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The $45 Windows Laptop
YokimaSun writes "The search for a cheap laptop has brought us news from India of a $10 laptop (which later turned out to be a hundred dollars). Today PC Gaming News has details of a laptop which is selling for a measly 45 dollars, what do you get for that, you get a netbook running windows embedded compact 7, 128 megs of ram, a via8505 processor and a 7 inch screen capable of 800x480 pixels resolution." I'm still waiting for my under $50 Macbook.
"I'm still waiting for my under $50 Macbook."
What is the point of this kind of trolling in article summaries, really?
Professionals can now work on the go ... a boost with the 128 MB RAM memory
Exactly what professional can work with such little RAM?
I don't even think you could connect to a VM properly with that...
What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
Go on craigslist and pick up one for 0-50 dollars. It will be no speed demon, but should be plenty to run a light weight distro or XP.
The VIA8505 SoC is a AWFUL chip. I have a tablet based one of these running Android and it SUCKS.
This is an eBay sale of a discontinued netbook.
As somebody pointed out, if you wanted a $50 netbook, they can look on Craigslist or eBay themselves.
Nothing new or interesting here,
myke
Mimetics Inc. Twitter
Someone should probably tell Intel; Their legal dept might be interested.
Finally had enough. Come see us over at https://soylentnews.org/
... but isn't Windows 7 Embedded Compact the new name for what used to be called (much more appropriately) WinCE?
In other words, this is an almost-useless piece of junk that runs a nearly dead operating system that is being dropped by MS in its next version.
I bought something very similar in the UK for about £30 a couple of years ago. It was useless then, it'll be useless now.
Cheap mobile devices like these (including cheap portable DVD players) save money by skimping on batteries and going with NiMH instead of Lithium Ion. I would be surprised if this netbook could run for two hours off of its batteries.
Better known as 318230.
I've got a "laptop" that's about 2 1/2 x 4 inches or so, runs Android, and doubles as a phone... Wait... It *IS* a phone!
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
WonderMedia WMwhatever processors are INCREDIBLY slow. I have a tablet powered by a WM8650, which is the improved version of he WM8505 the article talks about, and you're always waiting on the CPU to slowly do its thing - both on Android and Debian. It also has 256 megs of RAM, which is about a fourth of what you need for proper general computing nowadays. And this one has even less.
The WM8505 might be ok for embedded stuff, but as a CPU for general computing, especially with such little RAM and *especially* if it's running Windows, it's really worse than nothing - at least with nothing you go do something else, instead of twiddling your fingers while you wait for the damn thing to display a webpage or something.
Interesting, and inbelievably cheap - not just becasue of the Windows license fee; no idea how much they pay for that. It's Windows CE so linking to the normal Win7 retail prices doesn't make sense.
OS: Windows CE. Never worked with that, no idea on the interface. Should include a browser, assume IE. But what version for WinCE?
Storage: not mentioned. Is this a "true" netbook as in can only do web browsing and web apps? Price could imply no local storage indeed, other than for the embedded OS. The ebay listing has no details at all. They are selling, shipping US only.
Install other OS? Well if no external storage, good luck with that.
Install applications? No mention about this. No external storage could be an issue there.
Form factor looks like the EEEPC 701 series, that's not too bad. It has a higher screen resolution. I like the overall idea. I'm still regularly using that EEEPC, almost exclusively for web browsing. It's sitting on the dining table, quick to grab, small enough to not be in the way too much, light enough to move around with one hand.
Not only did they get the company wrong, it's not even x86 architecture. VIA 8505 is ARM-based. This isn't even including the fact that it runs Windows CE (aka Windows Embedded Compact), so standard Win32 programs wouldn't run on it, even if compiled for ARM.
I saw this same (or very similar) model on sale at the local CVS. One reason it's so cheap is that it doesn't run "Windows" in any meaningful sense. It runs an embedded-system OS that is called Windows, but isn't compatible with any existing Windows software. (Look for much more of this kind of confusion with the upcoming WinRT for ARM.) Furthermore, since this netbook doesn't have an x86 processor, it can't run the real version of Windows.
I bought one for $275 that has a 12 inch screen, full sized keyboard, and 1300x768 screen, and 64 bit CPU.
That's a laptop.
The only netbooks I see listed have tiny 1024x600 resolution, are 10 inch with reduced size keyboards
I thought one of the defining characteristics of a netbook was a smaller screen. But most of these newer 10" laptops appear to support 64-bit instructions.
See the problem is that Apple doesn't make a Mac for your needs and specs and price. They do sell millions to customers each quarter that fulfills their needs as some people want an Ultrabook. I would venture to say that few of them judge you while you judge them.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
If you're going to make a distinction between two product classes, you're going to need to tell us how you define the difference so that the debate doesn't collapse. As a first approximation, I define a laptop as a computer with a built-in keyboard suitable for touch typing and a screen that folds down to cover the keyboard when not in use, and I define a netbook as a laptop with a small screen.
The date is incorrect. The ebay auction referenced in the article was originally posted June 7, 2012.
Free unix account: freeshell.org
and utter crap. ARM class CPU is locked to windows CE. the specs if I recall are a 350mhz cpu, 128 mb of ram, 4-8 Gb storage, USB 1.1, and a useless 800x480 display. Utterly worthless. I tried researching instructions for installing linux, not easy. All for trash grade hardware. If you did want a slick arm based netbook try: https://www.genesi-usa.com/
a friend got a "netbook" with the same hardware, windows CE 6.0. a "Tec T-book". All software outdated, very few of it (wordpad, calculator and that's all), no apparent way to install software - you can browse web archives for old PDA software meant to run on resolutions below 320x240, but what to do with it?
then, the CPU is too slow for smooth playback of SD divx. you can probably play mp3, but on a lame version of windows media player, I prefer a winamp clone. Internet Explorer on it is like browsing with a 486 under windows 3.1. There's was a youtube app! but it was broken, hard-wired to how youtube was a few years ago, it couldn't load or display anything.
it's a total rip off and my friend had paid 79 euros for this. but interestingly, it has better connectivity that a macbook air : three USB, two audio jacks, SD and ethernet! purportedly you can install Android 1.x on it. too bad my buddy got it stolen, I would have tried to do it, and install busybox or something. it can be interesting for a machine only used to ssh in other machines.
now the best about it : it's incredibly light, solid state and fanless. its keyboard and LCD are standard quality - because they are no factories making terrible versions of them. so the display, helped by its small size looked excellent. So, it was both the worst computer ever and had something to it! I noticed a remotely similar computer : Efila MX smartbook, it's 189 euros but has 10", 800MHz ARM cortex, 3G modem, 512MB memory, 16GB flash, good keyboard. It looks awesome and thin, but you lose the ethernet port which is a tragedy.
And the price will come down another $10-20...
I have a full laptop. It weighs 5+ lbs. It has cheap plastic pieces that are falling off that I've taped back together. I can afford a new unibody Ultrabook if I wanted. I just don't want one because I'm cheap and my laptop will die before I replace it. Unlike you, I realize that my needs and wants != everyone else in the world. Why does it threaten you so much that other people choose differently than you? Someone wanting to buy Jimmy Choos does not hamper my ability to purchase New Balance sneakers.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Nobody would consider this heap a laptop.
It looks like they took the guts of a 7" tablet, moved the touchscreen to a touchpad, added a crap keyboard and Win7 Embedded(lol), and sold it for as little as physically possible.
128MB ram is abysmal. You can't get anything done with that, and even my Firefox routinely goes above that by almost double when working with a lot of sites at once, or streaming video, or using any sort of complex web app.
Good luck with that, bros. I'm not getting one.
If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits
I don't frankly care if something is 2 inches or 2.5 inches thick. Nor wether it has 800 resolution which I won't be using anyway. What I do care about is a floppy disk drive, plenty of serial ports and an a dial-up modem so I don't have to rely on shit dongles when in an office or at home.
Oh , but it doesn't have that.
Laptops in general are nothing more than vanity machines for people with more money than sense.
Mod me down fanboys, I care not and I have karma to burn.
64K? We had 32K, and most of that was reserved for other things so we couldn't actually use it.
And as for floppy disks! We used to dream of floppy disks! We had to plug our dad's cassette player into the computer to load software!
This thing can't run malware for the life of it, there's just not enough RAM :)
"The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
Can I have your stuff?
For what I need, I'm probably going to install Unix (FreeBSD or Linux) on it and be paying an extra $1000 or so primarily for a better trackpad and an easier to connect/disconnect power supply chord - and that is worth it to me.
I've just got to say, holy fuck!
I usually have a computer for 3 to 5 years; let's say four years on average. That's less than 70 cents a day. I use it for a fair bit of time every day, and I immediately appreciate a better trackpad (and regularly appreciate slot loading as opposed to tray loading DVD; forgot that annoyance point). I also am more likely to move to a better spot (more ergonomically wise) if there's no hassle with the power supply cord, and I'm less likely to get the machine damaged or trip from the power supply cord with the better connection.
All in all, it's worth 70 cents a day to me. If I was extremely money constrained in general, it might not be - but I have a comfortable income and having the computer I spend a lot of time on be comfortable to me is worth it.
Doubting the existence of evolution is like doubting the existence of China: It just shows that you're uninformed.