There are plenty of tablet based on AllWinner A10 and A13 processors, but all of them run Android, and you are out of luck if you want to run Linux on your tablet, unless you hack this yourself. But this is about to change as PengPod will launch 2 tablets and 1 mini PC running Linux from NAND flash or micro SD card:
- PengPod 700 – 7″ tablet with Allwinner A10, 1GB RAM and 8GB Flash
- PengPod 1000 – 10″ tablet with AllWinner A10, 1GB RAM and 8GB Flash
- PengStick – AllWinner A10 mini PC with 1GB RAM and 4 GB Flash
The table below gives more detailed specifications and comparison of the three devices.
| Device | PengPod1000 | PengPod700 | PengStick |
| Type | Tablet | Tablet | TV Stick |
| CPU | Allwinner A10 | AllWinner A10 | AllWinner A10 |
| Android | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Linux | 3.0.42 | 3.0.42 | 3.0.42 |
| Screen | 10” | 7” | External |
| Resolution | 1024×600 | 800×480 | 1080i |
| Ram | 1GB | 1GB | 1GB |
| Rom | 8GB | 8GB | 4GB |
| SD | Micro 32GB | Micro 32GB | Micro 32GB |
| USB Host | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| USB-OTG | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Wifi | B/G/N | B/G/N | B/G/N |
| HDMI | Yes | Yes | Mini |
| Camera | 0.3 MP Front | 1.3 MP Front | External |
| Head Phone | Yes | Yes | No |
| Speaker | Yes | Yes | No |
| Buttons | 1 | 1 | No |
| G-Sensor | Yes | Yes | No |
| Battery | 6000 mAh | 3300 mAh | No |
| Size | 267x164x14 mm | 195x120x10 mm | 87x33x14 mm |
| Weight | 720g | 375g | 30g |
Pengstick will ship with a power supply, a USB OTG adapter and mini HDMI-HDMI cable. PengPod tablets will ship with a charger, USB OTG adapter, headphones and a screen protector. All devices can be sold pre-installed with Android or Linux, which can boot either from flash or micro SD card (dual boot). They do not mention the Linux distribution, however based on the screenshots and video, the desktop environment appears to be LXDE, so it should be Lubuntu or one of the latest Linaro ALIP image (See Wiki).
The company also plan more Linux products if the first campaign is successful:
- PengPod713 – 7” Tablet with A13, 512MB ram, 4GB flash
- PengBox – Mini PC with 1GB ram, 4GB flash
- PengBook – 10″ Netbook with A10, 1GB ram, 8GB flash
The also mentioned the possibility of getting a Mele A2000 with 1 GB RAM.
The hardware for the first three products is already available, and the software is almost ready, but support for G Sensor based automatic screen rotation, hardware button support and on board camera support with Video4Linux still need more work. Watch the PengPod 1000 running Linux, Plasma Active (UI for tablets) and XBMC (under Linux) in the video below.
AFAIK, beside the Vivaldi tablet, those are the only other Linux tablets available. Pengpod sells the tablets and mini PC via Indiegogo, and like other projects I’ve seen on this crowdsourcing website, it does not really come cheap, with the Pengpod 700 selling for $99 (early bird) and $120, the Pengpod 1000 for $185, and the PengStick going for $85. Shipping is included for the US, but an extra shipping fee (Up to $39) needs to be added for international orders. The tablets won’t be ready for Christmas, but they can provide a (nice) certificate so that you can offer it for Xmas and the receiver will get his/her tablet a bit later.
You can visit pengpod.com for further details.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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>the possibility of getting a Mele A2000 with 1 GB RAM.
The model name are Mele A1000G and Mele A2000G, with 1GB RAM
DX has them dx.com/p161823 and dx.com/161843
so does AliExpress
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-Mele-A1000G-upgrade-Android-STB-IPTV-Box-HTPC-Allwinner-A10-1GB-RAM-8GB-Storage-WiFi/666274802.html
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/HK-Post-Free-Shipping-Mele-A2000G-Android-4-0-HD-Media-Player-Smart-WIFI-PC-TV/672941851.html
How hard is it to get Linux running on an A10 tablet? Can it then still run Android apps?
@onebir I’m not 100% sure, but I’ve heard people struggling a bit to have touchscreen support, and then there’s all the sensors that probably need work. The front camera is not working yet on PengPod tablets. So I think running Linux with basic support should be straightforward, but if you want all hardware components to be supported, a lot of work may be needed. If you use a micro SD card then you can dual boot Android / Linux. If Linux is installed in the internal flash, it should run faster (then in the SD card), but you won’t be… Read more »
The project just got funded with 3 days left.
@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)
That’s good. 🙂 Now I’m wondering if the Linux they get working for this will need (much?) further work to use with the forthcoming quad core A10….
@onebir
A10 is sun4i, A40 is sun6i so it’s a different kernel, but once the source is released, I’m sure the guys at linux-sunxi will make it work. It should be faster now, as there are many people in the community working on Allwinner platform.