Hello, I would like to buy a board as a replacement for my dying laptop. For three reasons: - opensource hardware - lighter hardware to carry when walking to my workplaces - I prefer using my TypeMatrix keyboard than any laptop keyboard. The idea is to travel with a board, my typematrix and sometime a 9" screen
I am mainly hesitating between PandaBoard, BeagleBone Black and BeagleBoard XM. I intend to use my board under OpenBSD for desktop tasks: - showing pdf presentations (projector with HDMI connections, which sounds better for Panda Board so far). I need at least two usb ports, one for my TypeMatrix and one for my students pendrive. - Some presentations are coupled with short videos (2-10 minutes long) or music. I read PandaBoard has trouble with video, since it uses a nonfree graphical component. Any feedback? - I would also use it to take notes in libraries or archives, so a small screen (without tactile options) is needed. Since most libraries offer wifi rather than ethernet, I think wifi should be useful. I wouldn't pay 100$ just to have it anyway. - I will use mainly CLI: cwm, vim, LaTeX, mupdf, R, sqlite, spatialite. I think those boards are powerful enough those tasks. My first choice was a BeagleBone Black + USB hub, a cheaper investment. But AFAIK, panda, although more expensive, has its usb controller, while Beagleboards or Beaglebone do not. I was also wondering, if boards would not run faster. What would you buy? Are there some problems with screens? Thank you for any feedback or suggestions. Damien Thiriet PS: I send a similar question in ArchLinux arm forum, but no one did answer. I bet my English did not help.
