[Arm-netbook] Good netbook based on Cortex-A9

[Gordan Bobic]

On 30/07/2012 22:12, lkcl luke wrote:
> On Mon, Jul 30, 2012 at 9:53 PM, Gordan Bobic<gordan at bobich.net>  wrote:
>
>> part of the cost of a laptop. You might as well just make a box that
>> allows plugging in an EOMA card into a Motorola Lapdock if you want to
>> cut a few corners. :)
>
>   ... actually, that's a bloody good idea.  why didn't it occur to me
> before??  maybe it was because i thought those lapdocks would be
> vapourware.  you're telling me they're real??

The Atrix lapdocks are cheap and plenty. And thank freebirds - if they 
hadn't mentioned combining a MK802 and a lapdock it would never have 
occured to me to look into it. It turns out this is really easy to do.

I must say it's quite tempting to get an MK802 and a lapdock just for 
hacking and fun purposes (just what I need - another project, when there 
are already not enough hours in a day). But I'm really not convinced 
it'd actually beat my AC100 on any front, for a similar overall price tag.

>   http://liliputing.com/2012/06/mk802-notebook-connecting-74-pc-motorola-lapdock.html
>   http://www.rikomagic.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=34
> http://forums.bit-tech.net/picture.php?albumid=1910&pictureid=27215
>
>   holy shit - they're real.

Dude, Motorola Atrix has been around for ages, and most of them seem to 
have sold with Lapdocks. It was a really nice Android phone, but I never 
really looked at it seriously because of the closed and locked down 
bootloader. In general, if I can't put an aftermarket ROM on my phone 
easily, it doesn't get any further consideration.

>   this is definitely worthwhile exploring.  and... shit, i mean... this
> is the solution!  sod making a damn ARM laptop, it's been accidentally
> done already!

Yeah, it turns out somebody has done all the problematic stuff for you. 
And even if the Mkl Atrix lapdock supply dries up on eBay, you might be 
able to get whoever manufactured them in China to run off a few tens of 
thousands to go with the EOMA boards. :)

The only downside is that the screen size used is 11.6". As far as I can 
make out, there are only two display panels available in that size 
(possibly with a clone or two of each), and they are 1280x720 and 
1366x768, i.e. extremely unremarkable, considering the Transformer HD 
packs 1920x1200 in 10". But it does offer a decent solution for the 
problem of knocking out an EOMA laptop on a budget of next to sweet FA. :)

>   ok, so... really, all that's needed is to make a minature holder/case
> for an EOMA-68 CPU Card that plugs into the motorola lapdock sockets,
> receives power, and err.... it's done.

That really does appear to be the size of it. For now a MK802 works for 
a test bed, but it's a bit messy with the extra cables dangling about. 
Hmm... I wonder what the battery life is like with the MK802/Lapdock 
combo...

Gordan