Why would we want even more people on the net? It's bad enough as is. And you want to bring it to an even lower class of people?
More people means the net is more powerful, and can better affect changes (for good and bad). On the personal note, it also means I don't have to pay so much long distance.
class is a four-letter word, the way you wield it. I'm sure with sufficient research, I can find someone who would object to your demographic being given access to the net as well, for reasons of race, creed, gender, beliefs, or even class.
Fortunately, the net tends to route around prejudice. Remember, "On the net, no one knows you're a dog."
Rathead: No flame intended, but what's wrong with the CD-ROM they include (It's a Samsung 24x on my box). Seems to work just fine for me.
question about eMachines
on
The $299 PC
·
· Score: 1
<DeNiro> Are you talking t'me? </Deniro>
I have an eTower 333c and it runs linux fine. Here's a list of possible gotchas, depending on your perspective on things.
Need a new modem to replace the LoseModem.
It only has 1 serial port, so with an external modem, that's it.
It only has 3 slots (1 ISA, 1 PCI, and 1 ISA/PCI), so it's a touch cramped.
I didn't try 4Front Tech's OSS, though the list says they support the Crystal CS4235 chip. I just plugged in an old SB16, taking up the ISA slot.
It has only 1 5.25" drive bay, though thankfully it's externally accessible.
RedHat 5.1 (and I understand 5.2) ship with XFree86 3.3.2 which doesn't support the ATI Rage IIc onboard. You need XFree86 3.3.1 (or maybe a commercial X server) to support it.
Lest I seem completely down on the box, here's the good I have to say about it:
It's up. I have it running the SVGA driver, and it works fine, and fast.
It's cheap. Figure $20 for the SB16, another $20 for a 33.6, and $50 for a monitor, and we're still talking under $600 for a great box.
It's good enough. 32MB of RAM is fine for me. So is 2GB of HD (I decided to dedicate the other 1GB to some other OS when I heard that eMachines was only refunding $25 for it.) Anyhow, there's still that free drive bay, and HD prices have hit rock bottom and started digging.
Do I recommend it unconditionally? No. Do I think I got my money's worth? Hell, yeah. Will it work for you? YMMV.
I have their Cyrix 333 eMachine, and it's great with linux. Not that the average intended buyer is a open-source gearhead, but this is in re: Chris H.'s remark that linux runs well on Cyrix. Could it be a phoneme thing? =)
My only complaints are that I can't get their (eMachine) on board audio to work at all, and I can't get their Rage IIc to run with the XF_M64 driver. It works fine with the SVGA, so I'm happy.
No CD-ROM drive. Check out this article from News.com. Only the next higher models have CD drives. To Microworkz's credit, the do include the following: 56K modem, sound, keyboard, and mouse. Anyone know how much memory they include for video, or is it a memory-sharing scheme?
Lastly, on the monitor debate, I'd say that the salesperson who moves this product had better inform the buyer that it doesn't come with a monitor, else s/he's going to have to do a refund in a few days, and no salesperson wants to do that.
Slashdot Mirror
Fortunately, the net tends to route around prejudice. Remember, "On the net, no one knows you're a dog."
Rathead:
No flame intended, but what's wrong with the CD-ROM they include (It's a Samsung 24x on my box). Seems to work just fine for me.
I have an eTower 333c and it runs linux fine. Here's a list of possible gotchas, depending on your perspective on things.
Lest I seem completely down on the box, here's the good I have to say about it:
Do I recommend it unconditionally? No. Do I think I got my money's worth? Hell, yeah. Will it work for you? YMMV.
My only complaints are that I can't get their (eMachine) on board audio to work at all, and I can't get their Rage IIc to run with the XF_M64 driver. It works fine with the SVGA, so I'm happy.
Lastly, on the monitor debate, I'd say that the salesperson who moves this product had better inform the buyer that it doesn't come with a monitor, else s/he's going to have to do a refund in a few days, and no salesperson wants to do that.