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First Laptop With Full-Sized Solar Panels Will Run On Ubuntu
iwritethings writes "The Sol, a rugged-looking laptop with built-in foldable solar panels is designed for use in the military, education and developing countries where electricity is scarce. The Canada-based makers behind the Sol claim that the device can run directly off solar energy or can harness the sun's rays to charge the laptop's battery in under two hours. Once fully charged, the battery is expected to last between eight and 10 hours. While the concept of solar charging gadgets isn't new, this type of battery life is unprecedented. There's no word on when Sol will launch, but its headed to Ghana first, and it will run Ubuntu Linux."
Hope it comes with a matte screen. A glossy screen would be unusable out in the sun.
A separate set of solar panels could be used to power / charge things other than a laptop, and a set of solar panels connected by a cable would let you sit in the cool shade while using the laptop during the day, rather than having to sit out in the sun (where it's hot and you can't see the screen).
Assuming it's real, which I have some doubts about - a couple of square feet of solar panels provides enough power to drive four or five laptops?
just looking at the images broke my bullshit-o-meter
I WANT ONE! :) :) :)
So instead of helping fix the corrupt government, environmental problems, and industrial chain problems we're going to give third world people these so they can run internet scams and probably try to turn it into a bomb. Great idea.
Education is the key to fixing that kind of crap. Getting computers capable of connecting to the internet to everyone will help. One of the reasons it was so easy to keep people living in serfdom, was because people didn't know any better. Teach people that there is a better way to live by showing them, not only showing the how and you (I know it sounds jingoistic) set free. There is a reason despots and dictators move to control the media/radio/television stations when they start their coup. To control information is to control the people. Getting computers and internet connections to everyone short circuits that whole big pile of bullshit.
-- I ignore anonymous replies to my comments and postings.
It's going in my emergency bag. Looks like a perfect emergency and/or post-apocalyptic laptop.
That seems a bit more exciting then the whole solar power thing, but I suppose that's cool too.
For just $350, you can buy a laptop with implausible capabilities at an improbable price point! But does it clean with the power of lemon?
Yes. Yes it does.
Leave it to an African company to understand, and try to get it as right as they can.
Living off the grid is not easy.
In the tropics the sun shines hard. Solar charging is a no brainer.
Fortunately I only live off the grid for a week or 3 when I'm doing interesting travel.
$350 each? $400 for the "Marine" model. Let me guess. That one is a solar powered laptop that is water resistant to 2000m, right? This looks like some sort of elaborate scam... something high quality and innovative for the same price as a Walmart laptop... Hm. And seriously, Intel GMA gfx? Ah well, guess that's one way to save power. Nice web page though. Love the parallax scrolling and the elephant. :P
Anyways here's some doubt to chew on:
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/163184-sol-the-350-solar-powered-rugged-ubuntu-laptop-that-wont-be-usable-in-the-sun
I don't like their website design, I find it annoying to navigate. :P
http://solaptop.com/en/products/laptops/
System
CPU: Intel Atom D2500 1.86 GHz Duo Core, Intel 945GSE + ICH7M
HDD: Seagate 2.5” SATA HDD 320GB
RAM: Kingston 2-4GB DDRIII SDRAM (Options Available)
Graphics: 1080p HD Vide, Built-In Intel GMA3600 Graphics
Battery Operating Time: 8 - 10 hours
I/O
Display: 13.3" LCD, WXGA, 1366 x 768
Camera: 3MP
Audio: Realtek ALC661 HD Audio, Built-in 2 Speakers | Internal mic + 1/8” input
3 USB2.0, Headphone jack, HDMI, LAN(10/100), Card reader (SD/MS/MMC)
Wireless
Modem: 3G/4G World/multimode LTE
GPS: gpsOne Gen8A
WiFi: MIMO 802.11b/gn (2.4/5GHz)
Bluetooth: Integrated Digital Core BT4.0
Every time a cloud goes over you're going to loose your work, or is your work in the cloud?
Since power usage from laptops and power output from panels that size have been converging if this isn't real I'm sure something along these lines will be happening soon.
Yes, that's the 1980 onwards solution, maybe with bigger panels, but this thing is about it being more convenient, like having an internal disk drive instead of a USB one. I'm assuming the usage pattern is to stick the thing in the sun when you are not using it to charge up the battery and to run it off battery in the shade when in use.
*Bathysphere not included
Last time I checked, software (i.e. the OS) ran on the hardware, not the other way around.
And if this thing is just a solar charger - admittedly a pretty cool one - where's the linux tie-in? My USB charger works with my phone (that runs on Android*, incidentally). Does that make it big Android news?
* yes, I see what I did. wonder why...
Solar panels come in many sizes,so how big is a full sized one? Big enough to cover the roof of your house? A football field?
Does the solar power industry have a standard definition of what full size is?
Pretty sure that Ubuntu will run on the laptop. The laptop will run on the Sun.
Tell me when It can play Team Foretress 2 and other games at a good framerate, or encode videos, or run some VM's
solar panels are probably heavy. thats a lot of extra weight to have to carry around, and then its a device that only works at its best when the sun is shining and its really hot outside, plus it generates more head when you use it. and forget about working in the shade; thats out. if this is for military application, i'd hate to be the guy who has to carry and use this thing. i'd rather be the guy who carrys the M60. probably equally as heavy, and a lot more fun!
Samsung NC215s is the world's first solar laptop way back in 2011.
It's on Amazon with real reviews and here's a customer unboxing video
Article mentions the NC215s but claims it didn't have a 10 hour battery life while this review says the NC215s did have a 10 hour battery life... not that it really matters if the laptop can run on sunlight.... unless you're visiting the Arctic I suppose
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
Apple's PowerBook 1400 had a removable book cover style lid so you could put in pretty pictures etc. A company called Keep It Simple Systems made a solar panel that slipped right in. (TidBITS article here). Here's a quote from MacFormat magazine describing it (source):
The PowerCover is especially neat because it fits into the BookCover slot on PowerBook 1400s, so you can leave it on more or less permanently. This will extend the battery life by around 35% (the PowerCover is, after all, a bit smaller than the Mercury II). KISS claims you can expect its products to give you up to 20 years of free energy. An extreme example of these devices’ usefulness is that of Ralph Harvey, a research scientist who uses a solar charger on his PowerBook in the Antarctic where power’s clearly at a premium. [...]
When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
If the article said that it would run Linux, I would take it seriously. But when it says Ubuntu, I just read Shuttleworth self-aggrandizement.
Props for everything except for choice of CPU and thus GPU; Intel D2500 atoms don't have the usual Intel graphics, but rather rely on PowerVR chipset, which isn't so well supported. I'm even surprised they can actually have Ubuntu on it; good luck trying it with any other distros, or at least, painlessly. Perhaps GMA3600 is a lot better supported? At least it sin't GMA500, which has complete dog support for anything.
the game
and they focus on a touchpad, brilliant!
though not as brilliant as a glossy screen on a solar powered laptop
I'd buy one today if it wasn't running Ubuntu.
No way I'm leaving that under the Texas sun.
Should be: "First Laptop With Full-Sized Solar Panels Will Run On Sunlight"
This is the Aran Benjo computer. I see a jerkass giant robot pilot surrounded by pretty girls using this PC. The only proble is that it will boot only at the end of episode, just in time to control the final superweapon and destroy the cyborg of the week.
(stupid filter has no sense of humor)
(stupid filter has no sense of humor)
(stupid filter has no sense of humor)
(stupid filter has no sense of humor)
I'm from (the country of) South Africa, which seems to be somewhat disconnected from the rest of Africa, but not enough when it gets to politics and such.
Although most of it is south of the tropic of Capricorn, thus not completely sweltering equator-style heat, it can get pretty hot for most of the summer daylight hours. You do NOT necessarily want to sit outdoors and work on your computer. (The medical community is aware of the fact that people often suffer from a Vitamin D deficiency, assumed to be directly as a result of this.) In winter, we have glorious sunny days due to the fact that rainfall season is summer for the largest part of the country, so there is hardly any cloud cover. However, temperatures can go close to 0C, or at least below 10C, in winter, so you go outside mostly dressed quite warmly. If it's windy, it can easily become biting and unpleasant.
Beside that, you need to pay attention to the screen. Using laptops outside even on slightly overcast days is night impossible. If your backlight can't outcompete the sunshine (probably not on solar-charged batteries), you better have a transflexive screen.
Leaving a computer outside (unattended) to charge while you take shelter inside, can also be problematic. There is an African word, Ubuntu, which in practice often gets translated to "You are not allowed to have (a computer or other item of value) while I don't have one. I think I will remedy the imbalance by taking this one." How ironic that the said computer will run an OS by that name.
Awesome! We get a laptop that not only has one, but two technologies that are always promised to work right 5-10 years away. Now you can really stick it to those regular computer AND windows people. Showing them how to be subpar twice with one device.
Two batteries and a separate solar charger.
This would be great for those long flights I'm on that don't have AC outlets to plug my laptop in to.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
But will it run Crysis?
There have been many laptops that can be made to run for 8+ hours. They are harder to find these days with the rise of multi-core and SUV-tops but there was a time when you could easily get an underclocked Pentium M to run on an extended battery for a long time.
I am becoming gerund, destroyer of verbs.
Nobody's worried about tan rectangles on tomorrow's supermodels?
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
Seems like an obvious point was missed... this laptop charges wirelessly. Wireless power is here! Woot!
How many people do you see using laptops while they're sitting out in the sun, not many. In developing countries where they lack electricity I don't think you will find many laptop users sitting out either for fear of being robbed, an no I am not stereotyping, this is a fact. What third-world countries need, is electricity and running water, before they start using laptops.
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nothing else would be appropriate. the news is about the batteries. congratulations