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InFocus's New Kangaroo: a Screenless $99 Windows 10 Portable PC (venturebeat.com)
An anonymous reader writes: InFocus today debuted the Kangaroo, a $99 Windows 10 portable PC that "goes anywhere and works with any screen." The term "mobile desktop" may seem like an oxymoron, but that really is the best description: Picture your typical desktop PC tower shrunk down to the size of a phablet sans screen; just like any desktop, you'll still need to connect a mouse, keyboard, and monitor.
People keep doing this sort of thing. IBM had Metacard, there was Oqo, and wasn't there a Palm device which was viewed as mostly a media storage device?
Why not go ahead and add a touch screen (and a stylus) so that one can use it w/o needing to cable up?
I use a Toshiba Encore 2 Write 10 as my main system in pretty much this way, connecting when I don't wish to use the touch screen / stylus to a full-size keyboard and monitor (fortunately, Toshiba provided an adapter for the single USB port which affords two connections, one for charging, one for devices).
The functionality I'd really like to see is this sort of thing done as an iPhone / iPod Touch sized unit ---- Apple could take their laptop, make the trackpad a removable unit which was exactly the size of an iPhone/iPod Touch, and one could replace the trackpad w/ the portable device which would then function as a customizable trackpad and which would load the user directory and backup the portable device.
Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
You should see my mobile basketball court. Well... it's just a ball really.
Does it run Linux ?
aaaaaaa
It's just like a NUC, or Compute Stick, or any of dozens of other micro PCs.
Wait, this one has a battery, but I'm not sure how much of a feature that is when you need an external monitor anyway. I guess it gets you through power hiccoughs?
How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
Just get a picoprojector if you can't wait to be somewhere with a screen.
Since it's a Windows one, you could always access it with your phone or tablet over Teamviewer or other remote methods.
My parents have a tiny little box like this. Why? Because they are getting old and won't be looking at a 10" screen and fiddle with microscopic virtual buttons or cramped keyboards 2mm deep. Huge monitor, full size keyboard and mouse but in terms of computing power their needs are practically non-existant. Sure it could be a laptop, but the lid would be closed 99.9% of the time so why bother.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
I take public transportation, so bulky and heavy workstation type laptops are not particularly desirable.
Right, so now you carry two tablets, one this kangaoo thing, the other a tablet so you can see what you're doing with it while on the bus. Very convenient.
Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
Or maybe some of us might want to buy one and Newegg is the only place that sells it right now?
That sounds really familiar.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Does it run Linux ?
I second this question; I'm done with Windows and Microsoft in general, and would rather not have a computer at all anymore than ever have Orwellian Windows 10.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
If you want to run Linux, buy something ARM-based, like Banana Pi or Raspberry Pi 2. There are quite descent boards, and they are much cheaper than $99.
I wouldn't expect many of those "other apps" to run terribly well on a $100 x86 PC. This is probably not something that will be a suitable gateway for all of those Windows legacy apps unless it's through running an RDP client.
A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
The $99 cost for this computer includes wifi, Bluetooth, a case, power supply, 4 hour battery, and 32 gig of storage. To similarly build up a Raspberry Pi would cost almost as much as this computer at $99.
Ken
Did you notice this is from Infocus? They are in the business of selling projectors, I think this is being viewed as a portable PowerPoint machine.
Ken
Anyone that wants a small computer to tuck in their projector bag for sales presentations.
Anyone that wants to setup a kiosk.
Anyone that wants to run Windows apps 'on' their iPad (includes software for iPad to act as keyboard/screen for this wifi/Bluetooth enabled computer).
Anyone that wants to embrace the idea of 'hot desks' in their office without buying scads of laptops.
Anyone that wants to put an inexpensive presentation system in a conference room (just add Bluetooth keyboard/mouse and connect to large flat panel/projector).
Ken
You didn't bother to read the product description, did you? The computer includes a microSD slot to increase storage, and it comes bundled with an iOS app that lets you control (screen, Keyboard, mouse) this computer wirelessly from your iPad... This computer could be in your carry-on luggage and you can access it in your seat below wirelessly.
Of course, increasing the battery life would require finding some way to provide this unit with an external power source, through it's micro USB port - I wonder if anyone sells USB batteries?
Ken
The GNU/Linux version is often more expensive, and I'm told this is for three reasons: lack of economies of scale, cost of handling returns from novices who end up buying the wrong thing, and the claim that the royalties paid by publishers of included trialware more than subsidize the royalty paid to Microsoft for Windows.
What kind of moron would want to buy something that runs Windows
Somebody who wants an affordable[1] PC with a multi-window window manager[2] and no prompt to wipe the drive every time it is turned on,[3] possibly running the occasional Windows app,[4] in a shape or size that System76 does not offer.
[1] Not a Mac
[2] Not a stock Android tablet
[3] Not a Chromebook with Crouton
[4] Not an ARM box, which can't run Wine
You can just replace the LCD screen with an LSD screen.
no but this does http://chimpbox.pclosusers.com...
http://chimpbox.us
That's not a great endorsement. The NetBurst architecture in the P4 is legendary for it's terrible performance per clock. While AMD focused in increasing performance per clock with the Athlon, Intel intended to increase performance through higher clock speeds. They thought NetBurst would scale up to 10GHz, but things didn't work out that way and AMD ended up beating Intel on every metric - overall performance, performance per clock, performance per watt, performance per dollar. The P4 was so bad that Intel went back to the P3 and designed the Core from there. Saying it offers the same performance as the worst Intel processor ever doesn't fill me with enthusiasm.
Anyone that wants a small computer to tuck in their projector bag for sales presentations.
I can already do this with my phone! The only thing needed in the bag is the adapter.
Anyone that wants to setup a kiosk.
RPi is cheaper and can do more.
Anyone that wants to run Windows apps 'on' their iPad (includes software for iPad to act as keyboard/screen for this wifi/Bluetooth enabled computer).
What windows apps would you want or need to run on your iPad that you couldn't get access to via something like CloudOn? What Windows apps would be needed to view or edit files on an iPad? Makes no sense to anyone that actually owns and uses an iPad. There are apps for that stuff already, way cheaper than a $99 POS.
Anyone that wants to embrace the idea of 'hot desks' in their office without buying scads of laptops.
Yeah, because that has worked out so well for the people that have already embraced that virtual office BS. It works for certain business units in certain circumstances. Besides, if you're doing "hot desks" then you're also likely to be doing a BYOD policy so you wouldn't be buying laptops for people anyway, if you're using the ultra lean model of office space usage.
Anyone that wants to put an inexpensive presentation system in a conference room (just add Bluetooth keyboard/mouse and connect to large flat panel/projector).
Again, RPi can do that, too. For less. Besides, if you're going to have heavy hitters in your conference room, a real machine is going to be needed anyway to support the graphics, memory and storage needs, or the presenter will have their own machine to plug in (which is the most frequent case in reality) so a machine in the room is superfluous.
This thing has no market except for gadget hoarders and really poor people that cannot afford a smartphone. It's doomed.
But why would you need the battery (just one more thing to swell up and explode) and why would you want all that bulk when you could just get one of these?
Rawr
As I understand it, an Atom CPU roughly matches the performance of a Pentium 4 CPU clock for clock. This means an old application that runs well on a P4 will also run well on an Atom.
Sad to say, I bought Atom based notebooks a total of three times, having failed to learn my lesson the first time. Disappointed every time despite claims the the effect that it's better this time, honest! The truth: low performing, desk melting, battery chewing junk that I regret owning. Thanks for the effort Intel, but there will be no fourth Atom attempt from me.
On the other hand, every ARM-based device I have (about 8 now) is a pleasure to use.
(...but I have a Pentium 4 based shoebox that is still going strong, go figure)
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
I see no indication the dock is not included in the $99 introductory offer, and the review I read on Venturebeat.com clearly indicates the dock is included...
Ken
This isn't a computer company, this is a projector company. Did no one else immediately think "Oh, they are going to build the dock into projectors, you have a conference room system in one piece that just needs a wireless keyboard/mouse/presentation remote."
The battery means the projector can be as small as a pico projector, with its own built in battery and you have a complete presentation system that fits easily in the briefcase with your sales literature and you are completely wireless.
Add a smartphone with hotspotting, you have complete connectivity (unless you live in the boonies where I live) with no other pieces required for your sales presentation, whether it is in a hotel room or the corner of a MacDonalds.
So yeah, all us geeks want to know how it would work in a beowulf cluster, but I think the real target is going to be non-geeks who really can benefit from not having to worry about whether the potential client has a projector with VGA or HDMI in the conference room.
In the longer view of things, if InFocus standardizes on this dock connector you can upgrade the computer or the projector one at a time. At this price you could even have computers dedicated to a specific presentation, swap the computer, the IT guys back at $bigCo set it up to auto run, you just plug in the computer with your presentation on it. Even easier than swapping out those itty bitty micro SD cards.
"Proximity to wonder has blunted our perception and appreciation of it" --Tim Hartnell in 'Exploring ARTIFICIAL INTELLI
I see no indication the dock is not included in the $99 introductory offer, and the review I read on Venturebeat.com clearly indicates the dock is included...
You better read the Newegg.com reviews because you're totally and completely wrong. No dock included at $99. And the $39 dock is "out of stock". LOL http://www.newegg.com/Product/...
Or, as I prefer, no OS at all? I don't want (or need) you to put an OS on my box. I can, and will, do that on my own. In fact, it's the first thing I do. If I want BSD then I'll put it on there. If I want Linux, I'll put that on there. If I want Windows, well... Let's not go that far, but you get the idea. I'm happy, capable, and willing to accept any risks and do my own software support, thanks. I don't need an OS installed, I can read the help files if needed. I don't need to have anything pre-configured, thanks, I'd prefer to customize it myself (and probably will) so you're not really saving me any time. I don't want "just works" out of the box. I want what I want to "just work" when I'm done with it.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
It's actually a $499 PC. The $99 final cost comes from budgeting $499 for the hardware and $-400 for forcing people to use Windows 10.