Juno, a Linux tool switcher, is making the new tool available for pre-order. $425 x86-64 tablet with a choice of Linux distributions. In the UK, it’s £449 including VAT.
The promised device looks decent. It comes with a Jasper Lake Celeron N5100 quad-core processor, a 1920 x 1200 touchscreen, 8GB of non-upgradeable RAM, and a choice of SSD capacities (256GB, 512GB, or 1TB). The CPU runs at 1.1 GHz, which is not very fast, but the turbo can be boosted up to 2.8 GHz. It’s just a basic tablet, and the stylus is optional.
However, it is very likely that many third-party keyboard cases and the like are available. It’s a fairly common form factor, with several similar devices floating around, including the Chuwi Hi10 Go with 6GB of RAM and only 128GB of flash, and the around $500 Dere D10, but with a removable panel that comes With a nice magnetic keyboard and it has an RJ-45 socket.
These are the first two devices I came across when doing research. There is definitely more. For the record, this eagle bought an older model of his Chuwi tablet, the arm-based Hi9 Air, a few years ago.
Of course, what is interesting and why leg What the Office of Free and Open Source Software writes about it is that it runs Linux. Specifically, it comes with Mobian, a portable remix of Debian, with a touchscreen GUI from Phosh built on GNOME and Wayland. Earlier, when I looked at postmarketOS, I mentioned Phosh. The Mobian wiki has more information about the project.
Two important things about this. The first is that the lower end of the x86 performance and power usage scale overlaps with the upper end of traditional arm-based devices. Many manufacturers have tried to sell lower quality Intel based tablets that are based on Windows 8, and some of them may end up in one song soon after. (Of course, this is a sign of their commercial success, or lack thereof.) The problem was that storage was often so low that even upgrading the operating system to newer versions was difficult. Second, the main public Linux now has useful support for such devices. There is a driver and a touch user interface.
It’s also worth noting that these cheap and generic devices that have been leaking from Chinese OEMs for a few years are better equipped than the Arm/Android style devices. Juno tablets, Chuwi and Dele tablets for her Both USB-3 and USB-C ports, mini HDMI ports, and slots for more storage. Connect to external hubs ready to use full-size monitors, keyboards, mice, and speakers. Unlike most Android tablets, this one can become a full-fledged desktop computer. And on the go, you can use a few standard dongles and cables to connect to just about anything.
As I explained when I looked at Armbian earlier this year, supporting third-party operating systems on Arm devices is no small feat. For example, the Arm market does not have standard firmware, but the x86 kits do. Since Intel tablets are only low end PCs, their versatility is endless.
Tablet sales have continued to fall this year, as they did five years ago, and it actually happened in 2015. Disappointing as I was expecting Linux tablets to come out in 2010.
However, arm discs are very limited in nature. It’s just tablets and even projects like Armbian and postmarketOS are limited in hardware capabilities. x86 tablets have no such limitation. Can’t run Windows in a VM on Celeron with 8GB of RAM, but WINE works just fine.