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HP Unveils Small Commercial Linux Laptop

Posted by Zonk on from the micro-penguins-on-the-go dept.

Ryan writes "HP had unveiled their version of a miniaturized laptop for school kids. The tiny device boasts speeds up to 1.6 gigahertz. They haven't yet decided on a name, but 'netbooks' is one possibility. They will be used for surfing the Internet and doing other basic tasks like word processing. The company plans to have 50 million units available in the marketplace by 2011. Optical drives have been left out to prevent kids from playing 'unauthorized games.' Weighing less than 3 pounds with a tiny 8.9 inch screen, the machines start below $500 for a Linux-based model. Prices are expected to be higher for Windows Vista models."

6 of 242 comments (clear)

  1. 500 bucks? by geekoid · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Try again.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  2. 1.6GHz? by Lord+Grey · · Score: 5, Insightful
    From TFA:

    ... Prices go up for Windows Vista models with faster processors.

    The processors HP is using are made by Via Technologies Inc., the distant third-ranked player in the microprocessor space, and come in clock speeds up to 1.6 gigahertz. ...

    I interpret that as saying that the non-Vista machines will be running a slower processor while the Vista versions get the 1.6GHz model. My son's Toshiba laptop, purchased this last Christmas, runs Vista at about that speed. It sucks. (That's a unanimous opinion among all members of our household, geeks and non-geeks alike. Even the cats hate it.)

    Won't someone really think of the children for once?

    --
    // Beyond Here Lie Dragons
  3. for $500 i could get... by Spy+Handler · · Score: 5, Insightful

    a core2duo laptop with a 120gb HDD and a DVD rewritable drive... not to mention a 15.6inch screen -_-

    1. Re:for $500 i could get... by an.echte.trilingue · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah, but children have different needs. They will etch their names in the case, drop it, routinely hold it by the lid, drop it, spill stuff on it, drop it, get that cookie-saliva goo mixture from their fingers on it, etc. For a child, a tough slow box is worth more than a fragile powerful machine.

      --
      weirdest thing I ever saw: scientology advertising on slashdot.
  4. "Try Again" by Moryath · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Optical drives have been left out to prevent kids from playing 'unauthorized games.'

    Of course, being kids, they will require ~30 seconds (maybe less) to figure out a way around this. USB optical drive / keychain drive? Check. Daemon Tools and ISO image? Check. No-CD Patch of whatever game they want to run? Check. Web games, bittorrent, whatever else their little hearts might desire? Check.

    I have a vision of 1,000s of kids sitting in school, on school-approved laptop, all endowed with MAME and console emulators... "and god looked down, and saw that it was good."

    Heh.

    1. Re:"Try Again" by qbzzt · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Optical drives have been left out to prevent kids from playing 'unauthorized games.'

      How about "Optical drives have been left out to drive down the cost, but some marketing weenie thought it would sound better if the press release said it was for the children"?

      Engineering is about reality. Marketing is about perceptions.

      --
      -- Support a free market in the field of government