2mo ago

Tablet (w/ stylus) suggestions for Linux

Looking for a tablet for taking notes in engineering and deeper math classes.

I always used paper or typing (shoutout notesnook), but I want to have a big digital handwritten journal to look back at and reference.

Or if anyone is familiar with custom ROMs for android and know a good and easy to flash tablet.

I already have a thinkpad x1 carbon laptop for everything else.

Tablet will be separate for reading, home assistant, taking notes with Saber and watching entertainment.

Again, looking for a decently easy Linux tablet or de-googleable tablet with an advanced stylus.

And I'd prefer not supportting Microsoft or Google of course. And budget strictly under $200 l.

Thanks!

27 comments

I have a minisforum v3 running Linux and it's great. Only missing features are windows hello, and using the fingertips scanner for more than unlocking.
I also have a framework 13 which is not the touch 12, but having both I can say for sure that both have great quality but the minisfourm has shockingly good performance which I don't think the 12 will have.
- You can use windows hello in linux, its called "howdy" even works with sudo in terminal. Check this out: https://github.com/mudkipme/awesome-minisforum-v3?tab=readme-ov-file#faical-recognition
  
  I tried, did not get it working, decided since it cant unlock after boot anyway it was probably not worth it.
I have a tablet just like the one pictured, but I went with getting a Framework 12 instead with a proper stylus. Still, I'm curious if I could degoogle that tablet.
- Tell me more about the framework laptop with a stylus! I thought this was a fascinating concept but also thought that the stylus would just be a gimmick for me.
  What are you running on it?
  
  I went with Fedora 42 since it was recommended and it works well. The stylus support is good. Tested Krita and it was great, much better than expected :) The Framework stylus isn't out yet so I got a Metapen M2 on recommendation from the forums.
  
  Not using the framework but on my minisfourm v3 I use the stylus more than I expected. Xournal++ is great for notes and writing.
  Gimp has decent pressure support but I'm not an artist so that's a gimmick to me which might be critical for others.
- Is that a Lenovo?
  
  Mine sure is :)
Minisforum v3. Should be able to get it at a decent price by now.
Edit: of this is going to be an all day type of thing, you may just want to stick with a lower power android tablet though, not that I'm thinking about it. The v3 is a great form factor, and works perfectly with a stylus, but it packs a big CPU, and both the Gnome and KDE full tablet exper5leaves something to be desired. You'll definitely need to charge if using for a full day of classes.
- There are no minisforum v3 on ebay kleinanzeigen in Germany. That's sad :(
  
  I bought mine here, with german keyboard layout https://minisforumpc.eu/products/minisforum-v3-se-3-in-1-tablet-mit-magnetischer-tastatur Its the slower one maybe the faster comes back idk, i got the r7 8xxx from there in april Took two month to arrive
  
  Looks like the certified refurbished units direct from them are also still really expensive. It's become incredibly popular in recent months.
something like the pinenote maybe?
although holy shit it's expensive. i thought it was like $150
I can fully recommend HP Elite x2 1012 G2. Might be a bit old, but Linux works just out of box. Tested on both Elementary OS 7 and recently on Fedora 42
- @zieg989 @TurkeyDurkey Does linux-libre work perfectly?
  
  I apologize, but what do you really need to do - get things done, or practice ethically pure masochism?
Just buy a used x86_64 tablet on ebay or something.
Edit: Oh, I just saw your budget. This is ~$800, so maybe not.
There's the Starlite 5: https://us.starlabs.systems/products/starlite?variant=55242571612540
I've got one. It's got an x86 processor and runs standard fedora just fine, including pen input.
Though, I don't use it for much because I haven't found any note-taking software that I actually like using. I used something back in college that just created SVG pages in an HTML notebook which I absolutely loved, but I can't find it now. It wasn't open source so I'm guessing it might have just died.
- Maybe some day 🙏
  Also, I've been trying the Sober written notes app and it's pretty good for me. I hope you can check it out and like it.
Starlight?
- Out of my range of current budget. Just bought pricy a fairphone.
Gnome seems to be decent these days and I do still enjoy the latest version when I add tweaks.
- Sure, especially if paired with the extensions mentioned here: https://www.reddit.com/r/gnome/comments/12xo5m6/gnome_on_a_tablet/ Some are outdated but there are alternatives for current gnome versions.
  I had two x86 tablets with linux, both with issues. Prev. owned a dell latitude 5285 and now a minisforum v3. The latitude maybe available for ~200 in secomd hand market but its quite old i5 7th gen is pretty slow today
  Both had issues with volume buttons in linux, on the dell it worked when using x11 instead of wayland and for minisforum it was a simple change in config files.
Miniforum V3

27 comments