So, on the whole, after several hours of heavy use last night, I'm mostly pleased with the #planetcomputers #gemini.
I like it more than the reviews made me think I'd like it. The keyboard is just a touch too small for me. It isn't actually small enough to render it unusable, just occasionally uncomfortable. It's also the largest size I could comfortably thumb type on.
So, on the whole, I'm calling that a decent compromise.
@ajroach42 What CPU is in there? the specs list 3...
@ckeen The official marketing buzz says it runs on a 10-core MediaTek Helio X27 processor.
@ckeen @ajroach42 ARM is like that - my phone has 8 cores
One point I will mention is that this device would be uncomfortable to use as a cellphone at any capacity.
Not impossible, mind you. It'd work. It just wouldn't be comfortable.
@ajroach42 I know the hinge thickness would make it harder to not revert to a thumbboard, but this looks like *almost* the perfect 'convergence' device. I really want a slider, though, so the phone aspect is more usable (e.g. N900, Droid, etc.). I loved my HTC Dream at the time.
I also like the look of the Dragonbox Pyra a whole bunch, but that's not even designed to be a phone beyond one model having an LTE chip.
@ajroach42
So it is possible to fully wipe android and run a pure linux distro?
@kelbot officially, on the model with a cellular radio, you can duel boot.
My understanding is that the duel booting only thing is a temporary measure, and we should be able to have the device running pure linux eventually, but who know how long it will be before that happens?
If that's a deal breaker for you, I'd wait.
I can deal with Android (eventually, with lineageOS) as long as it lets me get my work done, and mostly it does.
@ajroach42
I would like something like this that I could truly take with me every day. I'm in no hurry. I've looked at the gpd pocket as well.
@kelbot So far, I like this more than the pocket, if only for battery life.
But there's still a lot of growth for this product. I love mine, but I would wait until the software situation has stabilized a bit, and they've gotten through the rest of the preorders.
@ajroach42
How do you feel about the Mediatek processor? I have read a lot of bad things about mediatek as a company is regards to Foss and security etc.
@ajroach42 oh, the Gemini looks cool. My company HQ is in London - maybe I'll ask for a sample :)
@ajroach42 How is the #planetcomputers #gemini better than a rooted phablet with an external keyboard? Is it the more convenient form factor, is it noticeably more powerful, …? How's the battery life?
There isn't a debain image available for my model yet, which is frustrating, because I don't want this thing to be an android machine.
But, between JuiceSSH, DOSBox, and qemu, I'm getting a lot done.
It won't ever be my only device, but if I can get debian on it, it might be my primary portable device.