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XCore's EduBook, a Netbook That Runs on AA Batteries
I'm typing this on a netbook with no hard drive, not using a chip from Intel or AMD, and powered by AA batteries. Eight rechargeable AAs, to be precise, in a bank of cells right where a Li-Ion battery would sit in a conventional laptop. The batteries charge in place, too (regulation prevents overcharging) meaning that the power cord is a simple three-prong-to-cloverleaf cord, no wall-wart required. It's the EduBook from Xcore (see that page for some photos of the internals, too), and it's a cool concept. Despite some warts, it's one of the most interesting things I ran into on the CES show floor last month (Xcore's Michael Barnes kindly supplied the laptop, straight from the display case). Read on for my review.
Yes, it runs Linux.
Before diving in to anything else, note that this is a laptop built for running Linux; the one I'm using is running Ubuntu 9.4 (Jaunty), and others that I played with briefly on the show floor were running instead Barry Kauer's lightweight (around 100MB by default) Puppy Linux. Though Puppy's quite a nice OS, I stuck with Ubuntu on the EduBook, because that's what I'm most used to.
Why 9.4, now nearly a year out of date? Because a few bits of stock Ubuntu caused hiccups, which Barnes blames on packaging goofs by Ubuntu. Xcore has tweaked the default drivers to get working two important subsystems -- networking and sound. (Puppy Linux apparently works on these fronts just as supplied.) Until I know that an upgrade won't result in a disconnected and mute machine, I'm sticking with what works. (Other distributions, including Ubuntu derivative Linux Mint, are reported to work well, too.)
Purpose, Philosophy, and Ingredients
The EduBook is what you might get if you gave the OLPC team a simpler mandate in their quest to provide laptops suitable for educational use: it's small, cheap to produce (currently, the retail price for this 512MB RAM/8GB SD version is about $200, depending on order size), fairly sturdy, modular, and upgradable — after a fashion. And like the OLPC project's XO, it's intended as an educational tool, and for distribution in places around the world where computers have long been too expensive to be common. To that end, the company's shipped machines (besides "quite a few" to the US, Canada and Mexico), to South America, Asia, the Middle East, and six countries in Africa (Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Uganda).
Modularity means the EduBook can be readily assembled inside or outside of an importing country, which can make a huge difference in the local price of a computer because of the vagaries of import duties and other taxes. Some countries charge higher import duties for importing un-assembled computer parts, though often the opposite is true. According to Barnes, "Indonesia now allows people to import computers with no tax. Thailand does as well. However, in both countries, they will apply taxes on the components if you bring them in as components. Both countries have programs where you can build in tax free zones and export but if you import the parts to assemble and sell locally, it is cheaper to buy it already assembled."
The machine's guts are made for flexibility. Unlike the all-in-one approach of Intel's Centrino line (incorporating wireless as part of a motherboard+processor package), the EduBook uses a x586 system-on-chip core (block diagram) to provide processor, video and 512MB of main memory, but farms out wireless and storage; for wireless hardware, there's essentially a USB slot and a niche carved out of the motherboard. That way, the latest and greatest wireless interface (or the cheapest and most readily available) can be added at assembly time, keeping the three external USB ports free. Any USB wireless device small enough to fit will do -- it just has to work with the OS. (The company also runs a development and support site for working with the quirks of running a slightly offbeat processor.)
The EduBook is upgradeable, but not user upgradeable. Instead, the parts are modular enough that new chip generations, larger SD cards, or improved wireless modules can be readily swapped in by the maker (or by local manufacturers) while preserving all the user-facing parts (screen, keyboard, ports).
For storage, there's another (internal) slot for an SD card — an 8GB card in my sample — presented to the system as an IDE device. No conventional hard drive (though it is possible to order one in place of the SD card) means that the EduBook lags even typical low-end netbooks for raw storage capacity, and SD cards aren't the speed demons that SSDs are. But this isn't a machine built for carrying a road-warrior's movie collection or sticking into a data-center rack, and XCore86 have snipped out probably the most common failure point for laptops. (And SD cards are easier to source and simpler to replace than hard drives.) In practice, and considering that the system-on-a-chip processor is also aimed at frugality rather than speed, it's hard to fault.
The outside of the case is typical (but tough-seeming) netbook: the only port on the back is the AC inlet to power the laptop and charge the batteries; on the right side of the chassis are two USB ports; on the left, one more USB port, along with ethernet, a VGA out (which I didn't test), microphone and headphone jacks, and a 10/100 ethernet port.
Facing the user is a perfectly nice, perfectly standard, 1024x600 LED-backlit display. A Pixel Qi daylight-readable one would be nice; maybe one will show up in a future iteration.
Fit, finish, feel
The input devices on a laptop with 9" screen are small, of necessity — but for me, even a small keyboard beats a touchscreen or thumbboard. The keyboard is of the "nearly full size" variety. The touch-pad, also constrained by reality (about 2.5" x 1.5") is smooth and responsive — perhaps too responsive. My hands aren't big, but I've still had some curse-inducing frustration and backspacing at typing on this.
One problem I have with touchpads generally (and most laptops are saddled with them) is that an inadvertent tap of the thumb while typing can lead to an accidental cursor jump or text swipe -- and suddenly you're typing in the middle of the wrong paragraph or wiping out a chunk of what's already been written, and scrambling for Ctrl-Z. On the EduBook, this happens far more frequently than I'd like, though it's teaching me slowly to keep my thumbs hovering a bit higher. In use, and knowing that this is a machine built for other than high-end multimedia use, the twitchy keyboard and pointer are my biggest complaints. Another nitpick: the trackpad's buttons work, but they're chintzy, and ever-so-slightly misaligned, catching the skin on my thumb slightly when I move from left button to right.
The case seems strong — a little brick-like, even, at slightly more than an inch thick. The bottom of the case (not metal, but heavy-duty plastic) features two large areas of corrugation for an additional bit of rigidity. I am skeptical of Barnes's claim that it compares well with the durability of the OLPC XO, but that's a very high bar: the sturdy case and solid-state storage sure make it seem more drop-safe than my 10" Asus Eee or most other laptops I've owned over the last 18 years.
What's missing
Going in, I knew this was a small laptop built for getting online and as a tool for school kids, rather than a high-end machine (in which case I'd have a different set of complaints). Taking the EduBook on its own terms, though, I'd like to see a few things:
- Better Battery life indicator. Though the reader can gather from an LED at the front edge of the case whether the machine is charged, charging, or drastically low on charge, it would be nice to have a better-integrated on-screen indicator for remaining battery life.
- An external SD card slot. After first dismissing such a slot as a novelty, owning two laptops with built-in SD slots has spoiled me for the convenience. And on a storage-lean device like the EduBook, its absence is notable. An external SD slot would make this machine a lot more flexible.
- An easier system to change the batteries. The bank of AAs lives behind a small door secured by a pair of small Phillips-head screws. It's a small thing, but one reason I like AA batteries as a power source is that if you really needed to, it would be cheap to buy a few hours' worth of power, or to keep a spare set of Eneloops or other charge-retaining rechargeables around. (No heavier than the wall-wart you don't have to carry.) On the other hand, the batteries aren't soldered in place, and carrying a mini-Phillips driver around is no great burden. And, since this is a device intended for schools and children, the company has no intention to make the batteries or other internals easier to get at. Having accidentally tried to recharge some alkaline batteries recently (in a wall-charger, not the EduBook), I concede this has some merit.
- Working Suspend/Resume. The great bugaboo of Linux laptops raises its head here, too; shutting the lid or selecting Suspend from the Gnome menu triggers the error message that "Suspend is not available on this computer." A shame, when power savings are part of the overall appeal.
Performance, and the Takeaway
The 2000ma batteries in my sample gave me between 3 and 3.5 hours unplugged; that's about an hour less than the best performance I get from my Eee laptop's 4-cell battery, but still a respectable netbook battery life (though falling behind the new generation of all-day machines). Charging (until the light on the case indicated a full charge) took between 4 and 6 hours.
Wireless performance was quite good at Seattle coffee shops and in hotel rooms in Las Vegas and Portland, but I've hit an odd hitch: it's finicky on the (Apple-based) network at my home — I can see a fairly strong signal, but sometimes can't connect. (Gremlins?) An ethernet port on the side means I'm not totally out of luck.
The practical outcome of using a processor that's proudly taking up the rear of the performance curve is that startup takes over a minute (I timed 1:05 from hitting the power button to the Ubuntu login prompt, and another 45 seconds to a Gnome desktop). The low-power chip means that it doesn't do Flash either (no Facebook Scrabble for you!), but using the EduBook for most Internet tasks, typing notes, creating scripts or other light programming, and even using The GIMP is acceptably, usably quick. But note: applications work fairly well once they've started, but that startup can be a bit painful; more than a minute for OpenOffice, for instance. A faster chip would be nice (and bumps to the processor speed are expected), but as a connection to the Internet with a real keyboard and a decent screen, capable of running standard versions of word processors, programming languages, graphics packages and more, it strikes me as less obviously innovative but more flexible than OLPC's machines. It's impressive to me that an x586 can run Ubuntu and Gnome as well as it does; though there are lots of promising developments in the world of non-X86 chips, too, right now X86 is still the target architecture for the bulk of Linux distros, including ones built for education.
All of this means that the EduBook is slow, but useful, not just in its intended classroom application, but as a knockabout netbook generally.
Yes, it runs Linux.
Before diving in to anything else, note that this is a laptop built for running Linux; the one I'm using is running Ubuntu 9.4 (Jaunty), and others that I played with briefly on the show floor were running instead Barry Kauer's lightweight (around 100MB by default) Puppy Linux. Though Puppy's quite a nice OS, I stuck with Ubuntu on the EduBook, because that's what I'm most used to.
Why 9.4, now nearly a year out of date? Because a few bits of stock Ubuntu caused hiccups, which Barnes blames on packaging goofs by Ubuntu. Xcore has tweaked the default drivers to get working two important subsystems -- networking and sound. (Puppy Linux apparently works on these fronts just as supplied.) Until I know that an upgrade won't result in a disconnected and mute machine, I'm sticking with what works. (Other distributions, including Ubuntu derivative Linux Mint, are reported to work well, too.)
Purpose, Philosophy, and Ingredients
The EduBook is what you might get if you gave the OLPC team a simpler mandate in their quest to provide laptops suitable for educational use: it's small, cheap to produce (currently, the retail price for this 512MB RAM/8GB SD version is about $200, depending on order size), fairly sturdy, modular, and upgradable — after a fashion. And like the OLPC project's XO, it's intended as an educational tool, and for distribution in places around the world where computers have long been too expensive to be common. To that end, the company's shipped machines (besides "quite a few" to the US, Canada and Mexico), to South America, Asia, the Middle East, and six countries in Africa (Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Uganda).
Modularity means the EduBook can be readily assembled inside or outside of an importing country, which can make a huge difference in the local price of a computer because of the vagaries of import duties and other taxes. Some countries charge higher import duties for importing un-assembled computer parts, though often the opposite is true. According to Barnes, "Indonesia now allows people to import computers with no tax. Thailand does as well. However, in both countries, they will apply taxes on the components if you bring them in as components. Both countries have programs where you can build in tax free zones and export but if you import the parts to assemble and sell locally, it is cheaper to buy it already assembled."
The machine's guts are made for flexibility. Unlike the all-in-one approach of Intel's Centrino line (incorporating wireless as part of a motherboard+processor package), the EduBook uses a x586 system-on-chip core (block diagram) to provide processor, video and 512MB of main memory, but farms out wireless and storage; for wireless hardware, there's essentially a USB slot and a niche carved out of the motherboard. That way, the latest and greatest wireless interface (or the cheapest and most readily available) can be added at assembly time, keeping the three external USB ports free. Any USB wireless device small enough to fit will do -- it just has to work with the OS. (The company also runs a development and support site for working with the quirks of running a slightly offbeat processor.)
The EduBook is upgradeable, but not user upgradeable. Instead, the parts are modular enough that new chip generations, larger SD cards, or improved wireless modules can be readily swapped in by the maker (or by local manufacturers) while preserving all the user-facing parts (screen, keyboard, ports).
For storage, there's another (internal) slot for an SD card — an 8GB card in my sample — presented to the system as an IDE device. No conventional hard drive (though it is possible to order one in place of the SD card) means that the EduBook lags even typical low-end netbooks for raw storage capacity, and SD cards aren't the speed demons that SSDs are. But this isn't a machine built for carrying a road-warrior's movie collection or sticking into a data-center rack, and XCore86 have snipped out probably the most common failure point for laptops. (And SD cards are easier to source and simpler to replace than hard drives.) In practice, and considering that the system-on-a-chip processor is also aimed at frugality rather than speed, it's hard to fault.
The outside of the case is typical (but tough-seeming) netbook: the only port on the back is the AC inlet to power the laptop and charge the batteries; on the right side of the chassis are two USB ports; on the left, one more USB port, along with ethernet, a VGA out (which I didn't test), microphone and headphone jacks, and a 10/100 ethernet port.
Facing the user is a perfectly nice, perfectly standard, 1024x600 LED-backlit display. A Pixel Qi daylight-readable one would be nice; maybe one will show up in a future iteration.
Fit, finish, feel
The input devices on a laptop with 9" screen are small, of necessity — but for me, even a small keyboard beats a touchscreen or thumbboard. The keyboard is of the "nearly full size" variety. The touch-pad, also constrained by reality (about 2.5" x 1.5") is smooth and responsive — perhaps too responsive. My hands aren't big, but I've still had some curse-inducing frustration and backspacing at typing on this.
One problem I have with touchpads generally (and most laptops are saddled with them) is that an inadvertent tap of the thumb while typing can lead to an accidental cursor jump or text swipe -- and suddenly you're typing in the middle of the wrong paragraph or wiping out a chunk of what's already been written, and scrambling for Ctrl-Z. On the EduBook, this happens far more frequently than I'd like, though it's teaching me slowly to keep my thumbs hovering a bit higher. In use, and knowing that this is a machine built for other than high-end multimedia use, the twitchy keyboard and pointer are my biggest complaints. Another nitpick: the trackpad's buttons work, but they're chintzy, and ever-so-slightly misaligned, catching the skin on my thumb slightly when I move from left button to right.
The case seems strong — a little brick-like, even, at slightly more than an inch thick. The bottom of the case (not metal, but heavy-duty plastic) features two large areas of corrugation for an additional bit of rigidity. I am skeptical of Barnes's claim that it compares well with the durability of the OLPC XO, but that's a very high bar: the sturdy case and solid-state storage sure make it seem more drop-safe than my 10" Asus Eee or most other laptops I've owned over the last 18 years.
What's missing
Going in, I knew this was a small laptop built for getting online and as a tool for school kids, rather than a high-end machine (in which case I'd have a different set of complaints). Taking the EduBook on its own terms, though, I'd like to see a few things:
- Better Battery life indicator. Though the reader can gather from an LED at the front edge of the case whether the machine is charged, charging, or drastically low on charge, it would be nice to have a better-integrated on-screen indicator for remaining battery life.
- An external SD card slot. After first dismissing such a slot as a novelty, owning two laptops with built-in SD slots has spoiled me for the convenience. And on a storage-lean device like the EduBook, its absence is notable. An external SD slot would make this machine a lot more flexible.
- An easier system to change the batteries. The bank of AAs lives behind a small door secured by a pair of small Phillips-head screws. It's a small thing, but one reason I like AA batteries as a power source is that if you really needed to, it would be cheap to buy a few hours' worth of power, or to keep a spare set of Eneloops or other charge-retaining rechargeables around. (No heavier than the wall-wart you don't have to carry.) On the other hand, the batteries aren't soldered in place, and carrying a mini-Phillips driver around is no great burden. And, since this is a device intended for schools and children, the company has no intention to make the batteries or other internals easier to get at. Having accidentally tried to recharge some alkaline batteries recently (in a wall-charger, not the EduBook), I concede this has some merit.
- Working Suspend/Resume. The great bugaboo of Linux laptops raises its head here, too; shutting the lid or selecting Suspend from the Gnome menu triggers the error message that "Suspend is not available on this computer." A shame, when power savings are part of the overall appeal.
Performance, and the Takeaway
The 2000ma batteries in my sample gave me between 3 and 3.5 hours unplugged; that's about an hour less than the best performance I get from my Eee laptop's 4-cell battery, but still a respectable netbook battery life (though falling behind the new generation of all-day machines). Charging (until the light on the case indicated a full charge) took between 4 and 6 hours.
Wireless performance was quite good at Seattle coffee shops and in hotel rooms in Las Vegas and Portland, but I've hit an odd hitch: it's finicky on the (Apple-based) network at my home — I can see a fairly strong signal, but sometimes can't connect. (Gremlins?) An ethernet port on the side means I'm not totally out of luck.
The practical outcome of using a processor that's proudly taking up the rear of the performance curve is that startup takes over a minute (I timed 1:05 from hitting the power button to the Ubuntu login prompt, and another 45 seconds to a Gnome desktop). The low-power chip means that it doesn't do Flash either (no Facebook Scrabble for you!), but using the EduBook for most Internet tasks, typing notes, creating scripts or other light programming, and even using The GIMP is acceptably, usably quick. But note: applications work fairly well once they've started, but that startup can be a bit painful; more than a minute for OpenOffice, for instance. A faster chip would be nice (and bumps to the processor speed are expected), but as a connection to the Internet with a real keyboard and a decent screen, capable of running standard versions of word processors, programming languages, graphics packages and more, it strikes me as less obviously innovative but more flexible than OLPC's machines. It's impressive to me that an x586 can run Ubuntu and Gnome as well as it does; though there are lots of promising developments in the world of non-X86 chips, too, right now X86 is still the target architecture for the bulk of Linux distros, including ones built for education.
All of this means that the EduBook is slow, but useful, not just in its intended classroom application, but as a knockabout netbook generally.
for the times you run out of power and can find AA batteries but not an outlet?
DUMB.
AAs are a horrible way to power a laptop. Why not power a car with them? The energy density sucks.
The only 'convenient' thing about them is when you can't get power, you could possibly get new ones at any store. Then what when that set goes dead? Trash? People in developing countries have little regard for the environment.* So
And what type of AAs are they going to be? NiMH? NiCad?
I can get 999+ pictures out of my SLR on one LiOn charge. When I power it with an external grip using 8 AAs (which take up 4x the space) I may get 1/3 of that.
I know you guys hate Apple for it, but there's a reason they're getting 8 hours out of a 17" laptop. It's because they threw away all the 'packaging' crap that comes with normal batteries and only packaged the 'energy storing' part.
*I don't know if this is because of their nature or because the structure isn't setup. When I went to Rural india there was TRASH everywhere. AAs in the gutters. Because there wasn't anywhere to throw stuff away. That and every single thing was individually packaged. Shampoo came in a 5Rs 'sampler' sized package. Everything. So there was litter everywhere.
Direct AC connection? 110-240V? I don't know about you guys, but I ain't gonna put that damn thing on my lap. This is a laptop. I have spilled coffee, juice, other drinks on my laptops. I don't want 240V shock on my private parts. I let my young kids to use laptop too and certainly wouldn't allow this one to them.
Should I be scared that the default country for the order form is Thailand?
One thing that review did gloss over, but which is right there in TFA, among the first things listed.
"It can support Microsoft Windows XP."
So Linux is one of the options for this thing (they actually list a bunch of distros that work, apart from the one they specifically designed for the thing), not the only option.
Given the cries of how OLPC had sold out when they said they're going to support XP, I thought it would be kinda relevant...
I got one of these, and I were very surprised that it was covered here! I certainly don't think the case is very sturdy, a few millimetres plastic was easy to crack, and I've done that. I've got some evil pixels on the screen too after dropping it once. I got mine with ubuntu, but I managed to thrash X and have not taken my time to fix it, I use it on daily basis exclusively with vim, but being the CLI junky I am I almost like it more that way than with a gui. I carry it around for all my lessons in school and I'm very happy that I bought it. A little weird thing with it is that the usb ports are upside down, no clue if that's a feature or something stupid =p A big downside for me was that it is i586, something I didn't think off when buying it, meaning that distros such as Arch Linux won't run on it natively.
SD slot??? WHY??? How about just a USB reader and a USB port on the machine?
Then you can use SD, CF, microSD, xD, miniSD, MMS,...
I wonder about those batteries, mind. 2000mAh from four? They're making 3200mAh now.
Mind you, compare this against a Psion 3a.
Form factor is almost irrelevant here. What matters is the following:
1) Can XCore continue to improve the SOC with higher clockspeeds and features?
2) Can the XCore86 CPU compete performance-wise with Atom?
3) For almost $200, how do they intend to compete against existing UMPCs from makers like Asus?
This EduBook is cute, but the question remains whether this SOC can truly compete against the Atom+US15W in the marketplace. Getting a free device because you're some hotshot Slashdot editor isn't quite the same thing as comparison shopping for the right solution.
You can buy a Lenovo S10 with 1GB of ram, 1.6Ghz CPU and 160GB harddrive for $249, and that includes WinXP.
The AA batteries sounds interesting, but since all the netbooks come with a battery, and they are cheap enough to buy an entire new netbook with new battery when anything breaks or wears out.
If this unit was $150 or less, it's slow CPU and AA battery power might make sense. But at $199 it's not worth it.
That's gotta be one of the longest press releases (written to be an review) that I've seen in a long time.
I wonder what it costs to have your ad run on the front of Slashdot as a story these days.
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
AAs are typically charged in series by in-device chargers. That is significantly worse than single-cell chargers because small differences in the capacity of the single cells result in over-charging which kills the batteries. Li-Ion batteries on the other hand are always charged individually because they are actually dangerous when overcharged.
There isn't a good reason to use AAs for a device which goes through one charge in a matter of days, especially when an unsophisticated charger is used. What we really need is a standard Li-Ion rechargeable battery format.
See here for more info.
That's the most brazen Slashvertisement I've ever seen. The editors(writers, whatever) could have at least tried to obfuscate it into an article and offload the interested onto the actual website.
I'm still trying to decide whether to be disappointed that the editors no longer care, or happy that they're being more honest about blatantly slashvertising.
I think we'll reach a new Slashdot low today where people won't even read the summary!
Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
because critics would have lambasted the "XCore E8"?
For me it is an unusually interesting slashvertisement so I think it belongs on the front page.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
From TFA: "There is no bulky power adapter. The power supply is built inside the Gecko so that all you need to carry is a power cord."
I've had enough ATX power supplies and laptop power adapters go bad... one of the latter even threw sparks and smoke. Never damaged the actual computer, and they were all easy to replace.
The power adapter for my netbook is smallish, but bigger than I'd want embedded inside my netbook. And what about RF noise? What about safety? Sounds crazy, but I've had a waterfall (from a leaky roof) open right up on me while using a computer before. Once I even used a faulty laptop that shocked me when using it, annoying but not deadly.
I loved it. I'm sure it still works. I also have the acoustic (300 baud) coupler for the built-in modem.
Also, there's the Newton.
Some day maybe 2 week battery life will be back.
I did RTFS, and even went to their site
- $200 is a lot, there's netbooks for $250
- the datasheet lists an external SD slot, the summary says there aren't any ?
- available with up to 1 gig RAM
- optional "real" batteries instead of 8xAA
- Vista certainly not supported, otherwise they would say so.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
Soon on Slashdot, we will not longer be discussing laptop computers because they are going to be as ubiquitous and cheap (as in 'Toys R Us' cheap) as the humble pocket calculator.
My Dad's first calculator cost $300 and it took a full pack of AA's and it had glow-y red numbers inside tiny light bulbs or vacuum tubes or something. And it came with a power cord. And it was the most exciting thing in the world! If there had been an internet back then, there would have been feverish discussion and hardware hacks and all kinds of 'boy' chatter regarding it and other devices competing for the same market.
But nobody talks about pocket calculators much these days. We've solved them. They're done. They work perfectly, and most of the time the build-quality is somewhere between "Fischer Price" and "Dollar Store G.I. Joe reject".
This is the second computer on a chip I've seen this week. ARM had an even smaller system which out-powered the one in this article by many orders of magnitude, all destined for the same market.
Yeah, it's kind of cool that portable computers are about to be Capital-S SOLVED; that we'll have long battery lives combined with high computing power in a small form-factor, all for $29.95 (or less). Great. Computers are going to be no more exciting than a new binder, pencil case and protractor set. -And probably about as durable, because stuff that lasts doesn't make money. Welcome to the Industrial Age.
Sigh.
So stop and look around. These are the last of the, "Good old days". Breathe it in, folks. It's never going to be the same again.
Of course, I'm sure we'll all find something new to get geeky about. Maybe radio-control cars will come back into vogue. Who knows?
-FL
An IBM mouse nub thingy... The only way to fly.
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
I purchased an Asus 900 model for $180 over six months ago that runs an intel atom at 1.6 GHz and has 1GB of RAM with a 4GB SSD, all for less than this slower model that has a higher cost and runs a smaller subset of the available software. Can somebody explain how this machine is worth the money?
Does anyone know if the drivers for the GPU and other stuff are open source? I would hate to buy one and not being able to upgrade to the newest Ubuntu version due to some closed blobs.
I'm not sure it's a "slashvertisement" as much as it is a "press release from a company that seems practically tailor made to appeal to slashdot".
Runs linux? Check. Oddball underdog processor? Check. Not in general availability yet? Check. A few interesting wrinkles on the popular-but-now-somewhat-dated netbook concept? Check.
u have to wonder how good the product is
they put like, 2 nanoseconds of thought into the web page - you have to wonder if the same lazy, screw the user attitude is in their engineering dept
and i'm not just talking lack of glitzy useless flashcrap either;
Wireless (WiFi) should be built in. Otherwise you're guaranteed a configuration headache to use a feature that should work right out of the box. Built-in camera is pretty much expected on these machines too. And, quite frankly, I'll stick with the "proprietary" battery packs that give another 2-4 hours of run-time, thanks.
Is that you???
Here's to hot beer, cold women, and Glaswegian kisses for all.
My Dad's first calculator cost $300 and it took a full pack of AA's and it had glow-y red numbers inside tiny light bulbs or vacuum tubes or something.
Those were Nixie Tubes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixie_tube
And it was the most exciting thing in the world! If there had been an internet back then, there would have been feverish discussion and hardware hacks and all kinds of 'boy' chatter regarding it and other devices competing for the same market.
We mostly talked in person back then, but it was just as exciting.
But nobody talks about pocket calculators much these days. We've solved them. They're done. They work perfectly...
Why can't I find one as good at being a calculator as my nearly 30 year old HP-15c?
DId you JUST change your signature to what it says now, or is that entirely coincidence...
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
My Bluetooth-enabled Tandy Model 101 runs on four AA batteries.
Sir! Ill make a bet you will not get laid this semester! ;-)
6831 cells, form factor 18650-common industry standard for small devices, slightly larger than an AA, more storage and higher voltage (just for reference)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_battery_sizes#18650
Tesla roadster battery pack system
http://www.teslamotors.com/display_data/TeslaRoadsterBatterySystem.pdf
So it almost is being done with cars like that..close enough. They use some fancy wiring and cooling for the Tesla though...
You have good points on trash and packing though. That's a big price people pay for a lot of things today, then it just turns to junk instantly. My non favorite is blisterpacks. I keep aviation snips handy just for dealing with those things. They *are* good packaging, but a pain to open and then how to dispose of them cleanly?
Sometimes I wish they had an area right outside the checkout lanes where you could open your purchases, and they had a recycle bin sitting there for the packaging junk. Or just have lockable generic packages with clear covers to see what is in there. You pay for the item, it gets unlocked right then after ring up, they retain the packaging and it goes to the back where the next item-whatever that item might be that could fit in it, gets placed in there, then back out to the shelf.
Be there, done that... with half the batteries. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100
I'd still be using my Newton if I thought AA batteries were the best way to go.
That would accelerate startup times of programs. (But at the expense of RAM, if not properly done.)
One question: If the chip forces you to use Linux anyway, then why did they not use a ARM chip, and save even more energy? :/
There are so many easy-to-solve problems in this one, that it boggles the mind.
Batteries: Use a normal lid. Maybe with a locking mechanism. But not with screws.
SD: cut a opening in the case, and you have a SD slot.
WLAN: Same thing. Just make it so it has one smooth surface with the case, when the stick in inserted. And offer a way to eject it / pull it out. (A mechanical button will do.)
etc.
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
Suspend/resume is hard to get right. It didn't work on the XO for quite a while, and then when it finally was a supported feature it could trash the external SD card. (That bug was squashed several months later, wasn't it?) There are potential problems with devices on USB (like the wifi in in this EduBook). I think the XO-1.5 redesign included several changes for the purpose of better enabling suspend/resume. (And the XO also had the audacious goal of supporting micro-naps with near-instant resume to really extend battery life, which unfortunately they never achieved.)
Really, having no suspend/resume is just a total dealbreaker for a laptop that isn't chained to the classroom wall. Plus it's an indication of a not-well-tested product IMHO.
>and they are cheap enough to buy an entire new netbook with new battery when anything breaks or wears out.
Sorry, but 300$ isnt cheap enough for most people.
ANd what you are saying is that new netbooks come with a battery already and when it wears out you can just buy a new one?
Nice.
xcalc -rpn on a linux smartphone?
I still use my 23+ year old HP-15C at home, though.
12 Volts, 1.2 watts .... my eee needs 36 watts (12V * 3A = 36 watts) according to the power adaptor.
For 31.65 + s/h I can make this Solar powered
http://www.altestore.com/store/Solar-Panels/1-to-50-Watt-Solar-Panels/Kyocera-12W-12V-Mini-Solar-Panel/p718/
I can see the application in this.
Make America grate again!
Even among pocket calculators there's a huge variety of different devices. Some are for complex scientific work, others are just for adding up your weekly grocery expenses. Surely the complex scientific calcs are going to continue to evolve, just like laptop computers will continue to evolve. Either that or they'll be replaced by all-in-one devices like smartphones running specialised software.
I agree with the gist of your post, I think we'll see more and more "appliance" type computers which will be so simple to use that they'll be like everyday appliances which anyone can use intuitively. At the same time we'll definitely continue to see "real computers" which are customisable and hackable, though the market for these will no doubt be smaller, since most consumers just want something which works out of the box.
Rest assured there'll always be something geeky for people to play around with.
Plus, as far as slashvertisements go, I don't terribly mind when it's a company that will probably end up bringing technology to thousands of kids who've never touched a computer (much less owned one).
It's OLPC minus the bureaucracy.
Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
Quoth the GP:
...stuff that lasts doesn't make money. Welcome to the Industrial Age.
Regardless... I am in love.
Seriously.
This machine specs out like a lady at my parents' house, and a slut in the bedroom.
This looks exactly like the Axioo's Pico. Is it done by the same company? Are these the factory rejects or something?
Hi,
I liked that review. It was interesting enough for me to read it in full, and you seems to have covered everything I wanted to know, with no uncalled for overhyping or bashing.
One minor gripe I have, not necessarily with your review per se but in general:
Sure, GNOME and OpenOffice.org take a long time to start up, and Flash runs like molasses unless you have a beast of a CPU, but let's not hold that against the devices. It's the software that makes it that way. Every time a low-power device is introduced, people note that it doesn't run $heavy_software_of_choice speedily. Well, of course not. That software was developed so that it runs passably on the fastest generation of desktop hardware.
Imagine not, what the experience could be like running heavy software on faster hardware. Imagine what the experience could be like running lighter software on the same hardware.
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
This is hardly revolutionary technology the Sony MZ R700 MiniDisc walkman came with a rechargable battery and a charging circuit so you can charge it from the wall wart. The best part is that its an AA battery, so not only can you swap it out for a standard AA in a pinch you can also stick any other rechargable AA in and use that/recharge it internally. And that came out in 2001 and is the tiniest most amazing piece of electronics i've ever laid hands on, I bought a "new" one off ebay just a couple of weeks ago.
If you don't risk failure you don't risk success.
Michael Barnes' company, NohrTec, is about 3km from my Bangkok condo, and I appreciate what he tries to do. All of his products are very FOSS-friendly. He even had a special version of Puppy Linux for his old MicroClients (I own one, and it runs Ubuntu 9.10 perfectly). There aren't that many companies out there designing hardware specifically for Linux and low-poer requirements, and he probably deserves more exposure than he gets. He certainly deserves as much as Pandora and the like get.
The XCore86 is a rebranded Vortex86MX from Taiwan. He's also using it in the Gecko Surfboard, which is going to make a great thin client.
Put identity in the browser.
This machine specs out like a lady at my parents' house, and a slut in the bedroom.
Sir, I salute your ability to find a way to add innuendo to common computer specifications.
Liberal? Conservative? Compare perspectives at Left-Right
Or any of the dozens of HP emulators available for almost every platform that has two transistors to rub together... I use Free42 on my n810. (Yeah, I know, it's not technically an emulator, but you'd never know that it wasn't running actual HP ROMs.)
Though I also have the 25 year old HP-15C that got me through an EE degree, as well as a 42S and a 16C that I acquired later. They all work great and see almost daily use. Especially the 16C which is, without question, the best damn programmer's calculator ever made.
Chelloveck
I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
AAs are a horrible way to power a laptop.
Actually, the old TRS-80 Model 100 from the early 80's ran on AA batteries. There was some merit to being able to run down to the corner store when you were in a bind. Yes, I used to use one of these. It was a damn cool computer at the time.
Soon on Slashdot, we will not longer be discussing laptop computers because they are going to be as ubiquitous and cheap (as in 'Toys R Us' cheap) as the humble pocket calculator.
Intel and Microsoft disagree with you on that. They're doing everything they can to keep regular laptops costing around $500. Both companies have restrictions on the hardware that can be put into a netbook. Manufacturers who don't follow the rules miss out of preferential pricing deals which essentially prices them out of the market.
The only real hope for $100 netbooks is ARM + Linux. You can bet your life that Intel and Microsoft will do everything possible to derail the ARM train.
"Liechtenstein is the world's largest producer of sausage casings, potassium storage units, and false teeth."
The only real hope for $100 netbooks is ARM + Linux. You can bet your life that Intel and Microsoft will do everything possible to derail the ARM train.
This is true.
And the other side of the argument should also make note of 3D videos and increasingly realistic games which will no doubt require further development of chips and video hardware. I imagine that computers will continue to evolve and draw excited Wows from the audience of tech geeks.
But we are still definitely on the cusp of a vast plateau. Laptops as we currently know them are about to become something very different. Laptop guts from 5 years ago looked very much like those of today. That's about to change dramatically, and that change will have an unpredictable ripple effect.
Heck, that by itself is rather exciting, now that I think about it!
-FL
I recently replaced my HP48g with an HP50g and have no significant complaints. Even better, it takes 4 x AAA instead of the 48s 3 x AAA.