Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock
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@dafyre said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@stacksofplates said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
I miss what Ubuntu was trying to do back in 2013. They had it so you could just plug your phone into a dock attached to a monitor and that became your PC. It was Android on the phone and a full Ububtu desktop experience on the monitor. Didn't need any apps or any hardware other than your monitor. It was an interesting idea but never materialized for some reason.
I think this is what Sentio is attempting, just in a laptop form factor.
And maybe they will, someday, make this work with a desktop, too. So then it becomes one device, multiple form factors. Add in wireless connections and it starts to get intriguing.
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@stacksofplates said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@fiyafly said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@stacksofplates said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
I miss what Ubuntu was trying to do back in 2013. They had it so you could just plug your phone into a dock attached to a monitor and that became your PC. It was Android on the phone and a full Ububtu desktop experience on the monitor. Didn't need any apps or any hardware other than your monitor. It was an interesting idea but never materialized for some reason.
I feel like this is somewhat of the goal with some of these docks and such. The problem it brings up is where are you going to have a monitor but no desktop? So you'd have to unplug the monitor from your desktop and plug it back it. Or at the very least switch inputs, which can hinder what you're used to when you're working at your desktop.
The point was not to have a desktop. The phone became the desktop. It was a full Ubuntu desktop.
I feel like this would be better addressed with a thin client. Then you don't have to worry about the connection cycles and possibly battery on your phone.
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@dafyre said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@stacksofplates said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
I miss what Ubuntu was trying to do back in 2013. They had it so you could just plug your phone into a dock attached to a monitor and that became your PC. It was Android on the phone and a full Ububtu desktop experience on the monitor. Didn't need any apps or any hardware other than your monitor. It was an interesting idea but never materialized for some reason.
I think this is what Sentio is attempting, just in a laptop form factor.
But you still need another app from what it looks like. This was all inclusive to the phone. Full LibreOffice, full Firefox, etc.
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@fiyafly said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@stacksofplates said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@fiyafly said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@stacksofplates said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
I miss what Ubuntu was trying to do back in 2013. They had it so you could just plug your phone into a dock attached to a monitor and that became your PC. It was Android on the phone and a full Ububtu desktop experience on the monitor. Didn't need any apps or any hardware other than your monitor. It was an interesting idea but never materialized for some reason.
I feel like this is somewhat of the goal with some of these docks and such. The problem it brings up is where are you going to have a monitor but no desktop? So you'd have to unplug the monitor from your desktop and plug it back it. Or at the very least switch inputs, which can hinder what you're used to when you're working at your desktop.
The point was not to have a desktop. The phone became the desktop. It was a full Ubuntu desktop.
I feel like this would be better addressed with a thin client. Then you don't have to worry about the connection cycles and possibly battery on your phone.
Most phones back then had replaceable batteries so idk if they considered that a problem.
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@fiyafly said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
For example, me. I hate the lack of power of a chromebook and despise track pads and chiclet keyboards.
This is carried on with the Sentio. Chromebooks offer high power, at high cost. The Sentio does too, but requires you to spend even more on phones to do that. And it has the same track pads and chicklet keyboards.
Chromebooks can use full keyboards and mice just like the Sentio.
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@stacksofplates said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@fiyafly said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@stacksofplates said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@fiyafly said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@stacksofplates said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
I miss what Ubuntu was trying to do back in 2013. They had it so you could just plug your phone into a dock attached to a monitor and that became your PC. It was Android on the phone and a full Ububtu desktop experience on the monitor. Didn't need any apps or any hardware other than your monitor. It was an interesting idea but never materialized for some reason.
I feel like this is somewhat of the goal with some of these docks and such. The problem it brings up is where are you going to have a monitor but no desktop? So you'd have to unplug the monitor from your desktop and plug it back it. Or at the very least switch inputs, which can hinder what you're used to when you're working at your desktop.
The point was not to have a desktop. The phone became the desktop. It was a full Ubuntu desktop.
I feel like this would be better addressed with a thin client. Then you don't have to worry about the connection cycles and possibly battery on your phone.
Most phones back then had replaceable batteries so idk if they considered that a problem.
Fair point.
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@fiyafly said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@stacksofplates said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@fiyafly said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@stacksofplates said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
I miss what Ubuntu was trying to do back in 2013. They had it so you could just plug your phone into a dock attached to a monitor and that became your PC. It was Android on the phone and a full Ububtu desktop experience on the monitor. Didn't need any apps or any hardware other than your monitor. It was an interesting idea but never materialized for some reason.
I feel like this is somewhat of the goal with some of these docks and such. The problem it brings up is where are you going to have a monitor but no desktop? So you'd have to unplug the monitor from your desktop and plug it back it. Or at the very least switch inputs, which can hinder what you're used to when you're working at your desktop.
The point was not to have a desktop. The phone became the desktop. It was a full Ubuntu desktop.
I feel like this would be better addressed with a thin client. Then you don't have to worry about the connection cycles and possibly battery on your phone.
Often, but this is about a fat client, thin clients tackle a different problem.
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@scottalanmiller said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@fiyafly said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
For example, me. I hate the lack of power of a chromebook and despise track pads and chiclet keyboards.
This is carried on with the Sentio. Chromebooks offer high power, at high cost. The Sentio does too, but requires you to spend even more on phones to do that. And it has the same track pads and chicklet keyboards.
Chromebooks can use full keyboards and mice just like the Sentio.
Right. My keyboard/mouse section was actually meant as an individual solution, apart from the chromebook or Sentio. It could be used with these as well, sure, but it brings me back to "What is the problem you're trying to address?"
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@fiyafly said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
However, someone like you might not mind the track pad/ keyboard too much, and you may stick to a minimal load on the chromebook, which means those problems wouldn't affect you as heavily.
None of those things affect me because they aren't real issues. They are imagined issues. Hence my point of irrationality being the basis for believing that the Sentio might have a usability case. All of the "benefits" appear to be from a belief that other options do less, but they don't. We already have all of the benefits of the Sentio today in the real world. Without the caveats.
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@fiyafly said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@scottalanmiller said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@fiyafly said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
For example, me. I hate the lack of power of a chromebook and despise track pads and chiclet keyboards.
This is carried on with the Sentio. Chromebooks offer high power, at high cost. The Sentio does too, but requires you to spend even more on phones to do that. And it has the same track pads and chicklet keyboards.
Chromebooks can use full keyboards and mice just like the Sentio.
Right. My keyboard/mouse section was actually meant as an individual solution, apart from the chromebook or Sentio. It could be used with these as well, sure, but it brings me back to "What is the problem you're trying to address?"
Okay, but we are discussing the Sentio here. And whether or not it has something to bring to the table.
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As a laptop configuration, I don't see much value in it because at the price they are offering a Chromebook would be a lot better. Now if they had a small dock that would hook up to two external monitors and a regular keyboard or mouse. I might then be interested.
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@penguinwrangler said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
As a laptop configuration, I don't see much value in it because at the price they are offering a Chromebook would be a lot better. Now if they had a small dock that would hook up to two external monitors and a regular keyboard or mouse. I might then be interested.
Like the Dex does for $99.
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@scottalanmiller said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
Dex
Well, I didn't know anyone had something like that, but yes. I might actually get a Samsung now.
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One of my biggest concerns is the wear and tear on the phone. New USB is way better than old USB, but I still do a lot to avoid wearing out the critical connector on my phone. We use a $75 impedance charger in the house often for that reason, too. I want to do things to reduce the chances of breaking or wearing that out, not increase them. My Phone is $800, my Chromebook is $179. The last thing that I want to do is do anything negative to my super expensive phone, just to manipulate the $179 Chromebook / Sentio range appliance.
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@penguinwrangler said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@scottalanmiller said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
Dex
Well, I didn't know anyone had something like that, but yes. I might actually get a Samsung now.
They were free if you bought your Galaxy S9 from Samsung during their promotion.
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@scottalanmiller said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@penguinwrangler said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@scottalanmiller said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
Dex
Well, I didn't know anyone had something like that, but yes. I might actually get a Samsung now.
They were free if you bought your Galaxy S9 from Samsung during their promotion.
Well crap....
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For personal use:
I really like the size of the Asus GL502vt. It's a very thin 15.6" laptop, excellent for anything I want to do from web design, programming, to gaming. At home, this thing basically stays docked unless I'm traveling. So when I'm not at my laptop or it's too inconvenient to use it, my phone works great in that case. But sometimes, I may be on my phone and have the need to do a lot of typing or need a larger screen to see more text clearly. (i hate typing on a phone and try to keep it minimal) In those cases, a 12" Chromebook is perfect... I can use that for the purpose, and keep using my phone as needed.
That Sentio thing just doesn't provide me with any benefit in my use cases... first the cost, second my phone will need to be docked, and my phone will not really be free, and third... more battery for all devices if they aren't tied together.
I'd much rather just have the Chromebook by itself, my laptop by itself, my phone by itself.
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@scottalanmiller said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
One of my biggest concerns is the wear and tear on the phone. New USB is way better than old USB, but I still do a lot to avoid wearing out the critical connector on my phone.
This is the reason I will never buy a device that uses micro-USB ever again. Since my last two phones have been USB-C, no wear at all, full snap-in every time the whole life of the phone.
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@scottalanmiller said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@penguinwrangler said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
As a laptop configuration, I don't see much value in it because at the price they are offering a Chromebook would be a lot better. Now if they had a small dock that would hook up to two external monitors and a regular keyboard or mouse. I might then be interested.
Like the Dex does for $99.
@scottalanmiller said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@fiyafly said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@scottalanmiller said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
@fiyafly said in Sentio, an Android Laptop Dock:
For example, me. I hate the lack of power of a chromebook and despise track pads and chiclet keyboards.
This is carried on with the Sentio. Chromebooks offer high power, at high cost. The Sentio does too, but requires you to spend even more on phones to do that. And it has the same track pads and chicklet keyboards.
Chromebooks can use full keyboards and mice just like the Sentio.
Right. My keyboard/mouse section was actually meant as an individual solution, apart from the chromebook or Sentio. It could be used with these as well, sure, but it brings me back to "What is the problem you're trying to address?"
Okay, but we are discussing the Sentio here. And whether or not it has something to bring to the table.
Alright, to address this directly then:
From what I've read and researched on the Sentio (Not extensive), it looks like it is attempting to come at this from almost a thin-client perspective. With a Sentio, you wouldn't have to worry about updates on another device, you can use the 4G from your phone when you don't have wifi, and if it breaks, you wouldn't have to worry about reconfiguring when you get a new one.It looks like the main idea is unification of devices. I don't know about you guys, but synchronizing settings between programs that I use at work and at home can become somewhat of a hassle. I might have programmed a shortcut in MobaXterm at home, and went to use it at work and realized I didn't have it configured yet. That's a bit worse when we're talking about new computers starting from scratch. It's always a mild undertaking to ensure my personalization of devices gets synchronized across the board. Especially when work is not BYOD. I have two phones on my hip right now- work and personal. Work settled on Apple (I was very unhappy, but that's a different story) and I run an android. Windows PC with a Linux VM. Winows PC at home with a Pi running CentOS at home. Then, work laptop. Home laptop died and I haven't replaced it yet.
This seems to be the beginning of trying to answer "What if you only had to worry about one device for everything, and what if you could take it with you?"
