Tablet would be the obvious system missing from the range.
If you are instead looking at individual components (like GPU or SSD) then blob free WiFi seems to be an issue.
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Noone outside of the manufacturer can fix the software if there are problems. You are at the mercy of the manufacturer for how long it takes to fix even serious problems. So potentially, once the manufacturer abandons that model, noone can fix the software if there are problems. Period.
You may be missing out on undocumented capability i.e. unable to use the full functionality of the hardware.
There are lots of reasons why blobs are bad.
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Purism could make a i.MX 8 QuadMax laptop, which would be awesome, but it will probably cost significantly more than $600. I suspect that the i.MX 8 QuadMax will suck too much energy for a tablet, but the i.MX 8M Quad (or mini if you don’t need good video out) is a possibility.
The problem with trying to make a Wi-Fi router is that I don’t know if Purism can do it for a cheap enough price.
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you can use the L5 as a portable 3G/4G wifi router if you install some stuff on it. simply tether the celular-data connection through the wifi.
it would be interested to see how we can do the same with the ethernet connection (requires an rj45 on an external dock in convergeance-like mode … probably)
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Purism was planning a tablet before the Librem 5. They put it on hold to focus on the phone, but want to return to it once the phone is released and through some growing pains. I am 99% confident we will get the tablet eventually.
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My wishlist consists exactly of one item:
a phone with ordinary phone keyboard (like old good feature phones), but with good hardware inside and a free software.
I hate touchscreens (pecking the screen with greasy fingers? No feedback from the input device? Gosh…) and believe that it is not necessary to give up the keyboard in favor of touch screen, if you want to have a good hardware inside the phone. This approach just needs more elaboration from UX perspective. Some fruits here are low-hanging, e.g. adding WiFi module to the keyboarded phone should not be so hard.
The real problem in the current market of keyboarded phones is that there are few models which have some good hardware stuff inside (WiFi, GPS, good camera, etc.), but they are completely proprietary (without any possibility to install/remove/tune the software), and the OOB software is a complete crap, making good hardware useless (the real example - a browser, which both does not allow ignoring the certificates it does not trust to by default, and have no means to install new root CA certs. This makes surfing effectively useless despite the fact that it is possible from hardware perspective).
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Smartwatch (or similar wearable).
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-
Librem TV: Apple TV-like device. Really, small computer about that size that comes with a remote for running Kodi from across the room.
-
Librem Route: Wireless router
-
Librem WS: Desktop workstation form factor machine
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Related Projects
-Desktop
-Laptop
Next step is probably Risc-V
Look into EOMA68: https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop
-GPU
Oooof, maybe this project: https://www.crowdsupply.com/libre-risc-v/m-class
-SSD
Welcome to OpenSSD!
http://www.openssd-project.org/
-Librem Route
LibreCMC is ok? But need help.
Look into ThinkPenguin: https://www.thinkpenguin.com
Lots to work on in Free Software!
What I want:
-Smart Watch
Debian may be too large. But LibertyBSD would make a great start.
Maybe with Asteroid OSes UI: https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/AsteroidOS
-Mycroft (but truly free’d!)
Mycroft-like system with actually free software and none of their non-free (hardware) BS. 
-Ram
OpenRam Project? Probably not by Purism.
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Thanks mini for your post, i knew these project, i could say viking is a good company for what they are doing, but the hardware is old i.e. sata 2 will be maxed at 200-300 mb/s pcie is at rev 2, and pay more than 1k for a refurbished system is not really a deal to me, btw you have to rely on an external gpu to run this system, and all ext gpu are closed, for these reasons i so not take this system in my wishlist
emoa68 looks to me like a scam, afaik this project is alive from some years and no one received the product, and anyway is really a low powerfull system
about the gpu, that’s an interesting project, i hope in the next interaction because this one aim to reach 720p @ 25hz and is not a good, i read a devs reply to that and he wrote the main issue are money, so they had to lower the specific, anyway this is a great project, but still far away to be there and to be usable, i think 1080p @60hz is the minimun target these days, and we are talking about a pice of hw that will no see the light before the next 2-3-5 years
the openssd seems like a dead project, there is no news from a while sadly
librecmc is nice i like it
for the ram afaik do not run firmware, is it right?
As I like to have a 1 for all device and I like to travel with it I allready hv a detailed idea what i would like to have (So forgive me the long text). And since purism seems to have managed to get convergence to work and I like their open-source and design style it would be superawesome to have one like the following from purism:
3 in 1 device (phone/tablet/laptop) featuring:
phone (librem 5; +keyboard like the n900 + radio sender/receiver (FM))
tablet: basically just a 11-12" 3:2 screen with no other hw. put the phone into a slot at the rear site and you have a tablet. the slot at the rear site should hold the phone so save that you can handle the screen and the phone as one device (not just connect them with a cable). let the front camera of the phone peak out (or have a hole in the tablet so one can use the phones front camera as the front camera of the tablet. Beside the phone one can attach 1-3 batteries of different sizes. The batteries have their own housing and attach to the rear side of the tablet with hooks that snap them into place. That way the tablet gets less bulky the fewer batteries one attaches and gives you longer battery life the more batterys you attach. A little battery to usb adapter that is stored inside the housing of the tablet and can be taken out gives you the option to use the batteries as powerbanks for the phone (leave tablet section at home and just take the phone + battery + adapter for a hike).
A foot stand enables you to place the tablet on the table upright.
The screen should be bright enough be be read in daylight an be able to be dimmed very much. Also it should be non-glare
A must have for me: One should be able to write on the tablet with a passive pen. (compare toshiba z20t (see link above). The pen is stored in the tablet.
A alternative “tablet” would feature a e-paper screen.
Laptop:
Just attach a keyboard to the tablet and make it a full featured laptop/convertible. The keyboard also holds the tablet (like lenovo helix or toshiba z20t). Not just a flappy keyboardattachment like lenovo x1 tablet that makes it nearly impossible to use the device as a laptop on your lap! The laptop should be able to be opened until a angle of 180deg.
The batteries that attach to the tablet also can be attached to the keyboard.
The keyboard section of the keyboard (the keys) should be able to be switched. So on can offer different keyboard layouts. Some keyboard layouts have big keys (but less). Some keyboard layouts have small keys (but additional keys). (I personally liked the small keys of the Asus Eeepc as is means much less moving of your hands/fingers). Some keyboards maybe even have a V-layout of the keys to be more ergonomic. Of course the option for a pointing stick with 3 dedicated mouse buttons must not me missing!
Last but not least the keyboard should be able to be connected to the phone/tablet via blue-tooth.
Well. Thats it. My dream-device.
Too much text? Sry. I just tend to know what I want when it comes to my gear 
(heaving toshiba z20t-c as laptop/tablet-convertible right now; hoping issues with gnu-linux are solved in debian 10)
3 Likes
Ok, here’s my list…
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Librem 11/12 Tablet
Convertible with a detachable keyboard like they had in the promo images. Fanless and preferably12 inch(I might actually prefer 11 inch?
) at a 16:10 or 3:2 ratio. I think it would be cool if it was ARM based as long as it’s not too underpowered. I guess they could probably reuse some of the Librem 5 design and components if they go that way. An optional active stylus. The same removable Wireless and Baseband cards used in the Librem 5. -
Librem 5 Dock
It has been mentioned before but a laptop shell/dock for the Librem 5 like Razer’s Project Linda. I know there is NexDock, but it’s just not the same having the phone hang off the side… -
Librem Reader
An e-reader with a roughly 8-10 inch E-Ink (or CLEARink if I dare to dream) screen. Some decent specs would be nice so it could be used as a web browser, etc. Audio with a 3.5mm headphone jack. Also with an optional stylus to use as a sketching canvas and for notes etc. -
Librem 5 Compact
As small as possible considering the restraints. -
Librem Modem Router
With a removable/replaceable modem. Could be sold as just a Wireless Router or even just a Wired Router (if the WiFi was also removable) with the option of choosing WiFi and a modem in the shop. -
Librem Light
A minimal compact e-ink phone as @dc3p suggested here.
Great topic btw!
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I would buy a purism laptop with an eraser mouse. A way to physically disable the touch touchpad would be nice too. I run Linux on thinkpads because the alternative hardware configurations just aren’t as good.
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Or wherever hands have been, how many people use their cell phone while on the toilet? Some are on the phone constantly, I wonder if some even put down their phone to wipe?
Surely there’s an app for that.
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I second the Librem TV, especially if it has an equivalent to AirPlay.
Also, a Librem speaker wouldn’t be bad. Had a HomePod for a short time, and while I liked it for a semi-portable sound system, I hated the fact that such powerful microphones were connected to a remote server. Hi-Fi sound with a digital assistant that does all processing on-device, which can be done with a mobile processor (both my iPhone and MacBook have offline dictation using the Siri engine, yet Siri itself requires a connection). So for example, you ask the speaker for the current weather. It translates your speech to text on-device, generates a query from that, and THEN it goes out to the internet and fetches the requested data. The voice data never leaves the device and ideally isn’t stored, either. As for music played on the speaker, have the speaker take a MicroSD card and have it appear as a network drive, which one could then keep synced with software on a computer. The SD card contains a copy of your music library so that it can play anything you have by voice command, and for anything else, use a Bluetooth connection to another device.
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Sigh it is EOMA68 - embedded open modular architecture, 68 pins. You can read any of the 70+ updates or join the mailing list and follow why it has taken so long, even ask a question rather than jump to the conclusion that, as a Software Libre Developer of 25 years experience, and ethical technology specialist it is my sole exclusive desire in the world to “scam” people, eagle.
Also, you will note the word “modular” in EOMA68. That means “modular”, as in “the computer card is replaceable with an upgrade”. Samsung’s latest smartphones are soon to have 16 core processors and 12GB of RAM! Such processors are perfectly well capable of fitting into an EOMA68 form factor.
So please do take a bit more care in what you write, keep an open mind and ask questions ok? Thanks eagle.
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I think that this interface may be superior to a mini-keyboard for many tasks.
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You are right sorry, i have maximum respect for all project who care about privacy and freedom, my words was not fair
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A Purism SBC with high specs, multi-purposed:
- Portable mini-server
- Portable entertainment box
- Routing capabilities
Powerful desktop computer / home server
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