Linuxwatch Budget System of 2001

A reader writes "Linuxwatch.org has posted their Budget System of 2001 in response to LinuxHardware's 2001 System of the year. Boasting their system is 13% of the price and plenty of power for "normal users". Running at 1.4Ghz with 256MB RAM, it doesn't seem to bad for "normal users"(whatever that means)IMHO."

Comments

And they wonder why sales have dropped...

[fmaxwell]

The "average user" is someone who surfs the web, sends the occasional e-mail, and writes letters. And that user does not significantly benefit from a ghz-class machine. Put them on an "old" 700mhz machine from a couple of years ago, and they do just fine. More and more individuals and businesses are realizing that the computers that they already own work fine for what they do. People no longer drum their fingers waiting for programs to load, files to compress, and spreadsheets to recalculate.

Sure, there are a handful of people who really do need fast machines, but, as Apple has realized, you don't need to have ghz+ machines to satisfy the average user.

Re:And they wonder why sales have dropped...

[Afrosheen]

Looks like you've fallen into the 'measure performance by clock speed' trap that others following Intel-compatible architectures often do. Mhz/ghz is NOT a measure of speed when comparing risc-like chipsets from Motorola and IBM. Alot of g4's can outperform Intel chips that run at twice the mhz rating. AMD has just proven this when you compare the new AMD XP chipsets to Intel chipsets. The AMD's can smoke Intel chips that cost alot more and run at a higher clock speed. They have more instructions per clock cycle than the Intel chips do, among other things.

Don't be fooled by mhz ratings, pure and simple.

Re:And they wonder why sales have dropped...

[drix]

Precisely. In fact, I'd go ever further and say that, if you spend a lot of time compiling, you should always forego getting the fastest processor and the market and buy 2 of whatever costs half the price, and build yourself an SMP box. First, the performance gain with SMP is basically linear for compilation, assuming you're using a good value for make -j. Second, it's been my experience that a pair of 700Mhz PIIIs usually beats my 1.5Ghz P4 handily for kernel compiles and many other things. Granted it's kind of comparing apples to oranges but it's a starting point.

I'm in budget territory

[stevens]

I'm glad they highlight the budget system. As a software developer, I find most of my desktop cycles are spare. Even builds I do on a server. Budget systems can do more now than supercomputers a few years ago.

What the computer industry really needs are some breakthroughs in software development to enhance stability and usability.

Hardware Prices vs Software

[EraseEraseMe]

It's interesting to see how prices for hardware continually drops while software prices (Non-free as in beer software) maintain or increase in price. The total system cost for machine listed in the article is $399..Now, let's add Windows...$99, an office suite $150, anti-virus software, $59...We've almost immediately doubled the price of the machine by merely adding functionality. This is quite possibly why people accept paying extragavant prices for software; it's a trade-off..lower prices for hardware, higher prices for software = maintain status quo of computer system pricing.