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Midori Linux Powered FIC Aquapad

Posted by timothy on from the tiger-direct-please-get-my-telepathic-message dept.

quantumgravity1 writes: "Check out this review of the FIC Aquapad. It has a 500MHz Transmeta Crusoe CPU, runs Midori Linux, is wireless capable, and is totally portable. According to pics included it is comparable to the Iopener in size. There's no hard drive, but it comes with up to 256MB of memory with 32 embedded for the os, but you can expand it with compact flash or the IBM Microdrive. GPS support is in the works, but it already supports MP3 and MPG. Now I just need a wireless setup at home, or perhaps I can do some mobile sniffing. :)"

5 of 134 comments (clear)

  1. Cool hardware...but REALLY! by Tsar · · Score: 2, Funny

    A 500MHz Crusoe CPU with 256MB is probably fine for most applications, guys, but trying to run the Slashdot site off one for an hour and a half was, I think, a case of foolish geek bravado.

    So, does anyone know what happened?

  2. Just a toy... by pinkpineapple · · Score: 2, Funny

    Why would people put hand writing on a device. This is really bizarre. I hate writing and the last time I did it was when I wrote a check sometimes last year. Beside the design of this device is plain ugly. I wish they could resurrect this laptop you could rotate the screen on the keyboard to act as a tablet (forgot the name...) and power it with an SA-1110. But a Transmeta, bah...

    During the course of the past two years, I've spent all my money on computer stuff. I bought an iPaq (which I still have and it runs Linux), a Sony Transmeta rev 2 (600MHz) which I sold because it was really slow and the keyboard barely usable. I bought an iBook with an iPod which I really like for MP3 and OS X fun. I bought a Sony Clie, which I sold on eBay, because what's the use when you have laptop with a keyboard (I hate graffiti) etc... The result of this, is that when I have serious work to do on the computer, you find me on my thinkpad which I got about 2 ago and when I have serious games to play I go to the PS2 or an AMD box which I rev up every now and then. The rest is just a waste of money.

    So what's this thing will do for me?

    --
    -- I feel better now. Thanks for asking.
  3. Holy smokes ! by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Funny
    "Check out this review of the FIC Aquapad. It has a 500MHz Transmeta Crusoe CPU"

    Okay, I have to ask : why so much power in a device like this ? I know faster is better, and you can't stop progress, yadda yadda, but exactly who is this destined to ? Meteorologists who need to get tomorrow's forecast while on the plane ? Serial killers on the run who happens to like finding large prime numbers as a hobby ? Linux geeks who want to compile their kernel in the john ?

    Seriously, the only explanation I can come up with is the thing is designed to run XP, but it doesn't. Makes you wonder how Palms got away with a lousy 68K CPU for so long ...

    --
    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
  4. Re:PSA by matthayes · · Score: 2, Funny

    Nobody ever says, "when I grow up I want to be a Linux developer"

    Surely because Linux developers never grow up?

    Matt

  5. Yes, funny by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    funny stuff...

    I've been reading AMDZone (off and on) since it was first started, or at least very close to its inception. (My last Intel CPU was a Pentium 100 and I paid top dollar for it. I dumped it for an AMD K6 166 and have used AMD ever since. So I came across AMDZone while looking for AMD info early one.) Anyway, the site has never been that good, and has certainly never been objective.

    Some of AMDZone's low points:

    • They complain about others both personally and incessantly. Personal attacks on Tom Pabst are not uncommon. The attacks are typically transparently jealous.
    • They are always whining about how other sites have multipage reviews (they seem to think this is some sort of banner ad conspiracy). They haven't seem to have been droning on about it as much as they used to, but it must have been a real pet peeve.
    • They say things like "of course the dumb stock analyst downgraded AMD -- it's because he doesn't know the whole story" without bothering to remember that stock analysts are paid great big gobs of money to be as knowledgable as possible.
    • They exhibit blatant hatred for Intel and rarely (I've only seen a couple times) explain why Intel is so darn bad.
    • They make no pains to hide their wish that AMD would supplant Intel. (Why? Who knows. I can imagine some sample dialog, though. "Q: If we didn't have AMD can you imagine how high prices would be for CPUs? A: Yeah, and if we only had AMD making chips prices would be super low, sure...")
    • AMDZone always seems to have reviews "posted up" well after anyone else. When another review is mentioned as a news item, the topic of a superior upcoming review from AMDZone is always mentioned as a better source of information (and on just one page, to boot!).
    • They can't be bothered to proofread their news items (which gives them something in common with my post :-). This leads me to believe that they don't check their sources. Journalistic integrity is not real high on their list or priorities.

    A typical news story is either about some arcane chipset that AMD is making for an embedded device, a complaint about another review (or reviewer) on some other site, a self-congratulatory blurb about AMDZone.com, or a combination of all the above. I could paraphrase a typical AMDZone news item like so:

    XTC Extreme's Gamez Sitez has another review posted up about the AMD Warhammer 2200+P. It doesn't cover very much, and they use the wrong motherboard. It's on like 72 different pages, probably because they want you to see their ads. Our upcoming review will kick ass and be on one page, so check back here in a couple months when we review this chip.

    OK, so the good stuff? Well, their site is awful and the authors are petty, but they have a lot of news coming to them. Not much happens AMD-wise without them having a link to it. It's a bit like Slashdot, except very focused and very blatantly immature. So if you want to keep up on AMD, then you can scan their site a couple times a week and get the news they link to without having to wade through the mind of a peevish adolescent.

    But don't buy anything from them, especially something they review. As far as I can tell, the site is run by a couple kids from Texas (brothers, I think). They aren't real long on cash (who is, eh?) and so wouldn't have any real incentive for scruples. If I see a good review on dansdata.com or anandtech.com, I'll think about buying. But for all I know, these guys might have borrowed against their college fund and could soon be sitting on a whole garage full these Aquapads.

    AMDZone.com is like any other online site: you assign a level of trust to information based on your knowledge of cross-checked facts, your perceptions about the site and its authors, and the past history of the info's source. If you trust biased opinions, then please buy.