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So are fan-run Windows forums.

The Ubuntu Forums are ran/owned by Canonical

Or are you referring to users of Windows XP who haven't created a limited user account?

You didn't know there's still a large number of XP users out there?

But not all PCs will survive this conversion, as many have incompatible hardware.

That's what live distros are for, testing.

Case in point: an eight-year-old Microtek ScanMaker 4850 USB flatbed scanner was listed as unsupported when I checked SANE's web site earlier this month.

You should also just try it anyway...sometimes the documentation is not updated often.

I went to an electronics store, and none of the inkjet printers had a penguin logo on the box or had a column in system requirements for Linux. Not even the HP products.

I know you've got Aspergers, but you are WAY too literal minded. Just because something doesn't mention Linux support, doesn't mean it doesn't work.

Case in point, are the HP printers, which work fine, and have done so for years. my first Linux distro back in 2002 worked fine with the HP printers I had, and it was a modified Red Hat 6 on the PS2 no less. HP itself releases software for it's printers for Linux, ever hear of HPLIP?

http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/index.html

Another example is this Bluetooth dongle, which works just fine in Linux even though the neither the package or documentation mentions LInux:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/IoGear-Bluetooth-2.0-USB-Micro-Adapter/10299060?sourceid=1500000000000003142050&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=10299060

duh, here?

Let them charge as much as they want! All the better for companies like MetroPCS and the pay-as-you-go shops. Walmart has a $45 30day unlimited everything plan: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Straight-Talk-Unlimited-Text-Talk-and-Web-Access-30-Day-Service-Card-Email-Delivery/15443344 This isn't discrimination against "the poor and oppressed" like the summary implies, it's more like a stupid tax for someone who can't find a better deal.

Pills with "lead extract" - to protect you from the inside. And since it is an extract, it is not poisonous.
Also, shampoos, soaps and detergents with same extract.

You know... like them hygiene products with pearls and diamonds in 'em.

Is it cheap? The iPad is a 9.7" touchscreen with 16gb for $400. I can buy a 10.1" 1.6ghz Atom netbook with 1gb RAM and 250gb hard drive for $250. And no, Best Buy isn't running a crazy special, Amazon has two different models of netbooks for ~$250 brand new.

True, the iPad has a touchscreen and those cost a bit, but the netbook has a lot more parts and the cost of a Windows 7 license.

I'm trying to figure out why we're not being flooded by $200 iPad clones.

64gb iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G is $800. Double memory, same price.

If you don't need all that you can buy a 16gb iPad for $488

Good luck Xoom, at $800 you're going to need a lot more than a Superbowl commercial to beat the iPad.

64gb iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G is $800. Double memory, same price.

If you don't need all that you can buy a 16gb iPad for $488

Good luck Xoom, at $800 you're going to need a lot more than a Superbowl commercial to beat the iPad.

Because they get paid a fortune to do so

and because no gives a damn.

Walmart.com sells a 64 bit dual core AMD Win 7 student laptop with a full licensed install of MS Office Home for $525.

Walmart stocks about 250 Win 7 laptops priced at $330-$1500 . There isn't enough "bloatware" exposed here to suport a rant. Unless you have a quarrel with a pre-install of an MS Office trial edition or MS Office SE.

I've seen more fat on a default install of Ubuntu.

You have a laptop but you can't afford an iPod? Sounds like you need to just go to walmart and pick up an MP3 Player. You can even get something that plays video for pretty cheap.

You have a laptop but you can't afford an iPod? Sounds like you need to just go to walmart and pick up an MP3 Player. You can even get something that plays video for pretty cheap.

... but you still have this crap running in the background.

And that matters when your $400 Toshiba Sattelite has a 2.2 GHz AMD dual-core CPU with 3 GB RAM and 64 bit Win 7?

You have a laptop with credible specs, a camera, a microphone, and a 16" display. You might as well install the app that can make good use of all these things.

Oz, if you haven't completed your holiday shopping yet, you're in luck! Working with a patented system of custom personality analysis, our shopping experts have found a perfect gift item just for people like you.

might have spoke too soon.... this looks promising

The non-MSFT-beholden vendors (e.g. System76 and ZaReason) still have Linux netbooks, notebooks, desktops, and workstations. Oddly, given economies of scale, in much, much wider variety than the big, MSFT-beholden vendors

This is the holiday line-up at Walmart.com: [Nov 17 12:30 PM]

251 Windows laptops
108 Windows desktops
121 Windows Printers
96 Webcams
734 flavors of the Windows keyboard, mouse and joystick.

None of this is high end: 111 laptops at $500-$750.

Top of the line at $1800:

The desktop replacement Toshiba Omega Black 18.4" Qosmio X505-Q898 Laptop PC with Intel Core i7-740QM Processor, Blu-ray Disc Drive, Windows 7 Home Premium 4 GB RAM. 64 GB SSD. 500 GB HDD, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M with 1.5GB GDDR5 RAM.

The geek is quaranteed to choke on the software bundle - everything Win-PC from Chrome to Skype.

And of course Walmart is also selling the ipad and iPod, two of the top three gifts in Santa's email inbox this holiday season. For the other of the top three they offer hundreds of iPhone accessories.

And of course Walmart is also selling the ipad and iPod, two of the top three gifts in Santa's email inbox this holiday season. For the other of the top three they offer hundreds of iPhone accessories.

And of course Walmart is also selling the ipad and iPod, two of the top three gifts in Santa's email inbox this holiday season. For the other of the top three they offer hundreds of iPhone accessories.

some companies are afraid of Microsoft or have been enticed to steer away from non-Microsoft software

Walmart.com has in stock an astonishing 248 Windows laptops for the Christmas shopping season.

Something like 150 priced between $250 and $800.

98 Windows desktops, 109 Windows printers, 72 Windows webcams, about 700 flavors of the Windows mouse, keyboard and joystick, and over 1,000 Windows software packages, roughly divided between productivity apps and PC games.

Walmart is the world's largest retailer. Not easily frightened.

But notoriously efficient and ruthless in weeding out product that does not sell in numbers which matter.

_____

You will find the 10" Entourage Systems 10.1" eDGe DualBook e-book reader here - at a stiff $500. E Ink on the left page. Color LCD on the right. Android OS.

The problem here is - as it always seems to be with OEM Linux - is that the add copy assumes that you are an experienced e-book reader. That you understand the technology. That you understand the supported file formats. That you where and how to find and purchase a book.

Apple doesn't make these mistakes. Amazon doesn't make these mistakes.

A 55" HDTV is $900 and a 50" is only $650. If a family spent 2 years paying off a TV they have bigger concerns than the size of their TV, they might want to spend the time wasted watching TV working towards getting a better job.

Two years ago the price was 3 times that.

A 55" HDTV is $900 and a 50" is only $650. If a family spent 2 years paying off a TV they have bigger concerns than the size of their TV, they might want to spend the time wasted watching TV working towards getting a better job.

Two years ago the price was 3 times that.

A 55" HDTV is $900 and a 50" is only $650. If a family spent 2 years paying off a TV they have bigger concerns than the size of their TV, they might want to spend the time wasted watching TV working towards getting a better job.

A 55" HDTV is $900 and a 50" is only $650. If a family spent 2 years paying off a TV they have bigger concerns than the size of their TV, they might want to spend the time wasted watching TV working towards getting a better job.

ridiculous! i can go the local Dollar Store or FYE and get a Tracfone for $4.88 and service for less than $7 a month using a $19 card! BS!

Walmart has TracFones too, though for $9.88. Another $20 buys a TracFone 60-Minute Airtime Card.

Falcon

ridiculous! i can go the local Dollar Store or FYE and get a Tracfone for $4.88 and service for less than $7 a month using a $19 card! BS!

Walmart has TracFones too, though for $9.88. Another $20 buys a TracFone 60-Minute Airtime Card.

Falcon

I highly recommend the TI-30X series of calculators. The layout is second nature to anyone who has used the TI-83/84/89/90 series and intuitive for anyone else. It maintains the 2-line screen, where you can see the data you've entered on the same screen as the calculation and scroll through past entries. It does roots, trig functions, and logarithms without graphing or solving equations symbolically (like the 89). It has a very primitive memory, with A, B, C, D, and E that can be set to numerical values. This is handy for running the same formula at several values but could not be used to store notes anywhere (though perhaps a multiple choice letter string could get out in one; if you're doing multiple choice you should be doing several exam keys already to reduce over-the shoulder copying). You can also wipe their memory between tests easily by going 2nd >> Reset >> Yes(enter).

They're $12 at walmart (( http://www.walmart.com/ip/Texas-Instruments-TI-30X-IIS-Calculator-Morpho-Blue/14918006 )), and easily cheap enough to stick on your students' reading lists, or require any primitive no-memory calculator and carry backup enough calculators for 15% of the class. I had a professor that would rent calculators to students for $1/test. Seemed like kind of a dick move even though it isn't really, but I understand he makes $10-20 per test period off it, and could put that toward recouping his investment.

As far as digital translators, etc, I have to think you should not allow in devices that can store text or reach outside networks. I have some sympathy for second language students, but networked devices in testing areas is going too far. Particularly since you couldn't be expected to tell a realtime email/text correspondence in Korean from a set of harmless definitions. If you can come up with a reasonable middle ground, by all means do it, but do not allow networkable devices into classrooms.

On a side note, I do applaud the open book testing format. It's more applicable to the non-academic world, and it forces testing on processes rather than information regurgitation.

It was hell getting a cooking surface in vitro-ceramics.

Gas is more efficient.

Convection oven?

http://reviews.walmart.com/1336/9222614/euro-pro-0-75-cu-ft-convection-oven-with-rotisserie-reviews/reviews.htm

It is a huge joke.

If you're talking about your comment, then yeah, it is. Although you have perfectly demonstrated your own premise - people hate change.

"Tiger Direct had an entry-level garmin for $69.... I think you'll be better off with a dedicated GPS than a re-purposed phone. "

Exactly. When I read this " I was considering a Samsung Behold II ($100-200 on Craigslist)" I was starting to doubt the author had even priced GPS units since they're far below $100 now

Since "All he really needs it for is hunting and camping (no navigation)," why not get a device soley created for that purpose like a $75 Garmin eTrex. High sensitivity, waterproof, and up to 17 hours on two AA batteries.

Now if author's dad wanted a Android so he could use GPS and other software I would understand not buying a dedicated GPS, but he made no mention at all of ever using it for anything other than a GPS.

Dole branded cauliflower...sold right here at walmart even!

Since Windows 7 Home Premium retains for $199.99 it obviously has to run Linux otherwise it would be a $400 PC. It seems that thanks to falling hardware prices and rising prices from Microsoft we've now hit the point where the operating system can be 50% of the cost of the PC.

The AMD Acer Aspire notebook with 15" screen, Radeon 4250 graphics and 64 Bit Win 7 Home Premium is $300 at Walmart.com

Someday, the geek may fathom the mysteries of volume licensing, wholesale versus retail pricing, and the OEM system bundle.

That day can't come too soon, IMHO.

Is the download price significantly lower than the retail price? Because if I'm going to spend $60 on a download I might as well just run up to Walmart for their midnight release. Then I get a box and instructions and the full experience of the $100 million spent on development, and if their servers crash from everyone activating the digital copy I'll (hopefully) still be ok.

Plus if I download it I have to wait an extra 12 hours to play:
"Will digital copies of StarCraft II be available as soon as the game is released in stores?
No. They’ll go on sale slightly later, on 07/27/2010 10:00 AM PDT in North America and Latin America."

Whaa...?? Wait until the following day? This download is sounding worse all the time.

Who has a 25 foot screen at home?

Well, someone must be buying them, when even Walmart has them for sale:

Draper Cineflex Cineperm Fixed Frame Screen - 25' diagonal NTSC Format

Really, just an honest question, if the bulk of humanity can't watch this in the manner it was designed for..why bother? Isn't this like driving around a 3 ton SUV to get to work in?

No.

It's more like the open air cinema projects that began in the silent era:

Open Air Cinema, Open Air Cinema & Film Aid in Tanzania
  FilmAid International

Aren't we supposed to be all doing our part to just stop wasting resources for the hell of it?

I am tempted to argue that the geek sees bandwidth as waste - any resource as a waste - only when someone else has it - uses it - and is willing to pay the price.

The argument is specious anyway.

The 4Kx2K movie can be stamped onto a cheap plastic disk. Delivered by mail or streamed off a satellite.

Bandwith is a problem only when you want instant gratification.

Does it really matter if the 4Kx2K Monsters vs Aliens takes two or three days to download in the background at very low priority?

Even better, $2.25 each

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=13446846

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Westinghouse-Solar-6-Piece-Pinnacle-Garden-Light-Set/13446849

dunno which 3.99 one's he's talking about, but it's feasible considering the cost of these.

[citation needed] http://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=solar&search_constraint=0&tab_value=All&ic=48_0&ref=&search_sort=4&selected_items=+&depts=O_T_S_J_Bk_F_E_V_A_Gi_Mu_H_Mo

"Like he said, it's directly comparable to the Motorola Droid / Milestone...and it runs Android apps. "

People always forget: it's not hardware, it's content. Gameboy vs Gamegear circa 1990s. So you're right, the Droid wins because it runs Android which offers tens of thousands of apps for millions of users. How many people pre-ordered a Pandora? Oh right, 3,000. Would you make a game knowing your market is just 3,000 people?

Honestly these guys should replace the OS with Android and sell it for $199 like iPod Touches, I'd be far more interested it if supported a OS that already has thousands of apps.

At $330 the Pandora has crossed paths with dual core netbooks which offer a dual core 1.66ghz Atom N450, 1gb, 250gb, 802.11n, webcam, bluetooth, 10" LCD and 11 hr battery life for $325. Not only can the netbook do N64 emulation, but Photoshop, Counterstrike, and 1080p video

I'm sorry but this is a case of too little too late.

MS is dragging the price to the sky with Win7 and the manufacturers start having a meaningful choice again

WalMart will sell you an eMachine dual core Intel 15" laptop with 64 bit Win 7 Premium, a DVD burner and 3 GB RAM for $380. For $30 more they will throw in an HP multifunction printer.

WalMart currently stocks - 1 - netbook for in-store sale.

This tells me that netbook sales have taken an artic plunge in deep-discount retail.

The E-Machine:

64 Bit Windows Home Premium
15" 1366x768 Screen
Dual core 2.2 GHz Intel CPU
3 GB DDR 2 RAM
250 GB HDD
DVD Burner
Intel 4500M graphics
5-in-1 media card reader

eMachines Black 15.6" eME725-4520 Laptop PC with Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor & Windows 7 Home Premium

The Asus 12 inch Intel-Ion netbook with Win 7 Home Premium is $470 with a one year warranty. ASUS Silver 12.1" Eee PC 1201N-PU17-SL Netbook PC with Intel Atom N330 Processor & Windows 7 Home Premium

The E-Machine:

64 Bit Windows Home Premium
15" 1366x768 Screen
Dual core 2.2 GHz Intel CPU
3 GB DDR 2 RAM
250 GB HDD
DVD Burner
Intel 4500M graphics
5-in-1 media card reader

eMachines Black 15.6" eME725-4520 Laptop PC with Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor & Windows 7 Home Premium

The Asus 12 inch Intel-Ion netbook with Win 7 Home Premium is $470 with a one year warranty. ASUS Silver 12.1" Eee PC 1201N-PU17-SL Netbook PC with Intel Atom N330 Processor & Windows 7 Home Premium

"A DS even lets you play local MP3 files.....You just blew my mind. I've had a Nintendo DS for several years without this ability ... in fact, I don't even thing there's a way to store data of that size on my DS. What on earth are you talking about?"

I was so going to moderate you up until I read that. The Nintendo MP3 Player has been out for 4 years. Games 'n' Music is (or was) available at Walmart and still available online.

"Seriously? People belly-up to pay top dollar for quality and components that come with an Apple Product and then you quibble when Google offers something at a similar price with possibly better quality and components?"

Apple google is not. Apple has a 30 yr history of charging top dollar for premium products. Google doesn't. Horrible comparison, might as well throw in some car analogies and ask why Daewoos don't sell for Ferrari prices (yes, I did just compare Google to Daewoo).

While I do agree JerkFace is making an awful lot of assumptions without any links or references to back up his quotes, some of his points are valid. However all he has to do is look at the usefulness of Android cellphones when they lack an internet connection to see it's still fully functional, and that's a cellphone that is meant to have some sort of internet reception 24/7.

JerkFace did get one thing wrong: "4. The $300-$400 price point... Chrome OS at least had a chance in hell before I read this... There are Windows 7 netbooks at $280 "

You failed to do your homework JerkFace. While you correctly quoted the Google CEO of saying "$300-$400", you conveniently left off the rest "..that all the cost will be associated with the hardware, since the OS itself is free." With a free OS there is no Windows device that can compete on price.

Get a key sleeve or a Velcro key silencer or just get an elastic hairband and wrap it around your keys. Consider adding plastic key covers the keys for additional silencing. Alternately, look into a full key case.

Where have you been, stuck in 2000? I said HD home movies and photographs. First, average joe can't hardly find a camera that's not digital since walmart only sells 2 cameras that still use film.

Second, you can't buy a camcorder that's not flash or hard disk. Yep, you heard me: Walmart only sells 2 camcorders that record directly to DVD, the other 150+ are all flash and hard drive. The camcorder offering the smallest hard drive capacity is still 80gb for a paltry sum of $350 and HD camcorders start at only $89.

So it is not I that is projecting my geek lifestyle on the world, it is you who is out of touch with modern consumer electronics.

Where have you been, stuck in 2000? I said HD home movies and photographs. First, average joe can't hardly find a camera that's not digital since walmart only sells 2 cameras that still use film.

Second, you can't buy a camcorder that's not flash or hard disk. Yep, you heard me: Walmart only sells 2 camcorders that record directly to DVD, the other 150+ are all flash and hard drive. The camcorder offering the smallest hard drive capacity is still 80gb for a paltry sum of $350 and HD camcorders start at only $89.

So it is not I that is projecting my geek lifestyle on the world, it is you who is out of touch with modern consumer electronics.

Where have you been, stuck in 2000? I said HD home movies and photographs. First, average joe can't hardly find a camera that's not digital since walmart only sells 2 cameras that still use film.

Second, you can't buy a camcorder that's not flash or hard disk. Yep, you heard me: Walmart only sells 2 camcorders that record directly to DVD, the other 150+ are all flash and hard drive. The camcorder offering the smallest hard drive capacity is still 80gb for a paltry sum of $350 and HD camcorders start at only $89.

So it is not I that is projecting my geek lifestyle on the world, it is you who is out of touch with modern consumer electronics.

Where have you been, stuck in 2000? I said HD home movies and photographs. First, average joe can't hardly find a camera that's not digital since walmart only sells 2 cameras that still use film.

Second, you can't buy a camcorder that's not flash or hard disk. Yep, you heard me: Walmart only sells 2 camcorders that record directly to DVD, the other 150+ are all flash and hard drive. The camcorder offering the smallest hard drive capacity is still 80gb for a paltry sum of $350 and HD camcorders start at only $89.

So it is not I that is projecting my geek lifestyle on the world, it is you who is out of touch with modern consumer electronics.

And yet, what does this toaster give me that this one doesn't? It works with bagels and has a defrost setting.

Yeah, the glass sides are cool, but it will look so dirty after just a few uses. Yet one more thing to clean.

And look what you pay for this "designer toaster" (now there's two words I never thought I'd put together!) -- $300 on sale. I can buy 18 Walmart toasters for that price. Who cares if they wear out every year: that's still a brand-new (if cheep) toaster every year for 18 years.

At least get a toaster that can burn a Cylon -- now that's a feature that's worth the money!

Windows XP is running on 80% of the PC's and has 32 pixel icons that demand a lo-res display.

The numbers are more like 64% for XP and 26% for Vista and Win 7. Operating System Market Share

The average retail of a PC is US$500, again demanding a lo-res display

Walmart's in-store price for a 64 Bit Win 7 Home Premium Dell desktop with a 23" 1920x1080 screen is $800. Dell Inspiron 570 Desktop. The 1080p monitor at Walmart is $200, and there is nothing much to be gained by paying substantially more or less.

They also censor artists who criticize Walmart.

This is correct. In the late 1990's Sheryl Crow had a song with the lyric Watch out sister/Watch out brother/Watch our children as they kill each other/with a gun they bought at the Wal-Mart discount stores. It was banned and to this day the album isn't available in stores (or online). It is available on their download site here. Go figure. For details on the controversy, see here.

As for the story at hand. I've learned to mostly avoid the App Store and the entire iTunes store. It isn't worth it anymore.

What's wrong with a simple box like the WDTV Live?

What's wrong?
Whats WRONG!!?
three words: Simple, Walmart, and Onehundred and nineteen dollars

What's wrong with a simple box like the WDTV Live?

http://xbmc.org/ turns a linux box into a full-screen media player with good usability. Mine has an old NVidia 6200 card, works great. Add a home theater keyboard http://www.walmart.com/ip/SPEC-01027-Wireless-Mini-Trackball-Keyboard-for-HTPC-by-Ergoguys/13215118 and you're set.