Litebook Launches A $249 Linux Laptop (zdnet.com)

An anonymous reader writes: It's "like a Chromebook for Linux users on a budget," reports ZDNet. The new 2.9-pound Litebook uses Intel's Celeron N3150 processor and ships with a 14.1-inch display and a 512-gigabyte hard drive with full HD resolution (1,920 x 1,080). For $20 more they'll throw in a 32-gigabyte SSD to speed up your boot time. "Unlike Windows laptops, Litebooks are highly optimized, come without performance hogging bloatware, [are] designed to ensure your privacy, and are entirely free of malware and viruses," writes the company's web site. They also add that their new devices "are affordable, customizable, and are backwards compatible with Windows software."

Comments

Re:I wih I'd known two years ago.

[Anonymous Coward]

I did something very similar. It looks nice and I get some cred from my friends for being hardcore techy. Every once in a while I dust it off to make sure it still boots since it doesn't run any of the apps I need to use in my day to day job.

Re:What kind of budget?

[tepples]

The breakthrough is that you can run applications other than a web browser. To do so on a Chromebook requires putting it into developer mode. And once you've done that, anybody who turns it on can wipe the drive by pressing Space then Enter within 30 seconds of turning it on, causing you to lose all work that hasn't been backed up yet as well as the use of the device until you can reload your developer mode distribution. You can skip the 30-second interstitial by pressing Ctrl+D, but someone else who turns it on doesn't know that.