I am interested in buying an 'iPad' type of device to use for only one specific purpose:
- Format the device and setup some kind of bare-bones operating system which allows me to...
- Copy 'Faststone Screen Capture' and 'Faststone Image Viewer' (x86 software) from my Windows XP computer into the device.
- Take photos using the built-in camera of the device and then edit/annotate/draw using 'Faststone Screen Capture' inside the device.
- Connect the device to my Windows XP desktop computer when I get home and copy out the images via USB cable.
That's it! ...I basically want something resembling a USB stick with a huge screen and some input/output controls ...or to put it another way, a mobile extension of my Windows XP desktop set up to run one single-minded task and all other functions removed/hacked/stripped out.
Does anybody have any tips, thanks.
P.S. :: I don't own any mobile devices, no tablet, no phone, nothing! ...I also have zero interest in Social Media, Cloud Computing, AppStores and anything else related to mobile internet connectivity.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 15 2014, @02:11AM
Rooted androidbrunning CM will let you use the camera and present the device as mass storage. You can use a firewall app (really iptables) to block all traffic.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Foobar Bazbot on Tuesday July 15 2014, @02:46AM
Assuming for the sake of argument that the OP isn't trolling us all...
That won't do it, because he wants to copy Wintel software to it and have it run. Almost all Android tablets are ARM or MIPS, and would require a fairly advanced Wine+Qemu setup to even attempt this, but there are a few x86+Android tablets. The ones that are x86 still won't run his Windows apps without Wine -- and getting Wine running under Android is a more involved project than it sounds like he's ready for. AFAIK, the easiest approach will entail installing a "normal" distro such as Debian with bind mounts [dyndns.org] (my favored approach) or chroot.
(Score: 5, Informative) by frojack on Tuesday July 15 2014, @02:14AM
No disrespect intended, but the above was drop dead obvious.
Ipads and android tablets or tablets general are not exactly like normal computers.
You do not format them and load some arbitrary software on them.
Well, you can, to some degree, but not from a standing stop.
There is a fairly substantial learning curve on tablets, especially anything with Apple logo, or Android OS.
Even the purely Microsoft Windows tablets, older Win 7 tablets to which a touch interface was bolted on, or the newer Windows 8.1 tablets (not Windows RT) would be a better starting place than any Android or IOS tablet. However even for those tablets, one does not "format it and install" some random software. These things are stacks and stacks of highly propriety drivers. You start deleting these things and you end up with a paperweight.
So you are pretty much stuck with running a windows tablet, and you are pretty much stuck with running it with the software already installed. The good news is that some of these will run any Windows software on most of the Windows 8.1 Pro (not RT).
The bad news is that these start at around 500 for an under-powered one.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 5, Informative) by frojack on Tuesday July 15 2014, @02:23AM
Following up.....
Start here http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/view-all?T1=allpcs#v1h=tablets [microsoft.com]
Discard out of hand any that mention Windows RT or ARM processors. Look for intel processors in the specs.
Entry level start around 300 bucks if you shop around.
Most any of the these (NOT Windows RT) work with almost any windows software that will run on XP or later.
Just find the installer for that software, download it and install it as normal.
But don't even think about formatting these computers, and forget about cabling it up as well. It will attach to your wifi network and you can just drag and drop files to your other computer like any other windows machines on your network.
Oh, and one more thing, Don't buy Windows RT. (just wanted to make that clear).
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Appalbarry on Tuesday July 15 2014, @02:16AM
Unless there's some really specific reason for using the Faststone products I'm unclear why you would go to this much trouble.
Any tablet type device (or any smartphone for that matter), will have built in a way to take photos, most if not all of the editing features of Faststone, and will plug into any computer to let you copy files off.
I'd suggest buying or borrowing a used recent vintage Android phone (running Jellybean or better) not bothering with a SIM card, and trying that out. You should be able to find something close to what you want for around a hundred dollars.
You can then use either USB or WIFI to move pictures off of the device and onto your PC.
(Note: If you're trolling, which seems entirely likely, I'll give you points for creativity.)
(Score: 4, Funny) by Tork on Tuesday July 15 2014, @08:07AM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 15 2014, @12:20PM
I don't want any wireless/mobile/networking features; I want to hack them out/hex edit/kill them...I am paranoid and untrusting.
I don't want any other distractions on the device; I only want a screen capture utility and an image viewer utility, running on a bare-bones brain-dead operating system; I want to hack out/delete/disable all other functions.
Basically, I want to tweak and set up an interactive mobile monitor with a built in camera to do one specif task, and everything else removed; in a similar vein to what I can do with my Windows XP desktop system under the hood.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Tuesday July 15 2014, @02:41PM
Right. That totally explains your hard-on for XP.
It sounds like what you want is a camera, at least one with some in-camera editing features. Either that or you want to advertise some picture editor nobody has ever heard of.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 15 2014, @02:34AM
It seems that you want to put your copy of XP on a device that doesn't support it.
You then want to put apps that only work under a desktop version of Windoze on this magical device that has accepted your obsolete OS.
You need to get used to the idea of using new (different) software.
A zero-cost way to start the process is to install Linux on your desktop computer next to your current (again, obsolete) OS.
To then get rid of the dual-boot issue, get VirtualBox (again, $0) and install your obsolete OS in that to handle your must-have Windoze-only apps.
The answers are:
1) Buy an Android device. It sounds like what you have in mind could easily be done on old, used gear--which will bring the price down for you.
2) Just as Windoze users should know that they need band-aids pasted all over their fragile OS, Android users should know that Cyanogenmod is Step 1 for proper permissions/security and Step 2 is Xprivacy (or Pdroid).
3) Learn how to use a search engine to find people who have already tweaked their gear in the way you desire (Airplane mode).
-- gewg_
(Score: 5, Insightful) by pz on Tuesday July 15 2014, @02:35AM
So you want a camera, you say? And nothing else?
Why not just buy a camera? Modern digital cameras take really good photos, have better response time than tablets, better optics (zoom! optical stabilization! noise reduction!), and have removable storage. Most also connect via USB, and can be seen as a generic storage device on your XP computer.
A new Canon point-and-shoot that will beat the pants off a tablet for photos (while also being eminently portable) can be purchased for well under $200 on Amazon.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
(Score: 4, Informative) by tibman on Tuesday July 15 2014, @03:07AM
I have seen some new ones pair with an android device as well. So you can be IN the picture, look at the preview, and take a shot.
SN won't survive on lurkers alone. Write comments.
(Score: 3, Informative) by frojack on Tuesday July 15 2014, @07:07AM
And even moderate priced small cameras can have wifi these days, so you can get your picture off of the camera and onto your computer without a cable.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 15 2014, @12:02PM
No, I do not want a camera; I am after a BIG SCREEN which can capture images via a lens and which allows me to annotate/edit the captured images using basic input controls. I then want to go home and connect the device --just like a USB stick-- to my Windows XP desktop and copy out the images. I believe my submission was very clear and unambiguous.
P.S. -- Photography is one of my hobbies, specifically indoor table-top photography. I own a Nikon D3 + various expensive lenses.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Tuesday July 15 2014, @06:57PM
You need to rethink your process. Seriously. You don't want to use the tablet for anything but taking pictures and editing. You don't want to immediately upload your pictures to a flickr account, email them to friends or enemies -- you want a camera with a big screen to do rudimentary edits on so you can then download them to your PC. The thing is, tablets aren't good for content editing -- you can do it in a pinch, or to some simple degree, but that is not what they are for. They work great at content consumption, but suck at content creation. So if you think about your process, all you are doing is using the tablet as a camera, editor, and temporary storage device. It's a crappy camera compared to a real one. It's a crappy editor compared to a computer. It's as good as any other USB storage device.
What you should do is take pictures, copy them to your PC, and edit it them there. You really have no use for a tablet.
(Score: 1) by dcollins on Tuesday July 15 2014, @04:56PM
"So you want a camera, you say? And nothing else?"
The submission title does say "Camera/Presentation Tool".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 15 2014, @09:41AM
Or at least have the common decency of unplugging the network connection. If you settle for this, remember Natanz though.
(Score: 1) by number6 on Tuesday July 15 2014, @11:48AM
You can stick your scaremongering shit up your ass. This is a single user system highly tweaked, optmized and hardened personally by me.
What do you really know? ......fuck all, that's what! As far as I'm concerned, all Windows products should be unplugged from the internet.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 15 2014, @12:03PM
Stay classy 6.
(Score: 2) by tbuddy on Tuesday July 15 2014, @03:47PM
AC wins another thread!
(Score: 2, Informative) by chongo on Tuesday July 15 2014, @01:05PM
BTW: I'm not the troll who originally insulted XP
Due to fundamental design flaws in Windows XP, unless you have both OS source code and deep knowledge of your BIOS/Firmware you are unlikely to prevent the compromise of the integrity of your XP platform simply by unplugging it from the Internet.
You will be transporting data into and out of your fundamentally flawed XP system. That alone is a sufficient attack surface to allow a system cracker compromise the integrity of your system. And depending on what hardware you may or may not have physically disabled, you may be surprised at how large of an attack surface that hardware provides.
I would be surprised to learn if you recompiled XP and modified it to remove the fundamental design flaws of that OS. Surprised because the effort required is significant and the OS source code knowledge Is proprietary. But maybe you are someone who has such knowledge. I would be surprised to learn that you properly disabled hardware to prevent their attack surfaces from being exploited. Although people with deep knowledge of a particular hardware platform/BIOS/Firmware operates are more common.
Why would I be surprised? Because the effort to minimize the attack surface your typical XP PC platform is substantial. It is akin to modifying an old Ford Pinto to be competitive in the stock car racing circuit. Yes, one could DO it. But if successful you end up with something that has little resemblance with the original Pinto. And to gain what -- bragging rights to say "This started out life as a Pinto!" ?!? Possible but not plausible.
I would hazard a guess from your "unplugged from the Internet" remark that you probably did not "Stock car mod that Pinto". Call it just a hunch.
Now had you said something along the lines of: "My threat model does not include remote attacks against disabled or unused PC hardware, nor exploits of the XP operating system, nor compromising the integrity of the platform via data that I transport to/from my system, etc. AND external requirements imposed on me compel the use of particular software": in other words had you stated that you are "not interested in protecting against those sorts of issues", then I would have thought "reasonable positron and well done in not feeding the troll".
However, you didn't so that. Instead the way you responded to the troll suggest that you PROBABLY DO CARE at some level. Moreover the nature of your original question to SoylentNews suggests you are prepared to build your own platform rather than accepting some vendors imposed OS and cloud solution.
Given all that, you might want to consider a different platform that runs in common on both your PC and your tablet-like device.
Just a suggestion for you to consider.
chongo (Landon Curt Noll) ^..^
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 15 2014, @03:32PM
Ugh, way to talk to it like it's a person...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 15 2014, @10:43PM
I'm sure that the Original Poster is gravely concerned about the security of the annotated tablet pictures stored on his non-networked XP PC. Even deep, dark, elven knowledge of your BIOS won't protect you from the GoodTimes virus.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 15 2014, @03:28PM
Yup, bet you hacked the kernel to be 100% secure based on directions you found outta the anarchist cookbook, didn't you?
GTFO, poseur.
(Score: 1) by dryriver on Tuesday July 15 2014, @02:00PM
The easiest solution would be to buy a Microsoft Surface tablet + keyboard. You'll be able to run your Windows software on it fine (Surface runs on Core i5 CPUs... just don't buy the RT version, which is not X86 based). The only bad thing about surface is that it runs Windows 8.1, rather than Windows 7. So it presents you with the Metro interface by default, and has no "Windows Start Button", which is annoying. Formatting a Surface? You'll probably loose functionality like the touchscreen and pressure sensitive pen it comes with. But if it needs to be small, mobile and Windows compatible, Surface or a similar core i3/i5 Windows 8 tablet should do the trick.
(Score: 1) by thenzero on Tuesday July 15 2014, @02:06PM
a good old fashioned troll to get the morning started right.
(Score: 1) by xorsyst on Tuesday July 15 2014, @03:56PM
Get an old Windows laptop and a webcam. This will do everything you need, won't it?
(Score: 2, Informative) by khedoros on Tuesday July 15 2014, @06:37PM
OK, so, a tablet.
If that's a requirement, then you've just pushed yourself into laptop territory. Tablets generally can't have an arbitrary OS loaded onto them (mostly due to driver issues).
That further restricts you to *Windows* laptops running x86 processors.
And now I'm not sure than any device fulfills all of those requirements, as stated. Most laptops would only function as a USB host device, as far as I'm aware.
As soon as you say "tablet", you're almost forced into using some kind of app store for your software . The most common tablets run on ARM CPUs, with iOS (Apple's mobile OS), Android (Google's mobile OS), or Windows RT (Microsoft's ARM version of Windows) as the OS. They won't run your Faststone software, although they're likely to have software "apps" available that would provide the same functionality. The software would have to be loaded from an app store or side-loaded as a software package downloaded from the internet, if you're on an Android device.
While you can probably find something that will do what you want, you probably won't find something that will let you do what you want in the exact way you described.