Experiencing Linux, on a $150.00 - $200.00 Laptop
That's what I'd like to do. I'm not financially prepared to shell out over $1,000 for any laptop; Mac or Windows. Then I saw two products that peaked my interest. Not only in price, but what was the OS...Linux.
What sparked this current trend is the One Laptop Per Child movement. Since it seems to have been a success, they will be offering it to the general public soon. So it would be obvious that other companies will join the market for small, cheap laptops and with Linux on them. I think Linux will be taking a major jump into the mainstream and I want to get my take on it this way too.
Another reason I am looking for a cheap alternative is that I also want to get a good digital camera to be it's companion when I'm mobile. I want to get into photography again. So besides emailing and surfing the web, I want to dabble with photos and graphics on it too.
So here are two that interest me.
Asus Eee PC 701 Laptop approx. $200.00
Display：7"
CPU & Chipset: Intel mobile CPU & chipset
OS: Linux/ Microsoft Windows XP compatible
Communication: 10/100 Mbps Ethernet; 56K modem
WLAN: WiFi 802.11b/g
Graphic: Intel UMA
Memory: 512MB, DDR2-400
Storage: 4/ 8/ 16GB Flash
Webcam: 300K pixel video camera
Audio: Hi-Definition Audio CODEC; Built-in stereo speaker; Built-in microphone
Battery Life: 3hrs (4 cells: 5200mAh, 2S2P)
Dimension & Weight: 22.5 x 16.5 x 2.1~3.5cm, 0.89kg
Asus Eee PC hands-on review with pics and specs.
Asus Eee PC 701 News Video
The $299 version may also be a 10" screen model. But I'm looking for something small (and soon as possible) and if I'm only going to be surfing the web and viewing editing photos, it'll do.
--------------------------
Medison Celebrity Laptop approx $150.00
CPU - Intel® Celeron® M Processor 370 (1.5 GHz, 90nm, FSB400, 1 MB L2 cache, uPGA478)
DISPLAY - 14.0" WXGA (1280x768) TFT
HARD DRIVE - 40 GB
DIMENSION - 333(W) x 243(D) x 24/33.(H)mm (front/back), 2.2Kg with 6 cells Lithium-lion battery\t
MEMORY - 64-bit wide DDR data channel, One 200-pin SODIMM socket, supporting DDR 333/400, 256 MB Expandable up to 1GB, based on SODIMM Modules
STORAGE - One changeable 2.5" 9.5mm(H) HDD, Supporting Master mode IDE ATA-33/66/100/133 (Ultra DMA), One changeable 12.7mm(H) CD/DVD Combo
VIDEO CONTROLLER - VIA PN800 integration, Shared Memory Architecture up to 64MB, 128 bit 3D graphic engine, Support analog monitor pixel resolution up to 1920x1400, Support two displays dual view
KEYBOARD - A4 size keyboard, Built-in Touchpad with scrolling function
SOUND SYSTEM - AC'97 2.2 Compliant Interface, 3D stereo enhanced sound system, Sound-Blaster PROTM Compatible, S/PDIF Digital output (5.1 CH), 1x Built-in Microphone, 2x Built-in Speakers
I/O PORTS - 3x USB 2.0 ports, 1x External CRT monitor output, 1x Headphone jack, 1x Microphone jack, 1x S/PDIF output jack, 1x RJ-45 port for LAN, 1x Line-in jack, 1x DC-In jack
PCMCIA - 1x Type II PCMCIA socket
COMMUNICATION - 10/100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet on board, 802.11g MiniPCI Wireless LAN
POWER - Full Range 65W AC adapter - AC input 100~240V, 47~63Hz, DC output 20V, 3.25A, Removable 6-cell Smart Li-ion battery pack, 4000/4400mAh
SECURITY - Kensington® Lock
With all those features, you have to think this is a scam. $150.00 for a laptop?! Well, I did research on this model and some sites have ordered the laptop and are waiting for them to review.
A Swedish news site has an article on it. In Swedish...
I will hold on until I hear from them to see how they review this model. But what a feature set for a $150.00 laptop. This would be my immediate second choice for a laptop.
What does anyone here think? My other question is Linux, will it be a major learning curve or with my 15 year experience and 10 year experience with Windows and Mac OS help me through the rough spots?
What sparked this current trend is the One Laptop Per Child movement. Since it seems to have been a success, they will be offering it to the general public soon. So it would be obvious that other companies will join the market for small, cheap laptops and with Linux on them. I think Linux will be taking a major jump into the mainstream and I want to get my take on it this way too.
Another reason I am looking for a cheap alternative is that I also want to get a good digital camera to be it's companion when I'm mobile. I want to get into photography again. So besides emailing and surfing the web, I want to dabble with photos and graphics on it too.
So here are two that interest me.
Asus Eee PC 701 Laptop approx. $200.00
Display：7"
CPU & Chipset: Intel mobile CPU & chipset
OS: Linux/ Microsoft Windows XP compatible
Communication: 10/100 Mbps Ethernet; 56K modem
WLAN: WiFi 802.11b/g
Graphic: Intel UMA
Memory: 512MB, DDR2-400
Storage: 4/ 8/ 16GB Flash
Webcam: 300K pixel video camera
Audio: Hi-Definition Audio CODEC; Built-in stereo speaker; Built-in microphone
Battery Life: 3hrs (4 cells: 5200mAh, 2S2P)
Dimension & Weight: 22.5 x 16.5 x 2.1~3.5cm, 0.89kg
Asus Eee PC hands-on review with pics and specs.
Asus Eee PC 701 News Video
Quote:
There will be at least two different models of the Eee PC, with the $199 version using a 4GB flash hard drive and the $299 version using a 8GB drive.
There will be at least two different models of the Eee PC, with the $199 version using a 4GB flash hard drive and the $299 version using a 8GB drive.
The $299 version may also be a 10" screen model. But I'm looking for something small (and soon as possible) and if I'm only going to be surfing the web and viewing editing photos, it'll do.
--------------------------
Medison Celebrity Laptop approx $150.00
CPU - Intel® Celeron® M Processor 370 (1.5 GHz, 90nm, FSB400, 1 MB L2 cache, uPGA478)
DISPLAY - 14.0" WXGA (1280x768) TFT
HARD DRIVE - 40 GB
DIMENSION - 333(W) x 243(D) x 24/33.(H)mm (front/back), 2.2Kg with 6 cells Lithium-lion battery\t
MEMORY - 64-bit wide DDR data channel, One 200-pin SODIMM socket, supporting DDR 333/400, 256 MB Expandable up to 1GB, based on SODIMM Modules
STORAGE - One changeable 2.5" 9.5mm(H) HDD, Supporting Master mode IDE ATA-33/66/100/133 (Ultra DMA), One changeable 12.7mm(H) CD/DVD Combo
VIDEO CONTROLLER - VIA PN800 integration, Shared Memory Architecture up to 64MB, 128 bit 3D graphic engine, Support analog monitor pixel resolution up to 1920x1400, Support two displays dual view
KEYBOARD - A4 size keyboard, Built-in Touchpad with scrolling function
SOUND SYSTEM - AC'97 2.2 Compliant Interface, 3D stereo enhanced sound system, Sound-Blaster PROTM Compatible, S/PDIF Digital output (5.1 CH), 1x Built-in Microphone, 2x Built-in Speakers
I/O PORTS - 3x USB 2.0 ports, 1x External CRT monitor output, 1x Headphone jack, 1x Microphone jack, 1x S/PDIF output jack, 1x RJ-45 port for LAN, 1x Line-in jack, 1x DC-In jack
PCMCIA - 1x Type II PCMCIA socket
COMMUNICATION - 10/100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet on board, 802.11g MiniPCI Wireless LAN
POWER - Full Range 65W AC adapter - AC input 100~240V, 47~63Hz, DC output 20V, 3.25A, Removable 6-cell Smart Li-ion battery pack, 4000/4400mAh
SECURITY - Kensington® Lock
With all those features, you have to think this is a scam. $150.00 for a laptop?! Well, I did research on this model and some sites have ordered the laptop and are waiting for them to review.
A Swedish news site has an article on it. In Swedish...
I will hold on until I hear from them to see how they review this model. But what a feature set for a $150.00 laptop. This would be my immediate second choice for a laptop.
What does anyone here think? My other question is Linux, will it be a major learning curve or with my 15 year experience and 10 year experience with Windows and Mac OS help me through the rough spots?
Comments
What sparked this current trend is the One Laptop Per Child movement. Since it seems to have been a success,
Yep, now poor people have access to porn too it seems:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/booby-tra...ids-280715.php
Ah, it won't be long until ebay and our inboxes are flooded with underage scammers.
Asus Eee PC 701 Laptop approx. $200.00
I love small gadgets like that. At that price, I'd almost be tempted to buy one myself even though I wouldn't use one that much. It would make for some light entertainment during a power cut.
Medison Celebrity Laptop approx $150.00
That one does look more practical though and has an optical drive. The price does look a bit low but I could see someone being able to hit that price point with the right components.
For occasional use and great portability, I'd go with the smaller Asus. For a practical laptop that you'd use a lot, I'd go with the Medison.
What does anyone here think? My other question is Linux, will it be a major learning curve or with my 15 year experience and 10 year experience with Windows and Mac OS help me through the rough spots?
Linux isn't bad with some of the latest distros. The interface is getting better. The biggest issue I have with it is that there's not much useful software for it at all. Device support is poor (though not the fault of Linux really). If you managed to get it to work well with the devices you needed then I think it would a very cool little machine. Plus you can use WINE or emulation software to run some Windows stuff - with the 8GB or 16GB drive a 2GB XP install would be fine.
Even though Linux is a unix based system like OS X, I'm pretty sure I'd use Windows before I used Linux. If it had Linux by default, I'd likely just wipe the drive and put XP on there.
It's not that it's a bad system it's just that XP is not really that bad a system either and it has so much more support.
Linux isn't bad with some of the latest distros. The interface is getting better. The biggest issue I have with it is that there's not much useful software for it at all. Device support is poor (though not the fault of Linux really). If you managed to get it to work well with the devices you needed then I think it would a very cool little machine. Plus you can use WINE or emulation software to run some Windows stuff - with the 8GB or 16GB drive a 2GB XP install would be fine.
Even though Linux is a unix based system like OS X, I'm pretty sure I'd use Windows before I used Linux. If it had Linux by default, I'd likely just wipe the drive and put XP on there.
It's not that it's a bad system it's just that XP is not really that bad a system either and it has so much more support.
Thanks for replying. I'm seriously looking at the Asus Eee PC 701 models. With a digital camera, a portable USB flash drive to back up and exchange files and a wireless mode for surfing in the coffee shop would be awesome. I would only need an image editor and though Gimp would be the first choice (free) Pixel Image Editor is coming along fine and the beta is only $38.00.
I don't think I'll have major learning curve issues with Linux. I have a few resources out on the web to help out.
I think I've made my choice. But I'll see what reviews come out on the Medison Celebrity in the next month to see if it's a real deal or bogus.
Still would like to hear from anyone else on these or maybe other products like them.