Pinetab2 without Wifi a comfort extra?

[Schlucker]

@ Schlucker

It seems to me that you did not understand or fully comprehend what “the OS is still in Beta” meant; it is in the testing phase.

WiFi, cameras and blue-tooth are certainly not the most basic core capabilities of an OS as you stated, they are “comfort” extras. A simple example of core capabilities would be a working input and output device.

I have never seen anyone say/state/claim that the PineTab 2 is a superior piece of hardware, it’s in Beta testing for god’s sake, quit trolling.

My comprehension skills are more than adequate, I assure you.  I am also well cognizant of the bullying that goes on in Forums, particularly where the worst of it comes from people who think they are above all the rest when they don't like what others post.  So, believe me, having been involved with LInux since the late 90's and having also helped test beta versions of software before, I knew exactly what "in Beta" meant.  However, my purchase decision was based on what was posted on the website and the Pinestore, and only the camera was mentioned when core capabilities not yet functioning were disclosed.  No others were, yet vaguely implied to be of no significance, like the cameras.  

Critical to making sales, it's suspiciously clear to me that WiFi was not mentioned, but instead only buried in other pages offsite and therefore not linked to the e-commerce page.  Moreover, someone else posting a total absurdity in this thread has said that the pad and keyboard was never offered to the public, but only to developers....but not enforced.  The obvious result of this is that it was most likely deliberately offered to the public with the intent to generate revenue because the first Pinetab was a flop.  And therefore it was reasonable to assume developers would likely not be rushing to the cash register this time.  But more importantly, how could anyone accurately define a market segment of developers or even forecast sales that would ensure adequate revenue to support manufacturing a new tablet when obviously Pinetab could not develop the OS themselves to run it?  So clearly, Pine would have needed gullible schmucks like me to fund "their marketing plan", words I use very loosely.    You could also observe that historically, that all products are offered to the general public by Pine as a routine sales policy. But the suggestion that WiFi is a "comfort extra" is laughable.  A tablet without a working wifi is useless.  A tablet was created for the sole purpose of providing access to the internet in a compact conveniently sized device.  Without WiFi, iIt's worse than useless, it's a waste of money.  Delivering a product to the public in this state is simply wrong.  And to omit any mention of wifi lacking in the OS at the point when you offer the product for sale, is blatant obfuscation and a failure to fully disclose the risks to the buyer up front.  Compared to the alternative Risk version, where you drive off any interest in it at all, the Arm version was by contrast depicted as a product for anyone wanting to test it out.  But to do that, it has to work.  It didn't.  It doesn't and Pine would have to have known that.

[fxc]

@ Schlucker

It seems to me that you did not understand or fully comprehend what “the OS is still in Beta” meant; it is in the testing phase.

WiFi, cameras and blue-tooth are certainly not the most basic core capabilities of an OS as you stated, they are “comfort” extras. A simple example of core capabilities would be a working input and output device.

I have never seen anyone say/state/claim that the PineTab 2 is a superior piece of hardware, it’s in Beta testing for god’s sake, quit trolling.

My comprehension skills are more than adequate, I assure you.  I am also well cognizant of the bullying that goes on in Forums, particularly where the worst of it comes from people who think they are above all the rest when they don't like what others post.  So, believe me, having been involved with LInux since the late 90's and having also helped test beta versions of software before, I knew exactly what "in Beta" meant.  However, my purchase decision was based on what was posted on the website and the Pinestore, and only the camera was mentioned when core capabilities not yet functioning were disclosed.  No others were, yet vaguely implied to be of no significance, like the cameras.  

Critical to making sales, it's suspiciously clear to me that WiFi was not mentioned, but instead only buried in other pages offsite and therefore not linked to the e-commerce page.  Moreover, someone else posting a total absurdity in this thread has said that the pad and keyboard was never offered to the public, but only to developers....but not enforced.  The obvious result of this is that it was most likely deliberately offered to the public with the intent to generate revenue because the first Pinetab was a flop.  And therefore it was reasonable to assume developers would likely not be rushing to the cash register this time.  But more importantly, how could anyone accurately define a market segment of developers or even forecast sales that would ensure adequate revenue to support manufacturing a new tablet when obviously Pinetab could not develop the OS themselves to run it?  So clearly, Pine would have needed gullible schmucks like me to fund "their marketing plan", words I use very loosely.    You could also observe that historically, that all products are offered to the general public by Pine as a routine sales policy. But the suggestion that WiFi is a "comfort extra" is laughable.  A tablet without a working wifi is useless.  A tablet was created for the sole purpose of providing access to the internet in a compact conveniently sized device.  Without WiFi, iIt's worse than useless, it's a waste of money.  Delivering a product to the public in this state is simply wrong.  And to omit any mention of wifi lacking in the OS at the point when you offer the product for sale, is blatant obfuscation and a failure to fully disclose the risks to the buyer up front.  Compared to the alternative Risk version, where you drive off any interest in it at all, the Arm version was by contrast depicted as a product for anyone wanting to test it out.  But to do that, it has to work.  It didn't.  It doesn't and Pine would have to have known that.

Not sure if that post is accidentally and supposed to be a reply in the other thread but I replied here: https://forum.pine64.org/showthread.php?...#pid117977

Additionally to the information, mind that the batch is intended to reach the developers in the community so they can contribute to the software, including the WiFi driver. I know you don't mean that in a bad way as you're not used how the Pine Store and Pine64 community work together but there needs to be an early adopters batch to reach the developers, otherwise the developers can't write the software for it. You apparently bought that early adopters batch. It's however not a super big concern, as the software usually progresses quite fast, so you for sure didn't waste money. But generally you would want to learn about how the community and the Store operates a bit.

[dachalife]

You came on strong, so you get what you give.

My Pinebook Pro didn’t have wifi working for a few weeks either after a distro change & on Friday we had 6 MS laptops where the wifi just stopped working, it happens.

Use an adapter/dock with a lan cable/an external wifi adapter and wait for a fix or write the fix yourself and share it, if you’re so inclined.

I’m happy that I was able to just get the hardware, so I can start working with it. We did live in a world without WiFi before and there are ways around using it, so yes, I consider it a comfort extra, especially when I can just plug the device into a dock or use an adapter to get a network connection.

I don’t work for Pine64 and my posts do not reflect their opinions.

[KC9UDX]

I still use a big, ugly Wi-Fi dongle on my PBP. The inbuilt Wi-Fi still doesn't work with NetBSD; and frankly the dongle I use gets a much better connection than the inbuilt one (no surprise, really).

It doesn't bother me because the PBP is the first laptop I've owned with an inbuilt Wi-Fi adapter, anyway.

I have a 7" tablet without Wi-Fi. (The battery puffed up and must have broken some connection). It just occurred to me, I wonder if the GPS works. It should still work with OsmAnd. Not sure how I'll get OsmAnd on there, though.

[dachalife]

I agree with you there, I always have an external one with adapters in my work bag.

[gregb49]

Whilst I understand that this is a development version, is there a WiFi driver around? I'm impressed with the capabilities of the PineTab2 but the lack of WiFi is a bit of a short coming, IMO. I'm pleased that I have a working dongle hanging awkwardly off the side, that allows me to connect to the internet.

[dachalife]

Whilst I understand that this is a development version, is there a WiFi driver around? I'm impressed with the capabilities of the PineTab2 but the lack of WiFi is a bit of a short coming, IMO. I'm pleased that I have a working dongle hanging awkwardly off the side, that allows me to connect to the internet.

Most common external WIFI and Bluetooth adapters work; you’ll have to check the wiki for the exact model numbers & you can also tether it to any phone (Mobile data charges may apply).

[moobythegoldensock]

Whilst I understand that this is a development version, is there a WiFi driver around? I'm impressed with the capabilities of the PineTab2 but the lack of WiFi is a bit of a short coming, IMO. I'm pleased that I have a working dongle hanging awkwardly off the side, that allows me to connect to the internet.

There is a wifi driver in development, but apparently it crashes the entire device quite frequently, so it’s not ready to deploy yet.

[gregb49]

There is a wifi driver in development, but apparently it crashes the entire device quite frequently, so it’s not ready to deploy yet.

That is useful information, thank you.