When I first saw SunFounder’s Kickstarter announcement of the RasPad3, I was immediately intrigued.
I was still using my old dependable, but increasingly slow and buggy Nexus 10 Android tablet, and was starting to get the itch for a new one.
As I’ve mentioned before, I absolutely refuse to use any MACos or Windows devices due to their predatory pricing and software problems.
I’ve tried several attempts, using older hardware, to create my own touchscreen tablet, always with less than spectacular results.
The main problem was that the available Small Board Computers were never quite powerful enough, or the available software for them didn’t include the appropriate drivers, something that I was not willing to attempt to write myself.
The RasPad 3 looked like it might change all that, So I ponied up the money, and became an early investor.
While I was waiting for the unit to come to fruition, I read all of the early reviews of YouTube-types that managed to get a pre-production prototype.
Most were positive-to-great, and I eagerly awaited the arrival of my PasPad 3.
It took a little over 6 months, but I finally got mine.
After installing the SunFounder-supplied OS on my 8GB Raspberry Pi 4 board, and installing the board into the RasPad case, I fired it up for the first time.
And was completely underwhelmed.
The user interface is clunky, and the OS comes loaded with a bunch of software that may be useful for teaching, but not so much for me.
The tiny little fan that’s included is annoyingly loud.
The touted 6-hour battery life is probably closer to 2-2.5 hours if you’re actually trying to do something.
I have since removed many of the included programs, and am hoping that some enterprising types will create a more usable OS and interface.
Otherwise, I’ll be taking my Raspi 4 out of the case for some other project, and relegating the RasPad 3 to my “swing, but a miss” pile of projects.