What are the requirements for Tablet PC devices?

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1) There is a lot of old / used Tablet PCs available on eBay, but what are minimal processor and OS requirements for it?

2) In case a Tablet or PDA has no WiFi or BlueTooth, is it possible to use it as an Orbiter with it's built in Infrared?

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1) We've it on a 200Mhz XScale with 32MB Ram.  It runs--but it's slow.

2) We need a LAN connection.  If the infrared driver provides an IP address, then it will work.  However I think most do not.

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Do you have any specific brands or models you use or recommend.

One thing I have found frustrating with Pluto is a lack of hardware specifics.  A list of functionally tested hardware for Video Capture, CD/DVD-Rom Drives, Web Pads, CE based PDAs, etc, etc would certainly be helpful in testing and evaluation.  
I work for a telephony and data communications company and the market for this product (provided it works well) in our area could be very lucrative to us, but without a good test bed system we can't eval it properly.  I/we certainly don't have the time or the money to buy 2-3-4-8-10-12 cards, PDAs, web pads, etc looking for the right ones.


Thanks,
Tracy

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Hi Tracy,

I'm sorry for your frustration.  You saw our compatibility list, right?  When you go to our quick start guide and choose section 1: Picking the right components there is a link.  Also from the home page under Support, there is a link.  That lists the home automation components we know will work.

Regarding Web pads and PDA's, the web pads shown on our site are DTResearch.com DT368.  There's also a lower-cost DT375.  We didn't mention specific web pads or pda's because pluto runs on all of them.  It's a matter of balancing the features you want: battery life, cosmetics, speed and price.  We like the DT368/375 because they are designed for OEM use (no logos), they're small and light and ergonomically appealing.  The only drawback is the batteries aren't so good.  They have a memory effect and need replacing every few months.

For pda's, we've tested lots of them.  However, the market life of pda's is so short, and models are replaced every few months, it's impossible to stay on top of which model is currently the best.  Probably a source like zdnet would have the latest reviews of the new models.  In-house we used Dell Axim's.

Starting next month a system builder will start offering hardware with Pluto pre-installed.

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Can give me a ballpark figure on the pricing of the DT Research pads?

Also, do you think the Fujitsu Sylistic 2300 touchscreen tablet PC's (they're only 233Mhz, 64-96MB RAM  with 4-6GB of storage) would be powerful enough for an orbiter?  I can pick those up locally for ~ AU$300 at the moment.  They don't have Wifi built in, but I understand that you can use a PCMCIA wifi network card.  Not sure if the PCMCIA cards do network boot though.  Details are here: http://www.surplusmobility.com/fujitsu/stylistic-st2300.html

They also have Windows CE versions as well.  A full list of products available is here: http://www.surplusmobility.com/fujitsu/

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DT Tablets are around $1000 for an XScale 400Mhz model with Windows CE.  The Fujitsu's should be fine--orbiter's don't use net boot.  Orbiter is a normal windows app.