Are they? I didn’t know that.
I guess the main thing that gives me pause is the OS. I don’t need anything really big from it, but being able to comfortably use it is a must. I’ve heard complaints that Pi OS is pretty bare bones, but I imagine putting Android on it would sort that out.
But then, if you’re gonna get one with a screen, why not just get a laptop? (Obviously the price, but still…)
I’ll defo wait till my current machine dies, but this does look really, really cool.
Pi OS is a custom Linux distribution based on Debian. It’s a decent system with lots of flexibility, and is good for beginners. You can install several different Linux distributions, all depending on what you want from the device. You can install Android, and that might be advantageous for a small portable device with a touch screen, but I tend to prefer Linux distros for the Pi. There are some pretty lightweight Linux distros, but also ones that will give you a robust desktop experiences, depending on what you need. And if the desired configuration is a desktop environment, I would definitely chose Linux over Android.
I’ve only used Linux in a very small capacity. I think it was Ubuntu, but I could be miss remembering.
I’d want a basic desktop experience; web browsing, music playing, maaaaube some very light graphics stuff. Apart from games, that’s all I really use my laptop for now, and I plan to replace the gaming aspect eventually with a Steam Deck.
There is the very slight possibility I might use a computer for more art related stuff down the line, mostly digital colouring with a graphics tablet, but that depends very much on a) if I decide to dive deep back into that and b) if there is a quality, not-too-exoensive tablet (probably Wacom).
So yeah, minus the graphics stuff I think one of these devices would serve me well, but as cool as it is I’m not gonna jump into getting one until my laptop starts chugging more than it currently is. Who knows, by that time they might be powerful enough to do graphics too.