The Project...

I have a CTL 2Go PAD as a new project box. It is a tablet pc (actually a flat netbook) with an Intel atom N470 processor, 2 gigs of ram, and a 250gig hard drive.

The machine comes with an odd version of Windows Se7en hacked to run on a tablet. I could not get it to back up correctly, so it got nuked and replaced with Fedora 14. (Why Fedora 14? Because I know it fairly well and none of the Linux distros solve the problem of a tablet os out of the box. More on that later.)

The Hardware

The processor is an Atom N470. The N470 is a 1.87ghz processor that supports hyperthreading. Not superfast, but OK. (The "codename" for this processor is "Oaktrail". "Pinetrail" is the newest processor in this family and expected to be faster. Remember that this is a first generation tablet. Not everything is worked out yet.)

The graphics are the Intel GMA3500. This chipset is supported by the standard Intel 945 graphic driver. If you have a reasonably current version of X, it is supported. (Including 3d support!) It runs Compiz! (Thankfully not the Poulsbou driver. But I can't talk about that.)

The hard drive is the standard SATA laptop drive. I chose the laptop drive instead of the SSD (Solid-State Drive) because SSDs are expensive. It just works.

The tablet has a number of connectors. Microphone and sound jacks, two USB2 connectors, a micro-VGA plug (with adapter), Ethernet and SD card adapter slots (not certain on the supported formats).

The front has a web cam (1meg) and a light sensor. The case blocks the light sensor.

I should mention the case at this point. The case is leather. Fairly nice, but blocks a few things. (One USB port, the SD card slots and the light sensor.) Due to the odd size, it will be hard to find something that fits it.

The screen is 1024x600 resolution. It is a ILITEK Multitouch capacitive touch screen. (More on this later.) This is a letterbox format screen, similar to what you would find on a netbook. (Like I said, it is a flat netbook.)

The wireless card is a RT-2800. Supports b, g, and n. Not supported by Fedora 14, but the driver is available. (Either you can download it from their web site or you can build a 2.6.38-RC6+ kernel and it just works.)

There are also a number of other sensors in this. I am still tracking down the i2c devices. I will post the lspci, lsusb and i2c list once I have them saved off the machine.

I guess that is all for now. The next post will be on the joys of tablets and how everyone is pretty much unprepared for making them function.