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How exactly do I avoid it when every laptop in town has it preinstalled?

Not every laptop comes with Vista pre-installed.

I'm a community college physics teacher in the U.S., and I scrounge computer hardware to use in my lab classes. The school provides one Windows box per lab group, i.e., 7 computers for a class of 25 students. The trouble with that is, you get one student doing the graphs on the computer, and the rest of the group just sits there and watches. I've made a geekly hobby out of putting together decent Linux systems from garage sales, thrift shops, etc., to supplement what the school provides. It was interesting comparing the article with my own experiences back here in the developed world.

One thing to keep in mind is that the line between good and bad hardware is extremely fuzzy. I picked up an old 500 MHz e-Machines box recently at Good Will for $89, and with a $20 memory upgrade it makes a perfectly decent Linux machine, especially with a distro like xubuntu that's designed more for low-end hardware (xfce rather than gnome, abiword rather than OOo). Many people would have considered this machine too old to be useful, but it works fine for the application I need it for.

Similar deal with monitors. I actually find that cheap monitors are much, much harder to find than cheap computers. You don't see them much at thrift shops or swap meets, I guess because CRTs are heavy and bulky in relation to what you can sell them for. When I do get an old CRT, its mean time to failure is usually pretty darn short, probably 12-24 months. As far as I can tell, computer CRTs have a certain lifetime, and when you get your hands on a cheap one it's already near the end of that.

One thing that's absurd, when you view computers as potential solid waste, is the amount of air inside a tower case these days. On a low-end machine, the case can easily be 90% empty. It's the equivalent of going to McDonalds and having them serve you your little 99-cent hamburger in a styrofoam clamshell the size of a microwave oven. I'm hoping the Asus eee Box comes out soon, and Asus doesn't jack up the price. For $269, it could be a wonderful deal.

And by the way, if you're in Orange County, CA, and have a working monitor you're willing to donate, please email me at crowell08 at lightSPAMandISmatterEVIL dot com. I'll be more than happy to come and pick it up, and you can have the warm fuzzy feeling of knowing that you're helping me spread peace, love, and linux to my students.

Anybody know of a motherboard with HDMI out that supports audio? The closest I've seen is the Asus P5E-VM HDMI, but haven't been able to find anything definitive on HDMI audio support in Linux.

That's actually a tough call.

You have $249 for a 400Mhz PowerPC with two integer units, a double-precision FPU, one Ethernet, WiFi 4GB solid-state storage, and no sound ports vs. $295 for a single-core 500Mhz x86 with two Ethernet ports, no Wifi, sound, and 60GB 2.5" IDE drive. They have the same amount of RAM.

The CherryPal will be faster. The FitPC will have a wider range of software compatibility and more built-in storage. The CherryPal has online storage for free, but that's only as reliable as the business behind it.

Of course, there's also the Eee 2G Surf for $299. Asus lists the power draw as 22W. That's including the screen. It has sound, Wifi, wired Ethernet, twice the RAM, only 2GB on-board storage but supports USB drives and has an SD slot, and can run from battery for nearly 3 hours.

Plus it beats their boot time ("7 seconds from bootup to internet"), according to their site. Gizmodo had a real copy in hand, or at least a real copy of the case. And Gizmodo listed the prices at:

$269 1GB memory + 80GB HDD Linux edition
$299 1GB memory + 80GB HDD XP edition
$299 2GB memory + 160GB HDD Linux edition

Price of XP = price to double memory + HDD with Linux ... amusing

I move around a lot with the Army, and honestly, I can say I'll be happy to see it. Hopefully this will make onboard flash a viable alternative for laptops. Anything that drains less power these days is good in my book, and, hopefully will produce less heat, raising efficiency as well... I know Asus already makes one but theres always room for improvement, right?

http://eeepc.asus.com/global/news04152008.htm Providing Suitable Environments for Different Needs
To suit differing user requirements, the Eee PC 900 comes in both Microsoft Windows and Linux versions.
The Microsoft Windows version offers more experienced users an enhanced and innovative experience that incorporates Windows Live features like Windows Live Messenger for instant messaging and Windows Live Mail for consolidated email accounts on the user's desktop. Complementing this is Microsoft Works, which equips the user with numerous office applications to work efficiently.
The Linux version is useful for users who desire task-based icons and an easy point-and-click interface. Well suited for children or users without any computer experience, it provides a fast boot-up timeâ" ideal for fast Internet access while waiting for public transport, or taking notes on-the-go.

Looking at ASUS's description of the 901, it shows the Linux version with a battery life of up to 6 hours whereas the XP version is listed with a battery life of up to 8 hours.

If the reason is that they have a less-energy-efficient SSD in their Linux model than in the XP one, it might make sense to buy the XP version and install Linux on it.

I prioritize battery life over storage size on this sort of device.

I rather have more driver hardware support from vendors in Linux first. Apps will follow soon after.

I rather have more driver hardware support from vendors in Linux first. Apps will follow soon after.

Do you write to them and tell them that? Here are some addresses, write to one or two:

Creative (Webcams) http://asia.creative.com/contactus/presales/

Logitech (Webcams) http://logitech-en-amr.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/logitech_en_amr.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php

Lexmark (Printers) http://www.lexmark.com/lexmark/sequentialem/home/0,6959,204816596_689444666_0_en,00.html

Nokia (PIM sync software with OpenSync) http://www.nokia.com/A4126575

Epson (Printers) http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/AboutContactUs.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes

Gigabyte (New motherboards should ship with Linux drivers) http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Company/ContactUs.aspx?CompanyWebPageID=6

Linksys (Networking equipment) http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Content_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1114037291276&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper

SIS http://www.sis.com/support/support_tech.htm

ASUS http://usa.asus.com/aboutasus.aspx?show=3

incorporates 4 MB of flash memory and 16 MB of RAM.

The problem I have with my WRT54G hardware version 4 is the lack of storage space. It has 4MB of flash memory for the system files as well as for storing my photos and webpages. 4MB of flash is clearly insufficient.

To make matters worse, there are no USB ports available for connecting external USB storage devices as secondary storage. Argh!

Then I saw this Slashdot article. I thought, "this could be it!" To my disappointment, this is just as (in-)capable as my current box. Sigh.

There's are two good contenders though... Asus WL-500G and Asus WL-500G Deluxe.

incorporates 4 MB of flash memory and 16 MB of RAM.

The problem I have with my WRT54G hardware version 4 is the lack of storage space. It has 4MB of flash memory for the system files as well as for storing my photos and webpages. 4MB of flash is clearly insufficient.

To make matters worse, there are no USB ports available for connecting external USB storage devices as secondary storage. Argh!

Then I saw this Slashdot article. I thought, "this could be it!" To my disappointment, this is just as (in-)capable as my current box. Sigh.

There's are two good contenders though... Asus WL-500G and Asus WL-500G Deluxe.

I don't know what smartphones will let you plug one in, but you're going to at least want a laptop-sized keyboard.

I actually like typing with this keyboard (wired version), and it's small enough to fit comfortably in a backpack, pretty much no weight to it at all. The wireless version could probably fit in a briefcase, and it speaks bluetooth, so I'm sure there's a phone out there that will work with it.

The other possibility is to ask why you want a smartphone, and not a real laptop -- not like it costs more than the iPhone anyway.

The iPhone is nice, but you can't beat a real keyboard, no matter what you're typing on.

For software keyloggers, you can use a tool like SpyBot to try to find them -- however, I can't guarantee it'll find your specific keylogger, if there is one. There's probably better software at this point, but I haven't used Windows in years.

Another option is to use Windows' built-in search, and search for files modified in the past couple days. If there's a keylogger, odds are its log files will show up. I've accidentally found a keylogger on a friend's computer this way.

Another option is to use a liveCD for everything important. Pick up an Ubuntu LiveCD, and start into that when you need to do things that are suspect.

Keep in mind, however, that you may instead have a hardware keylogger. You may have a dongle like this one, which plugs in between your computer and your keyboard. You could also have one built into your keyboard -- there are companies that sell keylogging keyboards, and companies that will embed a keylogger into a keyboard -- either a specific model, or your own if you mail it to them. There could also be one built into the computer, but I don't know of any company that does that.

Moral of the story: if you can't trust the security of your computer, don't use it for things you don't want someone else to see. It might be time for her to invest in a cheap laptop, such as an Eee PC, and either do all her work on a connection he doesn't have access to, or over ssl connections or a VPN.

However, like others have said, worrying about a keylogger from your spouse isn't exactly the sign of a trusting relationship. I assume your friend knows this, and this is a preamble to a separation or divorce. If it's not, I'd suggest your friend and her spouse seek marriage counseling. Good luck to her.

Don't forget the Asus Eee as an option for inexpensive laptops...

No Linux.

You want a Linux distro, you pay for your copy of XP anyway.

Asustek says selling the Linux version in Japan is "under consideration"

There are XP drivers available for the 2G and 4G models, and given that the hardware has not changed much I am sure they work on the 20G model. As well there is a great user forum dedicated to Xp on the eee PC

ASUS will shortly be releasing the ASUS eee PC 900 with an 8.9" screen capable of 1024x600. That should be a lot more usable.

http://eeepc.asus.com/global/news03042008.htm

Now if only they could add a nipple mouse.

Truth is that for what I want to use it for (web, maybe some music, listen to podcasts), the Linux version should be fine (in fact probably superior XP because of security and performance).

However I will insist that I can run Starcraft on it (sorry - but I love that old game) so I will be stuck with XP still.

Not a proprietary cable, just a DVI to HDMI cable that I picked up off the shelf of a local retailer.

This is the card in question: http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=2&l2=8&l3=634&l4=0&model=2051&modelmenu=1

It would appear that the card is able to detect when a DVI to HDMI cable is being used (the TV indicates that it is connected via HDMI), and sends audio out over the DVI port. (Some Radeon HD cards require the dongle, others, like this one apparently, do not). Since HDMI does not have any dedicated audio pins, the audio has to be encoded as part of the signal (and research I have done seems to indicate this).

So, a bastardization of the DVI spec, yes, but the HDMI spec, no. All the card is doing is treating the DVI port as an HDMI port (HDMI contains a subset of the DVI pins, so it's kosher).

And yes, I double-checked my PC, there is nothing connected to the audio ports. :) There's also no internal connection needed, as the video card has it's own sound processor.

-- Joe

Why does no one mention the fact that this card has ASIO 2.0 support? Does anyone know if WaveRT is supported? I don't use Cakewalk Sonar, but Xonar in Sonar with WaveRT might get some people moist in their nether regions.

proof [at least, the PCI-E version]: http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=25&l2=150&l3=0&l4=0&model=2015&modelmenu=2 [under driver features]

I have to decide between this and the M-Audio Revolution [I need ASIO support]. Any suggestions either way?

I bought the more expensive Asus D2/PM in my HTPC last year and the quality of the thing just blows me away.

Whilst I'm mainly in Dolby Digital Live mode, I've switched to analogue out a few times for extra nice sound quality when playing back lossless CD rips (my entire collection of ~500 CDs, which are now suitably boxed up!). Now, in this case, up to 118db SN/R is better than anything I've played on the Rotel system before - cleanly blowing the old Rotel CD player out of the water; the sound quality is just pristine. Things are still good in DD mode and I must admit I mainly leave it there for all purposes.

Speaking of which, for playing back multi channel content (blurays, 720p H264s etc), the DD Live works _flawlessly_. My old Rotel preamp only accepts multi channel imput from an external DD decoder, and I'm holding out on an preamp upgrade as long as possible - hopefully until TrueHD is fully supported in the PC world - and with the Asus soundcard I can just play everything without having to worry about switching settings and the like. Whether it is DTS, DD, stereo or whatever, Asus tells Vista that "I'm a multi channel analogue soundcard - please send me 5.1", this happens, and then everything is real time encoded to DD. Perfect.

Having used Creative a lot before, I too got incredibly peeved off with their lack of driver support and many other issues - complete lack of respect for their customers being the #1 thing. I don't think I'll give them any more money for a long time. If nothing else, it's great that Asus delivers some serious competition to the market.

Having said all that, I'm looking forward to HDMI based soundcards that add TrueHD support. The difference in sound quality is said to be stupendous; with cheap TrueHD receivers outplaying high end non-uncompressed hifi gear costing many, many times their price.

Alternatives exists:

• M-Audio
• ASUS XONAR
• Razer Barracuda

XP is not going anywhere.

Asus just announced that a computer that they will release in a few months will have Windows XP preinstalled.

Why XP? Because the eeepc doesn't run Vista very well. The only other option for Asus is to ship the computer with linux - And they already have sold many eeepc's with linux.

Microsoft was put into a position where they HAD to continue shipping XP for Asus's eeepc otherwise they lose market share to linux on the laptop.

Now, Microsoft agreed to keep shipping XP for Asus, how can they tell everyone else that XP is not available?

--jeffk++

They just announced that they will deliver it on the new model EEE pcs. I figure Asus is a "System builder", but they sure as hell need to have a lightweight stable OS ready by january 2009 then, or the EEE and its competitors need to switch to Linux 100%. Not that I'd mind....

The new 900 model has an 8.9" screen. http://www.asus.com/news_show.aspx?id=10302

You want 16 cores eh ?

Quad x Quad with AMD from Asus:

http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=9&l2=39&l3=575&l4=0&model=1868&modelmenu=1

You want crazy I/O, try a 16 port multi-lane SATA II 3ware controller.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816116059

If you need bigger I/O than that and you got a 'unlimited' budget call EMC
for a RAM drive SAN, lol.

Enjoy !

I don't need all the "raw power". I just need the ability to manage my networks, run some web pages, access some databases remotely. That's it.

This looks like a job for Eee.

If [Asus's Eee PC] starts to do well [...]

What do you mean, "if"?

If [Asus's Eee PC] starts to do well [...]

What do you mean, "if"?

than just this one product.

1. Take a look at this estimate of who builds laptops for what brand. http://tuxmobil.org/laptop_oem.html The brands like Sony might change vendors, but the manufacturers listed haven't changed, so re-arrange the check marks if you want to pretend.

2. Many of the OEM's are marketing barebones laptops which are going to eat into Sony's laptop business in unpleasant ways. MSI and Asus are two notables. http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=23

Talk amongst yourselves....

...I've just bought an AMD Phenom 9600 (and an Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe) and I'm fucking impressed... and I'm not usually easy to impress.
The dead one should be Intel.

--

I'm neither associated with AMD nor Asus.

If you really want to travel light the nokia n95 offers a 5 Megapixel camera, and gps navigation, and it can play mp3's, also the Asus Eee is the best(and cheapest) compact notebook i have seen in ages, and if you are not planning on playing crysis, it should do everything you need.

"I second the eeePC"

I third the Eee PC

Light-weight (under 2 lbs), smaller than a standard mouse-pad so you can carry it everywhere, capable of running XP or whatever OS you prefer from solid-state media (no hard drive).

However we're not really provided enough information to successfully answer the question asked because one of the requirements is "burn DVD photo backups to mail home". Why DVD? 4.7 gigabytes worth of photos? Are you taking 10 megapixel uncompressed photos? I mean sure if you're trying to send 100 gigabytes worth of photos home it's far cheaper to burn 22 DVDs than buy 100 gigabytes of flash memory, but why so much storage for just photos? I thought at first you were taking digital video, which I could easily understand the DVD requirement, but you should be able to get a few 2gb USB thumb drives for $20 each (or less once you reach China ;) that'll handle all your photo needs and store them all in your pocket rather than lugging around an external DVD-RW and DVD-Rs.

I can confirm that - my iPod ('color' 30g) crashed at about 11000 feet (I think the specs rate it to 10,000). I managed to revive it, but I don't think it's been quite the same since. I'd suggest looking into an 'eee' pc - all solid state, and cheap enough to get a spare. http://eeepc.asus.com/

Skip the DVD backups and carry some larger memory keys, they're nearly indestructible and light. You can purchase them in most airports. DVD burners are prone to dust, dirt, breakage etc. Also, you have to carry media, then try to mail it without damage. I'd suggest for thin and light a EEE PC, 7" screen, solid state hard drive, cheap to replace. Get a light aluminum hard shell and you're good to go. I've traveled with a 14", 13" and 10" laptop. By far, the smallest laptop was the best for weight and ease of use. Just check to see if you are able type on such a small keyboard. Upgrade the ram to a couple gigs and load XP, if that's what your familiar with. The base operating system is a type of Linux and is pretty good. http://eeepc.asus.com/global/product.htm

Microsoft does hire bright minds. It's a pity what they do to them. And with them.

As for poorly trying to attack the NT platform for multi-tasking,...

The "NT platform" didn't invent multitasking. They cribbed it from the Mach kernel with the help of Dave Cutler. That's what they meant by "Unix underpinnings". Unfortunately, like a psychotic french chef, they'll adopt the best recipe for bouillabaisse but they don't like the flavor until they pee in it. The result was so hideously insecure it nearly broke the Internet - and that's saying something. The Internet was designed to survive nuclear war, but Code Red nearly broke it. I will concede that NT was the first useful Windows platform - but not that better alternatives didn't exist even then.

You evade the point that by the time NT came out in 1992, Unix had had multitasking for more than 20 years. Let's not forget your statement, shall we?:

assuming Windows users were like Mac users and were only capable of running one application at a time...

... As if .mac were the only alternative. Lovely. Say what you want about .mac and nobody cares. OS X is Unix. When Windows is a Unix, get back to me, k? Did you know OS X server has drag and drop clustering, and network imaging built right in? I didn't think so.

Disparage Apple's video playback all you want. I don't care for any DRM'd format so you're not going to bother me. I would bet a week's pay you couldn't decode a token string into a framebuffer using only the specification and C between now and the end of your pitiful existence, but I can and you miss the point: iTunes users care enough to avoid Vista, and that's the only thing saving this post from being off topic.

If you want to further try to argue the multi-tasking issue as a Windows Vista issue, go look up BeOS...

Cute. You're bringing up BeOS. You don't even do your homework well enough to check my slashdot user page where my favorite quote sits:

"I once preached peaceful coexistence with Windows. You may laugh at my expense -- I deserve it." Jean-Louis Gassée, former CEO, BeOS

And you have the gall to call me semi-retarded.

Then go look up a little fact that Vista is the only major consumer OS....

You know, if you narrow the scope of that statement any more it's going to disappear entirely. Who decides "major"? Who decides "consumer"? I'm asking because Shuttle has just announced a box that's going to clean your clock, the eee is sweeping the world, the olpc is selling in the millions of units and for years you have been able to buy a Linux PC at Wal-Mart, including the $200 PC I'm typing this on (but I got it from zareason and it works just fine, thanks, and no it's not my only one).

Then go look up a little fact that Vista is the only major consumer OS that uses realtime scheduling for multi-media, something OS X just can't do.

OK, let's talk about the Vista scheduler a little bit. You've got some insight into this you would like to share. It's completely fa

After perusing the mostly pointless flash website HERE, I have a quick question...

Is it okay to use the device while sitting or does it only work while lying down on your stomach and grinning at it like a retard?

I actually ran into an eeePC user site that was showing accessories from Asus (like an additional power supply, a mouse, a case and a couple of other things. http://eeepc.asus.com/global/product.htm#acc which was referenced at http://eeepcworld.wordpress.com/ WtK

Have you seen the eee power supply and compared it to a laptop power supply? Have you seen the extra batteries (including a 6 cell 7800 mAh which should provide 4.5hrs or more)? That large extra battery and the power supply together would be about the size/weight of a normal laptop power supply and carrying those around with you should give you at least 7 hours continuous battery life between charges. New asus eee accessories

And it appears they will be coming pre-installed with a Microsoft OS soon.. http://eeepc.asus.com/global/news10192007.htm

O RLY? These guys don't seem to think so, because I don't see it there. But what do they know?

I believe it's from "Easy to Learn, Easy to Work, Easy to Play".

It may also be three different 'E' words, though, but I forgot what those are, if that is the case... Initially, I think it was part of the marketing to explain what the EEE stood for, but maybe that's fallen by the wayside now.

What could POSSIBLY be worth that much more money that a more conventional machine couldn't handle at a fraction of the price? so you get a little extra battery time. Woopty freakin' doo.

It's not like it has some giamungus drive for video editing, or the Special Magic Powers of the MacOS. I don't get who they think they're selling to.

I'm willing to say "I don't get it", but seriously - I don't see a market for this thing. When it's $1200, I suppose, but not $3200.

Now, the Asus is another story...

:-)

RS

No. 2008 is the year of Linux on the laptop. The desktop year will have to wait until later :-)

The source code for the EEE is available here. You will need some grasp of Chinese but I dare say the zip files are pretty obvious to anyone. Now go an an remove your foot from your mouth and say sorry to Asus. Just because a couple of idiots with no patience or language skills outside of english ignorantly inform everyone a mainly chinese speaking Taiwan based company hasnt posted the source doesnt make it true.

I'd have thought this would have also been good.

The source code for the EEE is available here. You will need some grasp of Chinese but I dare say the zip files are pretty obvious to anyone.