An idea for you guys at System76

There are many of us Ubuntu users out here that really think our Operating System on our computers is the best thing since peanut butter & Jelly. But now I want to give you something to really chew on.

Reading an article about Windows 8 a light came on. Windows 8 is focusing on Hybrids. What a great idea. I believe Hybrids are going to be very very popular because it answers the problem I see many of us have. Myself included. The problem is I want and have a tablet and at the same time I want and have a laptop. Now the problem is when I take my tablet with me when I hit the road I find myself wishing I would have taken my laptop because I have something on my laptop I need. And this could work vise versa.

Now Hybrids will fix that problem. If I want to just use my tablet I will have everything I need because it is my laptop also. Just minus the keyboard. Regular tablets like the one I have now just do not have the horse power I need to do the things I do on my laptop, and that is why I have both. A Hybrid will fix that problem also because they have higher specs.

Now getting to this great idea I have. Seeing this is going to be a product that I believe is going to take the tablet/laptop market by storm. Just think about this. I spent $850 for my laptop and $250 for my tablet. Total of $1100 for both. My wife has a Chromebook, cost $450 and a tablet at $250. Again a total of $700. So that means I have an investment of $1800. Now if someone could come out with a mid-range Hybrid for around $900 to $1000 running Ubuntu, I could buy two of them.

Why don't you guy at System76 come up with something like this and you can add another great product to your line. I bet there are many of us Ubuntu users out here that will buy one, or two, or maybe more.

Convertible laptop with a touchscreen?

Check out the Fujitsu Lifebook T901, I think this is what irv could use...there are some with regular HDD selling for $600ish on FeePay. Some with SSD selling for way too much more. Take a 250GB HDD out of a $600 one, drop in a $100 128GB SSD, and for $700 you have a convertible laptop running whatever you want to put on it.

The problem is with these hybrids, they have NEVER sold well. They SHOULD, but they don't, they're too heavy. The newest generation of hybrid PC tablets will have dockable keyboards like the Surface tablet or the accessory keyboards for iPad, and these will reduce weight severely. Combine that with the Windows 8 idea of having an app store, and how Ubuntu already has Software Center, this will be THE TIME to introduce a hybrid or convertible.

I'd recommend skipping anything not mainstream and go with using i3/i5/i7 3rd gen processors. The i3-3217UE would be a great entry-level $600ish unit, and the i5-3317U and 3427U could be midrange around $800-$1000, and you could offer the i7-3517U/UE or even the i7-3667U as a power user model for $1200-$1500. These are all 17 watt CPU's designed for "hybrids" and "laptops", and thusly would be excellent for this use. This way you have strong computing power and no one wanting for more. They can use the screen as a tablet, or dock it to a keyboard (with an additional battery, maybe a CD/DVD drive) and use it as a laptop.

I did find this very interesting.
Lenovo Twist Review
I stop at Best Buy a couple of days ago to check out the new Hybrids but to my surprise they didn't even have any in the store. I looked at a few touch screen laptops and then left. They had one Asus Tranformer with an older version of Android. I guess it was OK but by the time you add the price of the keyboard/docking ($149) + ($399) you are looking at a $548 for a 10" tablet with a keyboard.

You know you might be on to something here. I have seen the various ads by MSFT for Win8 and their "hybrid" tablet/ultrabook or whatever it is supposed to be. Of course the problem is that MSFT doesn't have that many apps in its store compared to Android and Apple. But I like that idea of the snap on keyboard. I have yet to see one of these beasts in person, but I think MSFT might just be on to something, Apple sure doesn't have this yet.

Of course System76 would have to get into a licensing with MSFT I suppose because I am pretty sure that they have that snap on keyboard locked up with patents. That would add to the expense of the device. But, gee, an Linux/Android system would be interesting.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RedRat

You know you might be on to something here. I have seen the various ads by MSFT for Win8 and their "hybrid" tablet/ultrabook or whatever it is supposed to be. Of course the problem is that MSFT doesn't have that many apps in its store compared to Android and Apple. But I like that idea of the snap on keyboard. I have yet to see one of these beasts in person, but I think MSFT might just be on to something, Apple sure doesn't have this yet.

Of course System76 would have to get into a licensing with MSFT I suppose because I am pretty sure that they have that snap on keyboard locked up with patents. That would add to the expense of the device. But, gee, an Linux/Android system would be interesting.

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My wife and I was talking today, and she was willing to get this ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T Tegra 3 32GB 10.1 with the keyboard for me. How about that. We have an anniversary coming up this month. (52 years). If she does this, I have to come up with something great for her. I was planning on taking her on a weeks get-away somewhere. I know she will like that.
Check it out the Transformer HERE:

EDIT: She had me order it. Should have it in 3 Days. (Free Shipping).

Kind of disappointing to hear that Linux isn't supported by the kind of hardware designs like Apple/Samsung are.

I'd be thrilled if I could get a Ubuntu laptop for $850 which does what I need, compared to a Macbook Pro at around twice the cost (with accessory hard drive)before forking out for software.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by irv

{snip}Why don't you guy at System76 come up with something like this and you can add another great product to your line. I bet there are many of us Ubuntu users out here that will buy one, or two, or maybe more.

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The main reason is that while it would be a good (at least decent, anyway) laptop experience, it would be a lousy tablet experience. Ubuntu really isn't ready for tablets yet.

That said, I'd give it no more than 18 months before it is. There's a big push to get Ubuntu working on the Google Nexus 7 tablet, and it's actually pretty compatible so far. It does highlight that Ubuntu isn't really good for tablets right now, but it also gives a solid developer base for when it is.

There are a large number of other reasons as well, though, that don't let convertibles fair as well.

Windows 8 provides a good convertible experience at the expense of the dedicated Tablet and Laptop experiences. I don't see Ubuntu making that sort of comprimise any time soon. We'd rather focus on a strong, solid laptop OS, and a strong, solid, separate tablet OS.

isantop thank for the reply about the direction of System 76. As you might have read on my edited post above, my wife got me an Asus Transformer. I know it isn't a real powerful laptop or even the top of the line tablet, but it will get me by for the time being. I was looking for something with a touch screen and keyboard with great battery life and after looking at Windows 8 it made me realize how nice Android is. I know it is not Ubuntu, but I still have my laptop for that.
My laptop is an older Dell, which is starting to get a little flaky and when it goes, System 76 is at the top of my list. This old laptop has been around the world, and when it goes it will be like loosing an old friend.
Thanks again for the reply.