. Is there any file size which takes too long to transfer at 3G speeds but which is still small enough not to use up all the monthly quota of an affordable plan? -- Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 with K-9 Mail.
On Tue, 14 Apr 2015 at 17:51 Russell Coker <russell@coker.com.au> wrote:
The Android SSH client ConnectBot is quite good for what it does.
ConnectBot, at least last version I looked at, intercepts a number of keystrokes with no way of disabling - iirc alt+key are all intercepted. Good for a limited soft keyboard, not so good if you have a hardware keyboard and actually need to send those combinations through. JuiceSSH is much better at this, all key strokes get passed correctly to the server, but its management of ssh-keys is poor. ssh-agent forwarding is silently enabled with no way of disabling. If you click the checkbox to save the ssh key password it permanently saves it with no option to delete it. I don't think it is possible to change the password on an existing key. It might be a little early in the discussion to talk about 3G/4G support,
but why do you want 4G? I have great difficulty sticking within a 2GB/month data plan on 3G and I also don't generally have speed problems with 3G.
3G would probably be just as good. At one stage I was under the impression that 4G deals better with network congestion, and I do deal with congested areas (e.g. near Richmond station during peak travel periods). Not sure if this is actually the case or not. Getting back on topic, what series of Thinkpads are you looking at? I had a look at some of the X-series, they seem expensive (>=$1,899) and not as light as I hoped (>=1.31 kg).
1.3kg is light enough for me. I buy refurbished Thinkpads which are much more affordable. -- Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 with K-9 Mail.
Unfortunately, The choices I am currently looking at don't have built in 3G/4G. I like the look of the XPS 13. http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/28/dell-xps-13-review-2015/ There is a version with Ubuntu pre-installed (i.e. no Windows) with touch screen from US $1,349.00. It is linked to from Dell's Australia page: http://www.dell.com/learn/au/en/aucorp1/campaigns/xps-linux-laptop Which then takes you to the US site: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=cax13ubuntus5103&model... ...and it appears they don't deliver to Australia. The following seems to be the closest I can find in Australia (AUD $1,399.99). although it comes with Windows and antivirus software: http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-9343-laptop/pd?oc=dncwt5131s&model_id=xps-13... Similar laptops (with Windows) from competitors include: * http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/25/lenovo-yoga-3-pro-review/ * http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/30/samsung-ativ-book-9-ativ-one-7/ This could be a really good option, although it is hasn't been released yet, and I don't see anything about it being released in Australia: http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/05/lenovo-lavie-hz550-hz750/
On Wed, 15 Apr 2015 at 12:05 Brian May <brian@microcomaustralia.com.au> wrote:
Unfortunately, The choices I am currently looking at don't have built in 3G/4G.
I like the look of the XPS 13.
I found Interesting blog post (with recent updates) on this system. https://major.io/2015/02/03/linux-support-dell-xps-13-9343-2015-model/ Some notable comments: * Apparently most things work fine out-of-the-box with Ubuntu 15.04 (presumably this means Debian Jessie will work too) * Wifi requires proprietary Broadcom driver. * Bios and Touchpad firmware must be latest versions. * Sound is only an issue with dual-boot. When switching between Ubuntu and Windows, you need to reboot twice for sound to work. * The 4.0 kernels have a severe bug in that when you try to switch to the virtual terminals (AC-Fx) the system loses horizontal sync. 3.19 is better. * You will need to apply these two patches to a [4.0] kernel for mic and headset support to work properly. Apparently Ubuntu has patched kernels available to do this.
Brian May <brian@microcomaustralia.com.au> writes:
* Apparently most things work fine out-of-the-box with Ubuntu 15.04 (presumably this means Debian Jessie will work too)
Not a safe assumption unless you're planning on a BPO kernel. Debian's longer release cycle (esp. freeze window) means despite being released around the same time, $ rmadison -udebian -aamd64 -sjessie linux-image-amd64 debian: linux-image-amd64 | 3.16+63 | jessie | amd64 new: $ rmadison -uubuntu -aamd64 -svivid linux-image-generic linux-image-generic | 3.19.0.14.13 | vivid | amd64 ...Ubuntu 15.04 has a newer kernel than Debian 8.
On Wed, 15 Apr 2015 at 12:05 Brian May <brian@microcomaustralia.com.au> wrote:
The following seems to be the closest I can find in Australia (AUD $1,399.99). although it comes with Windows and antivirus software:
http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-9343-laptop/pd?oc=dncwt5131s&model_id=xps-13...
Crap, was looking at the US website by mistake. The cheapest one in Australia with Touch screen support is $2,498.99, because Dell doesn't sell the cheaper i5 touch model in Australia, only the i7 model. Arggh!
On Tue, 14 Apr 2015 12:01:19 AM Brian May wrote:
So far, a Google search suggests that the HP Chromebook 11 ticks a lot of these boxes
So out of interest, is anyone on the list running a standard Linux distro on a Chromebook (of any type) at present? Either using something like Crouton to run it side-by-side or as a native install? cheers, Chris -- Chris Samuel : http://www.csamuel.org/ : Melbourne, VIC
Hi, I'm running Ubuntu natively on a Chromebook. I flashed a replacement BIOS to it that made it permanently SeaBIOS or whatever the standard legacy-compatible mode is called; after that it basically just became a regular laptop in all respects. Runs well enough. On Sat, 18 Apr 2015 at 09:26 Chris Samuel <chris@csamuel.org> wrote:
On Tue, 14 Apr 2015 12:01:19 AM Brian May wrote:
So far, a Google search suggests that the HP Chromebook 11 ticks a lot of these boxes
So out of interest, is anyone on the list running a standard Linux distro on a Chromebook (of any type) at present?
Either using something like Crouton to run it side-by-side or as a native install?
cheers, Chris -- Chris Samuel : http://www.csamuel.org/ : Melbourne, VIC
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Chris Samuel <chris@csamuel.org> writes:
So out of interest, is anyone on the list running a standard Linux distro on a Chromebook (of any type) at present?
Either using something like Crouton to run it side-by-side or as a native install?
I'm running Debian jessie on an Acer C720. http://blogs.fsfe.org/the_unconventional/2014/04/20/c720-ubuntu/ I didn't bother to keep cros anywhere, because it wants like 14 separate partitions. I put a 256GB M.2 in a second C720, and that completely failed. After a few writes, the disk just disconnects until you hard reboot. So that was joy. I also flashed a newer coreboot firmware onto the second one, and that part worked fine. That also includes a 2MB chainloader called "jeltka".
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