Hey, a new tablet! Crisp 10-inch touchscreen? Check. Luxurious carbon fibre and wood case? Present. Huge 10,000mAh battery? Yep. Linux-based and built at home? Err…
This chunky-yet-oddly-elegant tablet was designed and built from scratch by Michael Castor. Powered by one of those open source Raspberry Pi mini computers, it’s affectionately known as the PiPad. Castor explains his motivations:
It seems that every day a manufacturer comes out with a new tablet computer. Thinner, lighter, faster, but it seems that they all look about the same and accomplish roughly the same things. When I set out to build my Raspberry Pi tablet I wanted something different. I wanted an all-in-one system that was usable, portable, and Linux based. Additionally, it had to look good. Since I wanted to use it on flights the device couldn’t freak out the TSA or the old lady sitting next to me.
The results speak for themselves. It’s not perfect — it doesn’t have a camera, and all that battery still only provides six hours of use — but it’s pretty cool nonetheless. You can find out all the components required, and how to build it, over on Castor’s blog. [Michael Castor via MAKE]
