Y'know, I'm actually wondering: Would it be possible to take the specs you want(I'm assuming something like 4", 1024x600 TFT, Tegra2 proc, etc) to some Chinese vendor, and ask them to build you something? I'd bet someone could get you what you wanted for less than $5k. Easily. I mean, they already have any physical format you want; they can steal it from any phone on the market. Same with components; the only real new part would be a new inside board and potentially a couple holes for ports. Then, you could probably get some OSS dev to port Ubuntu/Meego to it(using the Meego graphics drivers, Hildon for a desktop) if you gave the guy a device.
It might not be quite the same, but I bet it'd be better. If I had a few grand handy, I'd be thinking along the same lines... and if you found others, I'm betting you could get the price down quickly.