When I read Lukes request for mobile developer help I was impressed. This is Chippys Customer Challenge 2011 #3
I recently went to a local development meetup, and found myself content to use my phone during a ‘Hack Night’ to remotely access my desktop at home to type, and then browse using the phone’s browser. My goal would be to try to find a device that is ultra portable, but that would be a little more easy to do some of my regular development tasks on. It seems like there are a lot of options out there that might fit the bill, but I don’t know if people are really doing much development on more mobile devices rather than just laptops or netbooks.
It takes some patience, good eyes and even a little courage to mobile development work over a remote desktop solution on such a small screen. Luke is now looking for a solution that he can also use as a portable web server. I’m assuming that he also wants to do local development work too. It makes sense as relying on multiple network connections and ISPs to get to your work machine is a little wobbly! CPU and screen requirements can be quite high for software development but there might be a balance that can be done between local input and remote processing.
Luke mentioned Ubuntu which immediately cuts out a whole section of UMPCs from the toplist. Z-series Atom devices have never been well supported by Linux distributions although I know there are some workarounds with Ubuntu. Maybe it’s even baked-in by now. Can anyone comment on that?
Here’s what I’m thinking would suit Luke:
5-7 inch screen on X86 architecture at under 800gm. At least two USB ports and a VGA port. Local storage requirements relatively low. Touchscreen not really required. Tablet format OK with an external USB or BT keyboard.
The 5-7 inch category X86 category is non-existent right now and for value-for money, could you really beat something like the 900gm Asus Eee PC X101 with Meego for 170 Euro? It makes decisions really really hard. Mobility is the driver here though so where do we go with this? The good old, possibly beast ultra mobile PC ever, Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium. If you can find it, go for it Luke!
Other options you might consider are some of the newer, lightweight tablets. The AMD-based MSI Windpad 110 or Iconia Tab W500 for example. 10 inch, yes, but well under 1KG.
Also keep an eye on new Oaktrail models running Meego. That might happen in the fourth quarter and would indicate a stable status for Linux on the Z-series CPUs. It’s a Fedora-based solution but I’m sure the GPU support will find it’s way over to other distro’s soon.
Luke is not the only one looking at ultra-mobile Linux. I know a few other people that are struggling with this too. If you wait until the end of September we should have some more information on the dual-core Cedar-Trail devices. Tablets based on these should be lighter and smaller than the Pine-Trail equivalents like the Gigabyte S1080, a N570-based device at 900gm for about 550 Euro here. Having said that, Oaktrail devices like the Viewpad 10 Pro, Lenovo Ideapad P1 and Fujitsu Q550 (which I see in Germany for just over 600 Euro now) are worth looking at if weight and battery life is more important. With both of these solutions though you’re looking at Power-VR graphics. I worry about Linux support for that.
There’s one other device you might consider. The Toshiba Libretto W100. Is the dual-screen device based on a dual-core U5400 CPU. It’s got standard Intel graphics and should work well as a web server and even for compiling due to its relatively powerful CPU. It can be noisy, warm and, lets be honest, very short on battery life (2hrs) but it’s actually the only ‘current’, small-form-factor ultra mobile PC on the market that isn’t running a Z-series CPU. Price: Around 700 Euros with UMTS (I’m looking at a European price here.) I wouldn’t mind one of these myself for a bit of mobile 480p video editing and hotel work.
As for older devices, the previously mentioned Samsung Q1 Ultra Premium is the one to keep an eye out for. It’s still holding it’s own thanks to some fantastic engineering from Samsung. There are a few VIA-C7-based devices out there too. They’re cheap and not too powerful (think low-end single-core Atom) and can be a little on the warm side but at least Linux support would be easy.
My choice? If I just wanted a lightweight Linux device for light duties, I’d probably be looking at the Asus Eee PC X101. 920gm, basic specs, small SSD storage and an unbeatable price of 169 Euro here in Europe.
Anyone out there already doing mobile development work on Linux with a UMPC? Let’s hear your opinion.
Great post, I’m a big fan of the Libretto series, all the way back to the 50CT, and even the 20CT!
Do you have a W100? I’m thinking of buying one just…well… because it’s a UMPC!
I have the W105, the US version, and I love it. I use it to encode video and video editing with Videostudio. It can handle things pretty well. Sure battery is a little weak, but I plan on getting external battery pack like the Energizer XP18000.
I am also looking for a Samsung Q1UP, but damn are they hard to find. I nearly bought one from ebay, located in Florida, as I was travelling there for my honeymoon, but I couldn’t contact the seller in time; very unfortunate.
hi!
hurry up!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Samsung-Q1UP-XP-2GB-32GB-SSD-7in-Black-/280720464544?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item415c3e5aa0
http://cgi.ebay.com/Samsung-Q1-Ultra-Premium-1-33GHz-Intel-Core-Solo-U1500-/290595579680?pt=US_Tablets&hash=item43a8d8a720
What about the Viliv N5 or UMID BZ? These are ultaportable 5″ devices. Or the Fujitsu Stylistic T500 (or how the 10 inch convertible is called)? It has an i3 CPU, high resolution display and touchscreen.
I guess the geekiest option is the OQO 02, but it really isn’t that powerful.
The problem with this is the Linux support. Z series processors with gma500 / gma600 could mean work. If someone can confirm that the latest Ubuntu has support out of the box then maybe they become options.
Hell, gma500 hardly supports Windows 7.
Problem before was that Intel only really supported Windows and since they stopped using the GMA500 for most netbook models that they haven’t done much to keep it updated but the updated GMA600 and now Cedar Trail GMA 5600/5650 should change those priorities.
The linux community itself has been working on developing open source drivers for the GMA500 for quite awhile. Just with little success up till now, while Linux kernal changes from 2.6 on up has made it harder with the changes involved, so some older solutions only work with latest kernal 2.4.
However, they finally reported some progress since February and expect some decent driver release sometime late fall.
The drivers they have now still have issues with enabling some advance features like acceleration but we’ll see how things go. Hopefully the spread of Cedar Trail and Oak Trail GMA’s and growing number of systems being releases with linux OS instead of Windows shall finally promote good driver support.
How about the hanvon b10. Ive seen a few second hand ones floating around here in hong kong for about $3500hkd
As an ASIC and FPGA design engineer, using a 5-7 inch screened device for development will likely lower productivity too much to be worthwhile. Especially if you’re developing for an actual company with deadlines/milestones. If you’re just developing for personal interests then wasted time dealing with slow performance and a small screen isn’t so bad I guess.
Project tasks are already stressful enough and using a device with a small screen and low performance just makes it unnecessarily more difficult. If you’re going to use a bag to carry that UMPC, you might as well put a notebook in there instead.
I tend to agree. “CPU and screen requirements can be quite high for software development” but this user want’s mobility. I hope he joins the conversation.
I miss detail about what kind of dev is done. Looks like it’s web dev.
If it’s scripting (php, perl, python, shell…), ARM is fine.
For example, I do that on my N800 (from 2006 – I’m looking/waiting for an upgrade). There is lighttpd for running a local webserver, it’s often enough.
If it’s compiled, either :
– only the editing part is done localy + a script to commit/checkout/build/test when it’s needed (and if a data connection is available).
– everything is done locally, then a powerful device may be needed, depending on the size of the projet.
If it requires a full IDE (Eclipse or something), better take at least an ultrabook. But I guess it’s not the case here.
Thanks for that valuable input Rabs. Looking forward to Luke joining in with his responses.
Chippy.
Other upcoming possibilities: Win8 on 7-10″ tablet powered by quad core ARM…
I’m still using a Viliv S7 in a similar scenario. It support Linux well provided that you use an old version of Xorg, and you hack the wifi driver. Despite it is now a little old, I cannot find a newer and better device than the S7.
Great reading, as always. I just wanted to clarify my use case(s) in the event it opens up more possibilities. I am a front-end developer, so the vast majority of what I do for work is straight html/css/javascript with occasional bits of server-side templating thrown in. In my spare time, however, I have a number of pet project web apps that I am working on. The projects are built around a python web framework (Pyramid is the name of it for those interested in such things), and include some type of database, and I create my own graphic elements (typically with Gimp or Inkscape at this point).
Ideally, what I would like to be able to do is to have a standalone install of the web apps on something portable so when I go to meetups, or don’t want to sit at my desk at home for whatever reason I can just take them with me to work on or demo. It was kind of funny to be using my phone to both show and develop on, but it actually was a good thing because what I was trying to demo was a mobile web app, so it eliminated the transition between two systems. The AndroidVNC program makes text entry pretty smooth, so between that and ConnectBot for ssh sessions I didn’t find myself without the resources I needed.
I think I’m leaning more toward a tablet at this point, but only because I frequently carry a pad of paper inside a folder around with me to sketch or write on, so it wouldn’t really change how I do things now.
Thanks for all the great feedback thus far. I am kind of excited to see what new things are on the horizon. I really like the look of the Asus Eee Pad Slider.
Glad you got some thoughts and ideas Luke
For your use, the main problem of the Eee Pad Slider is Android.
I don’t think you can build your dev environment on that (with a web server and all the libs you need).
We can just hope that Asus will release the sources of their kernel modules and drivers, so it’s possible to install any Linux flavor without too much work & reverse engineering.
hi chippy , any news yet on that magic w3 ?
I want to buy 1 unit . pls advice
No news yet but I’m still tracking with an insider.
Chippy or anyone, I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the AMD APUs or MSI machines? After further reviewing some of the options given it looks like the MSI Windpad 100W could be a really viable option. Obviously it isn’t out yet, but from what I have read it seems like Linux is definitely installable on the AMD APUs, but I’d hate to fire off a pre-order not having asked for real-world experience with compatibility, build quality, and the like.
I’m looking very closely at the Windpad 110, based on the AMD Fusion platform. Should be available here in Germany in a couple of weeks. If I can scrape the money together, I’ll buy one for testing.