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Lindows Releases Inexpensive Subnotebook
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."
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?
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...
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
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)
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).
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..
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.
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.
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
It is sufficient enough to do the following without problem:
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).
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.
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.
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.
... 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.
Not to knock them
Tuus crepidae innexilis sunt.
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
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)
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.
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. :)