[kwlug-disc] Tablet shopping

[Paul Nijjar]

On Fri, Oct 03, 2014 at 05:08:29PM -0400, Paul Gallaway wrote:
> I've been considering a tablet device for myself, I had been looking
> at Android mainly, but just today the Windows 8 tablets just caught my
> eye (bear with me here). There seem to be a number of reasonably
> spec'd 8" tablets (e.g. Asus Vivotab, Lenovo Miix 2) that are
> comparable to some of the higher end Android tablets (e.g. quad core,
> 2GB ram, 32GB/64 flash) and they appear to be on clearance/sale at
> various retailers for <$300. These seem like they would be ripe for
> Linux on tablet. Initial searching indicates that it is possible, but
> I'm yet to find someone indicate that they are using Linux on one of
> these tablets daily. Seems more just like proof of concept installs or
> person solves install problem and does not report back what using it
> is like. Anyone on the list have experience with installing Linux on a
> Windows tablet? Anyone know what the state of Linux on a tablet is
> like?


Is Secure Boot still a thing to worry about? I thought it was locked
down for Windows ARM tablets. There were a bunch of posts like this
one: 
http://blog.hansenpartnership.com/the-arm-windows-8-lockdown/

and I have not been able to find information that this has changed.


Doing a little web searching, the models you describe are Intel
processors, so you can disable Secure Boot if you want. (I cannot
imagine wanting an x86 tablet, but your kilometerage may vary.) 

- Paul 

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