12-04-2016, 01:11 PM
(12-04-2016, 12:51 PM)Luke Wrote:(12-04-2016, 08:45 AM)jhgoodwin Wrote:(12-01-2016, 06:55 AM)Nick Wrote: As long as it's a reliable, good-quality laptop that runs Linux well (or Android, especially Remix), I'm definitely interested.
I signed up, too, but I'm a little torn. For anything that *CAN* run android and has a screen, I'd like to request consideration for a touchscreen option, even if there is not a fancy hinge to let it bend backwards or swivel into a tablet form.
My reasoning is that for something with android capable hardware, it's just a shame to turn down all the software that's been touch optimized.
As an aside, that's why I didn't buy a chromebook this recent black friday/cybermonday. There were tons of great deals, but the mix just seemed enough off that I'd end up feeling like I got a great bargain on something I don't really want. Screen quality, screen res, screen size, decent keyboard action, touch screen, 4GB+ RAM, 32GB or 16GB+ memory card slot, decent CPU, decent battery. Seems like it shouldn't be too hard to hit these at a reasonable price point.
John
I get what you are saying. Then again, there are so many cheap touch devices running droid (you can build a pine64 playbox), I am not sure touch the right fit for the pinebook. I'm no expert but I believe that a touch screen is +15-20% the price of a regular screen (?). There are other drawbacks too, such as increase in battery consumption. Personally, I never understood the appeal of touch on a laptop, but I fully understand that some people find it useful/ appealing. Perhaps it'll be included in the next iteration ?
Also, are you considering the pinebook as a daily driver (guessing from what you wrote about the cybermonday deals)? If yes, then I don't think its intended to replace your Dell or Macbook laptop, in the same way the pine64 isn't meant to replace a dedicated $300 media PC or server.
Well, I completely agree with regards to not being a fan of touch. I'd much rather use a keyboard than touch screens, but if the app does exactly the function you need, but needs touch, better to just live with it, than to work around it, IMO. If it really does suck down more power, I'd also appreciate being able to easily shut it off/standby when I'm keyboarding/watching videos.
With regards to making it a daily driver - honestly, I'd love to. I have used lots of overpowered computers, but I feel like it just keeps letting app creators get away with crappy software. I don't need more whizbang UIs, better shading, more transparency, so on. I need features I use. Make async tasks, better indexing, instant searches, lightweight data models so you don't waste my storage, better dependency management, so on. Don't get me wrong. I love a fast computer, but if you really think about what you're trying to do, it is such a waste to spend $$$ on a high end computer, just so my code editor doesn't lag. Why does it need to lag at all? Take a look at apps like the v file viewer versus even a "simple" app like notepad. Notepad will try to load the entire file into memory. Why? You can't even see the entire file. the v file viewer will only load the part you see so you can load a multi-gigabyte file, no problems. This isn't a new idea, it's an old one. Apple iPad is a crappy computer with a good GPU. They had the right idea with their OS. If your app misbehaves, they reserve the right to just shutdown your app. This is the right attitude towards garbage coding/software.
Anyhow, not trying to digress too much. Mostly just wanted to see if a touchscreen would be possible to allow better android app support.
Just my two cents.
