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Comment by Zigurd | Hacker News Reader

> It's too bad nobody has made a 'cheap-hacker-tablet' something that might be 2" thick and weigh 4-6lbs but...

That's very difficult criteria. You might find cases engineered for industrial environments, but there is only so much stuff you can put over the screen before the touch sensor stops working. And if that is the "weakest link" what's the value of having a back panel you can use to drive nails?

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Yeah the touch-screen has been a problem - especially when trying to give something out to the general unwashed public. No amount of protective cover would have helped us when some guy or gal decided to punch one of the screens in a few months back. Meh.

By 2" thick I was talking more about a box with the touch-screen in the front with a simple plastic protective layer and a hinge you can flip open to reveal the internals. That way replacing the screen is just a dispatch-call. Or something to that effect.

Basically something that can be mounted semi-permanently, the same way as a television screen, and with the most common parts (the screen) accessible by a technician so they can be replaced when broken.

If it's a public kiosk-like environment, especially if Google Play and related apps are not important, I would suggest using an inexpensive Android compatible "dev" board and spec'ing the display separately. You need to be careful about driver support. If 2" is really acceptable, you should be able to find stuff that will be fist-proof.

If you don't strictly need multi-touch, maybe you could forgo capacitive for a hardier resistive screen? Or for a IR-based touchscreen (such as on e-readers)?

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