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Lindows Releases Inexpensive Subnotebook

Posted by michael on from the install-debian-promptly dept.

los furtive writes "As of March 1st $799 will get you this Lindows 2.9lb subnotebook with a VIA C3 933MHz Processor, 256 megs ram and a 20 gig HD, a 12inch screen, USB 2.0, firewire and of course the Lindows OS. Pre-orders have already started."

36 of 547 comments (clear)

  1. Yet for $699... by wo1verin3 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yet for $699 you can get this Dell Inspiron with a Celeron 1.6, GeForce2Go 16mb video, and more.... add 128MB to bring it up to the same price and you can load on your own Linux Install. Why are we doing Lindows marketing for something that isn't really that great of a deal if you shop around?

    1. Re:Yet for $699... by jonnythan · · Score: 2, Informative

      That Dell is almost 7 pounds. That's a big notebook.

      This Lindows thing is less than 3 pounds. That's a massive (ha, ha) difference. The way I see it, it's not such a bad deal for such a tiny notebook that still has a nice sized screen, especially when you toss in built-in super handy CompactFlash.

    2. Re:Yet for $699... by BMonger · · Score: 4, Informative

      Also $699 is the "base price"... if you try to configure a system for $699 it's almost next to impossible. I tried to configure that system and there is nothing on the first page that tells me that switching out an option will either lower or raise the price. Clicking continue gives me a price of $1,277... I have no idea where they get their $699 prices from... frankly I find Dell's pricing scheme very misleading.

    3. Re:Yet for $699... by evilviper · · Score: 5, Informative

      My Sotec notebook is 4LBS, has a built-in combo DVD/CD-RW, 256MB of RAM, 20GB HD, etc. All that was $750, and it has a 1.2GHz Celeron, not a piece of crap VIA-C3, which performs like it's less than half it's own clock-speed.

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    4. Re:Yet for $699... by cdrudge · · Score: 5, Informative

      Follow the grandparent's link, click the blue "Recommended Systems". Right under the phone of the laptop there is a link that says "Inspiron 2650C starting at $699". Click it. That takes you to a page that has the laptop for $849 - $150 rebate = $699. You can customize it from there.

      This link takes you straight to that page. Here is the same laptop that is $806-$150 rebate (not shown on that page but on another that leads to that page). The extra $$$ off is due from their Employee Purchase Program that anyone can get thru.

    5. Re:Yet for $699... by DrinkDr.Pepper · · Score: 2, Informative

      One note is that $50 of the $150 rebate you only get if you also sign up for high speed internet.

      --
      0xfeedface
  2. Competetive comparison by BMonger · · Score: 4, Informative

    I don't know all the much but their iBook comparison is off... I think they have Powerbook and iBook specs combined into one notebook... the iBook has a G3 chip not a G4 and I don't think it has PCMCIA slots either...

  3. idot computers manufactures them by net_bh · · Score: 5, Informative
    Here is the CNET news item

    Here is a link to the Idot website.

    Here is a link to the Gearzoo website.

    --
    There is no patch for stupidity

    Visit my blog

  4. 933 MHz C3 isn't that good by pz · · Score: 2, Informative

    A 933 MHz C3 is approximately equivalent, in real-world horsepower, to a 550 MHz Pentium (on integer tasks, much worse for floating-point). The C3 is not a high-performance architecture, although it has been tweaked for very low power consumption.

    --

    Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
    1. Re:933 MHz C3 isn't that good by mrklin · · Score: 5, Informative
      I would say it is better than that. I use a VIA C3 900 Mhz processor in a Shuttle small form factor PC (SV24) at home. It uses so little power that it does not require a CPU fan.


      It is sufficient enough to do the following without problem:

      • Decode MPEG-2 i.e. playback DVD or VOB files.
      • Encode and decode MP3.
      • Generally Office tasks and web surfing.
      • Even gaming (with older games like Counterstrike) if paired up with a decent graphic card.


      What it does not well (at least for me):

      Encode MPEG-2.

      Handle or manipulate large files (800+ MB high bitrate DivX file, apply Photoshop filter to a TIFF file etc, etc). (This is with 512 MB RAM and a large fast driveXP.)

      New games that are CPU intensive.

      If you have to seriously ask 'Will this have enough power for my (insert task here)?' then a C3 is probably not for you.

      $800 is too much to pay for that anyway although I like its hardware specs (both firewire and USB).

  5. Re:Via processor by eggz128 · · Score: 2, Informative

    A quick google suggests that it's quite comparable to a 900MHz Celeron

  6. Re:Graphics chipsets by BMonger · · Score: 4, Informative

    From http://idot.com/TheStore/Desktop/787Spec.asp?Produ ct.id=787&Cate.id=2

    Integrated Savage 4 AGP 4X graphic core (up to 16MB Video Memory)

  7. Re:Kinda expensive by binaryDigit · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yeah, but it still beats an iBook by 50% (pricewise, anyways)

    Nope, the chart is wrong, they were comparing to the PowerBook, NOT the iBook. The iBook only costs $999 in a comparable configuration (the lowest end).

  8. Comparison chart at the bottom is wrong by jo_ham · · Score: 2, Informative

    The second column is titled "ibook" incorrectly (missing the capital even) when the specs in the boxes are clearly for the 12" Powerbook.

    As much as I want my iBook to have an 867Mhz G4, it's just not on the cards. All iBooks have G3 processors at 700 or 800MHz, and they cost a darn sight less than $1,700 - the most expensive 12" iBook is $1,300 and blows this Lindows things out of the water.

  9. Re:Kinda expensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    I don't understand where 50% comes from. A 700 MHz iBook is running at $999 at the Apple store, the computer they pull a comparison to is the new G4 Powerbook in the iBook form factor.

    So, a $200 difference, plus another 128 meg SODIMM. Not quite as bad all of a sudden.

    Also, I just realized that this machine they are selling is a true sub-notebook and doesn't include an optical media drive. That won't go over well, I've never seen a person be satisfied with PCMCIA CD-ROM solutions..

  10. Lindows is satan.. by xchino · · Score: 3, Informative


    I would never suggest Lindows for ANYONE. Don't get me wrong, I really like the idea. I was super hyped about it being sold on cheap wal-mart PCs. Then I checked it out for myself. Here's what I found that I didn't like...

    It always runs under single user mode. IRC somewhere, and you IRC as root. STUPID.

    Click'n'Run doesn't work until you subscribe. Then you get to pay for all your software that you could have installed as easily with any other package manger, and a few commercial versions of free software.

    That's where they went wrong IMHO. I can understand the financial reason for the Click'n'Run situation, but I see no justification for crippling Linux security to such an extent. I was hoping for a version of Linux that my Windows friends could use. Instead I got a generic version of Windows.

    --
    Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's just that yours is stupid.
    1. Re:Lindows is satan.. by alienw · · Score: 2, Informative

      Apparently, you are retarded. I think the things you mention have been adressed about a million times already.

      First, the running-as-root idea was smart. The slashdot masses need to understand that people do NOT want to fuck with passwords, usernames, and that shit on their PC. On a server, fine, but not on a PC.

      You don't install a super-secure keycard system for every room in your house, do you? That would be fucking annoying, and would at most protect you from yourself. That's about what the regular distributions are set up like. That does not make them any more secure. If you don't have many users on the system, then you don't need the unix password system and you might as well run as root. Yes, you need to have external services shut off, but Lindows is very good in that regard. So, care to enlighten me about how to hack a system with no open ports and a strict iptables config, even if it doesn't have a root password?

      Besides, your argument is invalid in any case. If you don't want to run as root, you are free to create a normal account. Lindows supports that.

      As for click and run, I have one word for you: easy. I subscribe to Mandrakeclub for the same reason. It makes it easier to get stuff for your distro. Yes, I could fuck with .tar.gz sources and get them to maybe run on my system, but I'd rather pay a few bucks so somebody else does the dirty work. What's the problem with that?

      If you don't like Lindows, use Mandrake. I like them, but I can see where Lindows might fit in. The fact that something might not be intended for certain types of uses is a concept slashdot whores can't grasp.

  11. Re:I'd still rather have an iBook by binaryDigit · · Score: 5, Informative

    For one it wouldn't be slower, the VIA C3 is best about 2/3 the performance of a celeron at the same clock rate. So given that Macs tend to perform better than comparable clock speeds, the Mac will typically outperform it. You also get a more stable OS, stable in the sense that you don't have to worry about compatability issues. You get a built-in cd, which for some people is a significant plus (though some don't need it as well). Also notice that there is no mention of battery life. Also, where do you take your Lindows machine if you're having problems? Apple has places everywhere to do repairs, etc. You get MacOSX with several built in apps (iPhoto, iMovie, etc) that are arguably better (usuabillity, integration, not necessarily more powerful) than anything you are going to get for free for Lindows as well.

  12. This looks like an great laptop! by Kiwi · · Score: 2, Informative
    When I look for a laptop, I choose a laptop based on three factors:
    • Cost (check)
    • Size and weight (check)
    • Full-size keyboard (I want one of these things in front of me to make sure the keyboard is almost as good the one on the Thinkpad I am writing this on)
    • Battery life (check)
    • Linux compatibility (check)
    Note that performance is not listed here; I am typing this on a PIII 450 and am more than happy with its performance. I want a laptop which does not need charging and does not need a forklift to carry around. If I wanted performance or the latest gee-whiz 3d chipset, I would get a desktop.

    If the economy was better and I was working again instead of being a student, this is something I would very seriously consider buying. As it stands, this is my dream laptop.

    - Sam

    --

    The secret to enjoying Slashdot is to realize that it should not be taken too seriously.

  13. Review of Lindows by lwbecker2 · · Score: 2, Informative

    In case you haven't seen any reviews of Lindows, a recent review can be found here.

  14. Re:Graphics chipsets by kriston · · Score: 5, Informative

    All Via C3s are low power/low heat. The 933 MHz model is exceptionally fast for its power and heat requirements. The chipset is the integrated Via ProSavage (the old S3 stuff) which has specific acceleration support for MPEG (DVD) decoding. I build systems based on this processor and they are excellent for everything except 3d gaming, and I've never seen anyone expect to do 3d gaming on a notebook PC for under $2500, anyway.

    KRis

    --

    Kriston

  15. Re:Kinda expensive by Xunker · · Score: 3, Informative

    Slower at what?

    Floating point? Yes, much slower (owing to half-speed FPU and Cyrix's regretable design).

    But what else? I have a machine next to me that has a Via C3-866; In WinStones and Sysmarks it easily paces my Celery 850; Though in Q3A, the Via is laughable in comparison.

    No, the Via C3 is not a gamers machine, but in basic use it's adequate for Joe user (and it uses less than a quarter of the power of your PII-400!)

    --
    Hilary Rosen's speech was about her love of money and her desire to roll around naked in a pile of money.
  16. Cheapish, ultralight pc. by juuri · · Score: 4, Informative

    Standard laptop PeeCee parts so enjoy putting whatever OS on it you want:

    PC-UM10 from sharp

    Sharp 2.9lb laptop: P3-600, 128meg ram, 20gig drive

    --
    --- I do not moderate.
    1. Re:Cheapish, ultralight pc. by epukinsk · · Score: 2, Informative

      I was drooling over the Sharp PC-UM10/30 ultra-lights a few months ago. That was before I met one in the flesh at Circuit City.

      These machines are amazingly thin and amazingly light. I'm sure they are a joy to have in your lap. That is, as long as you don't have to type. The keyboard is disgusting. I'm a little spoiled because I'm used to my Thinkpad 600x, but my hands started to cramp up within minutes of typing on the Sharp. After typing a half a page of text, my fingers were crying for me to go back to my Thinkpad.

      That, and the thing feels pretty flimsy (price you pay for 0.7" thickness). My love affair with the Actius line is over.

      Erik

  17. Lack of Internal CD by ackthpt · · Score: 2, Informative

    The lack of an internal CD, on my Sony Vaio 505TX was a major source of angst. Consider hooking up something hanging off a cable, with an external powersupply, slightly wider (squared) than a CD and 5/8" or more thick and how to place/dangle it while using this on your lap. I'd never consider another laptop w/o internal CD. Now I'm sure you can find a nice little laptop somewhere with a CD, and comperable to this and slap Lindows or RH or whatever and you'd be happy as a clam.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  18. The thing that has me interested by IWantMoreSpamPlease · · Score: 2, Informative

    Is how friendly the hardware is to alternative OSes?

    It's got (a kind of) Linux on it, how well would BeOS, or OS/2 or some other *nix distro install on it?

    Would the alt.OS drivers be easily available?

    The last sublaptop I got was so damn windows only I couldn't even get BeOS or Mandrake to complete an install, much less find drivers for it.

    I would find this good news simply for the alt.OS crowd.

    --
    So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
  19. Re:Kinda expensive by Greedo · · Score: 4, Informative

    And the iBook (even the cheapest) has an internal CD drive (or DVD/CD-R), which you'd have to buy seperately if you wanted one of these Lindows notebooks.

    Not to knock them ... it looks like a reasonably good price for a half-decent system. You aren't gonna play Doom III on it, but if I needed a tiny, light, mid-range powered, Linux notebook, I'd be interested.

    --
    Tuus crepidae innexilis sunt.
  20. $800 is way too expensive by newsdee · · Score: 2, Informative

    Since you can get a free Linux for any PC, you have to consider the extra hardware benefit that you get with this laptop.

    - For $200 more, you can buy a new entry-level P4 laptop or an iBook.

    - For almost the same price you can build a Mini-ITX system running at 933 Mhz with a 15" flatscreen monitor. With this option, you can further reduce the price if you have some spare parts (Hard Drive, DDR Ram, USB/Firewire CD drive, etc).

    Of course the second choice is not as "portable" (no working on bus/trains/planes), but if you're broke and need a solid PC, it's a good entry-level choice. :-) I just built one instead of buying a laptop and saved $400 by reusing old parts. And yes, it fits in my backpack :-)

    --
    The ENIAC Demo Competition
  21. You've gotta be kidding me... by maynard · · Score: 4, Informative

    You can't run Linux apps on an iBook.

    $ make clean; make; make install

    Or for that matter, just install fink.

    I've been running Linux and BSD on my home machines since '94. Finally got sick of maintaining those installs instead of doing work with the computer (and happen to need MS Office to exchange xls spreadsheets with my CPA)... what did I buy? I Macintosh. Why? Because OS X has all the 'NIX software I could possibly want, very easy system management (meaning I'm not wasting my time dicking around with the computer), and the readability of the fonts are simply better than anything out there. Claiming there's no "linux" software, when just about everything includes source and will compile properly under OS X, really misses the point. Also, the battery life of a powerbook is excellent. 5 hours/charge for the 15", 4.5 hours/charge for the 17". I absolutely love this computer. Apple finally did it right. Of course, I used to love the NeXT Station on my desk many years back, so call me biased. --M

  22. Re:PCMCIA slots or PC-card slots? by williw · · Score: 2, Informative
    PCMCIA slots == PC-Card slots.

    a quick search for google should reveal your answers: a sample primer

    in the case of unuable/newer/older cards; only the PCMCIA controller's adherence to whatever version of the PCMCIA standard was around when it was manufactured will determine if the card will work or not. ISA or PCI is irrelevant since the controller can be attached to either bus type. If you have an older controller chip you probably can't use the newer 3.3v/ cardbus/ dma cards, etc cause they weren't written into the specification yet.

  23. Just another X-Book? by Mnemennth · · Score: 2, Informative

    At first, upon looking at this unit, I said - "Oh, its just a downsized X-Book... but after looking into it - more details can be seen here -

    http://idot.com/TheStore/Desktop/787Spec.asp?Pro du ct.id=787&Cate.id=2

    I see it's quite a bit worse. Unlike the X-Book, they do include a battery, so it is REALLY a notebook computer, and the list of features is actually not too bad, until you notice that the CDRW/DVD drive that is built into an X-Book for around $700-$800 is not only external, but optional as well. Further investigation into the C3 processor they "compare" to other laptops revealed why they made sure the DVD drive was not included. See these reviews at Tom's Hardware -

    http://www17.tomshardware.com/cpu/20020605/index .h tml

    With benchmarks showing actual computing power somewhere in the neighborhood of a Celeron 500 or less, it probably lacks the power to play a DVD worth a damn, and I'd guess that's why they don't include the drive - Joe Numbnutz buys this $800 tinkertoy, pops in his favorite WWF DVD, and it plays like crap - they'll be getting them back as fast as they can ship them out. However, at 12W total dissipation, this VIA C3 should be fairly stingy with battery power, and should provide Joe with plenty of power for surfing his favorite porn sites. The built-in CF socket is a nice touch, though I'd rather have a Type 3 PCMCIA slot, and I for one am not willing to trade my DVD Drive for a battery.

    Overall, the major offense is the marketing of a (guesses) $4 933 MHZ VIA C3 processor as if it were in any way comparable to the processors in those real notebooks. Essentially, its an Internet Appliance with a battery - and at $800, Joe is definitely getting hosed.

    My two bits worth,

    Mnem
    "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." - PT Barnum

  24. Re:Kinda expensive by Ryan+Amos · · Score: 2, Informative

    Uh, pardon? This is either a troll or a 12 year old idiot. 99.9% of linux stuff will work on a mac actually, just download gcc and it'll compile natively. There's even a port of apt to OS X to handle all that crap for you. Anyway, wasted enough of my time on this post...

  25. Re:C3 vs. Crusoe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    I own a C3 800 and it will run circles around a Crusoe of the same MHz. Crusoe is basically a failure. C3 is the world's smallest x86 core, it's almost as low power as a crusoe (we're talking a small milliwatt difference here). And VIA C3 gets you more MIPS per Watt than any other x86. (about 50% more power per MIPS than a StrongARM though). Think of a VIA C3 as a 486 on steroids (but capable of using the full instruction set). The FPU on the C3 is pretty wimpy (crusoe's complete lack of a true FPU makes it extremely wimpy). The FPU is going to be half-speed(or worse) of your typical celeron/p-iii.

    If you are interested in a C3, but don't want this laptop get one of the VIA EPIA-800 motherboards for about $100. (Or one of the newer EPIAs for more money)

  26. Re:Who else brands this one? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Taiwan company name Aamax Technology Co., Ltd.

    From their site (google cached):

    Specially Package
    eNOTE OEM Notebook

    12.1" Poly-Si TFT/
    C3-933 LVM CPU, VIA Chipset
    256MB/20GB/56K/LAN/WXP

    For more information, please contact with us ASAP.

    This not on their website anymore.

  27. Playing with one right now. by markw365 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm sitting here looking at one, and it's a slick little machine. No floppy or cd, but it _WILL_ netboot so installing Debian won't be that hard. It has an RTL 8139 chipset, so hopefully JHRIV compiled that into the kernel image so we don't have to do a custom tftp kernel to install debian on the thing. Slick little notebook however. :)

  28. Re:debian is satan? I don't think so.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Lindows is debian people. If you haven't used it then you don't know what you are talking about. I must admit I thought it was crap before I saw it on a machine. A biochemist friend got one of the walmart machines to do DNA cruching. I went over there to install a "real" version of linux/gnu on it and low and behold it was a very recent install of debian. I swear they must have installed it only a few days earlier; letting apt get the packages directly from a debian mirror. I did apt-get update&upgrade and only three new packages. It was the most current and up to date version of any operating system I'd ever seen shipped on a machine straight from the factory. I was very supprised. It really kicked ass.

    I was annoyed by some of the lindows specific things they added, but that's what dpkg --purge is for. I have to say Lindows added thier changes the correct way(as debian packages.) You can just remove thier packages and run regular apt-get to keep your system current. You do not have to subscribe to thier stuff.