(A slightly simpler version of this was also added to
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6064 <
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6064> .)
I bought one of these WinBook TW700 x86 Windows tablets:
http://www.microcenter.com/product/439773/TW70CA17_Tablet_-_Black <
http://www.microcenter.com/product/439773/TW70CA17_Tablet_-_Black> .
It's super cheap-- $65.98 delivered (or if you can get to a store, open-box units are reportedly sold for $48 plus tax)-- and looks like a decent potential platform for Tails. Among the usual features for this class of device, it has a 7" 1280x800 LCD, an Intel BayTrail-T Z3735G 1.33GHz processor, 1GB RAM and 16GB of flash, and a microSD card slot that reportedly takes up to 64GB cards.
It also has a few features that might make it better for Tails than other low-cost Windows tablets I've seen. It has two USB ports (one micro-USB OTG-style port plus one full-size USB Type A port), and they do work independently. The Type A port reportedly supports USB 3.0, which is unusual; OTG ports generally don't (and can't, unless they're the wider micro-USB 3.0 style). There's an HDMI port, The machine has a full Phoenix BIOS, unlike some other tablets, which includes the ability to permanently reorder boot devices. Unfortunately it still uses 32-bit UEFI to boot. At least there is a boot option to bring up an EFI shell command line, which is nice.
I haven't been able to figure out a key combination that will bring up the BIOS or a boot-select page, so for now I have to start Windows and go through the PC settings / Update and Recovery / Recovery / Advanced Startup tree in order to access those functions. Also, the SD card is apparently not supported as a boot device by the BIOS, which is consistent with the Toshiba Encore 2 and, reportedly, other low-cost x86 tablets.
Interestingly, I can’t get it to work with an external keyboard on the micro-USB port through an adapter, but keyboards and even hubs work perfectly well on the Type A port. This is a little disappointing since it would be faster to put the thumb drive on the USB 3.0 port and the keyboard on the other one.
In related news, although this machine and the Toshiba Encore 2 can clearly boot from USB and have no trouble getting to GRUB, they won't boot a full OS reliably. Since my last comment I have also tried Fedlet (
https://www.happyassassin.net/fedlet-a-fedora-remix-for-bay-trail-tablets/ <
https://www.happyassassin.net/fedlet-a-fedora-remix-for-bay-trail-tablets/> ) but it gets similar results. I still think the problem is with graphics initialization, but I have no clear proof of that.
I would be happy to buy one of these WinBook tablets for a Tails developer who will commit to working out a way to boot Tails, even if it still requires a keyboard or pointing device to get the OS running. It shouldn't be too difficult, and of course they'd get to keep the device after they publish the necessary instructions and code. Booting from a USB stick would be fine; I suspect it would be very difficult, maybe impossible, to boot from an SD card. I think if people try out such a proof of concept, they'll recognize the value of a supplementary computing device with intrinsically strong security.
I also got an HP Stream 8, which is not otherwise unusual, but interesting for its T-Mobile 4G WWAN interface with a free 200MB/month data plan-- not a bad deal for $150 on Amazon right now. Reportedly this service plan can be activated without providing any personal information beyond an email address, though my tablet wouldn't activate properly. (T-Mobile said the IMEI number wasn't eligible for this plan; I'm still trying to get this straightened out.)
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