Hi - been a while since I posted anything on talk.maemo.
It has been ages since I moved on from my beloved n900, but I come around to lurk and read about new developments every now and then.

In the meantime I have been on a Galaxy Note then a Note 4, but just lived with constant frustrations on them at not being able to do simple things.

I am fed up waiting for a decent successor to the n900, so now looking at "other means" of having something in my pocket that does what I want. It's time to take matters into my own hands, because phone/mobile device manufactures only seem to want to produce thin rectangles with no buttons. for some strange reason. It is quite sad actually to think what sort of device we might have if a proper evolution from the n900 had occurred.


So my phone contract has now ended and I am freeeee to explore other options again.
I would just like to cobble together some things I have been looking in to, as I am sure there will be a few people on there that want the same kind of things from a portable device. It seems that 46 pages of people talking about "the best Handheld gnu/linux machine for 2016" might just indicate an interest
Maybe at the end of this someone can jump in and tell me what I am looking for has already been done. On the other hand maybe I will give some people a few ideas as well.

Perhaps this even needs its own thread even??

So anyway, since no manufacturer STILL seems to make anything decent, I've started having a few ideas involving a raspberry pi or ultra-mini PC type thing, and connecting a screen, and battery to it, or even just "beaming" a pic to my phone. Meaning I'd have to keep that in one pocket, with my phone in another. That would be do-able I guess "if I had to". I am not specifically looking for Linux - Windows 10 would do (ok stop that - please put your pitchforks and flaming torches down). For me it's just about having the hardware and the choice to use what I want on it - with dual/multi booting into whatever I needed to use. I will list some of the devices I have found below. What I don't want to happen is to end up spending way more than a tablet of equivalent specs would cost. . Whether this idea is impossible, I don't know, but I did find a couple of new devices that have achieved some similar results.

While searching I came across the Gole 1 and also the GPD Win. These look like some really decent options -

You guys seem to know all about the GPD Win already, but I haven't come across the Gole 1 on here after searching. I might end up just giving in and getting this if nothing else turns up. I would prefer a slightly bigger screen (6 or 7 inches) and more battery life though...

You know about the Raspberry pi I guess, but this video shows making it into a portable device which would be kind of thing I want, but with more power. That guy has made a few different versions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L75YTcEetkw

Here is a video with some info about the Gole 1 (nice price, has screen alhough maybe a bit small, has a battery, but only lasts a coupel of hours) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsWVQwBCFHc

Indiegogo seems to have a few startup projects with things that may be suitable:
Hercules (very light and portable, but no screen, expensive, no in-build battery) https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/h...er-computers#/

Ockel Sirius (Very nice but very expensive)
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/o...le-design--2#/


MeeGOPad T08 - (nice and small, has good ram, no attached screen, some versions I think have a battery - but probably not long lasting) In case anyone doesn't know, this is like a SOC device with a HDMI sticking out of it, and some USB ports, that you plug into your TV. 4GB Ram and intel Atom cherry trail processor. I believe there are different versions of this with a small internal battery as well.


Getting a bit bigger again - I have found the Minix Z83-4 (maybe a bit big, and might be hard to supply enough power to it, but very nice apart from that). There are other things like this from Chinese manufacturers, such as Onda and Voyo, but I wont bombard this with any more, I am sure people get the idea by now
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ1VlhrHeQA


There are also some other SOC boards, similar to the Raspberry pi but with a bit more power, that could be cobbled together with a screen and battery, which could be made into something really sweet. I am sure some people will have 3D printers to make some sweet cases for these setups as well, but I'd probably have to carve something out of wood, or use cellotape to wrap it all together lol
Making it look nice is less important to me than how it actually works obviously, but I imagine there are tons of options like cutting up a pencil case to put them into, or even styrofoam (nice and bouncy if it gets dropped ) etc.
Maybe we could have a while thread about building mini linux boxes with 7inch or 6 inch screens etc using these things?

Some of these I have come across are:
ODROID-XU4
Radxa Rock2
Orange pi plus 2
UDOO X86 (coming soon I believe)

So what do people think? No doubt there will be someone saying "been there- done that" and that'd be brilliant - could you provide any details of your setup, where you got the parts, and a how-to guide as well please?

On the other hand maybe this will open up a new line of thought/development etc? Or should I just give up and get a tablet?