Posted on 02/02/2008 3:14:38 AM PST by Halfmanhalfamazing
WHAT’S the best-selling notebook computer on Amazon.com?
If you guessed the new MacBook Air, guess again.
Five of the 10 best-selling notebooks, including the top three models this weekend do not run Windows or Mac OS X. In fact, they are different models of the same diminutive notebook the Asus Eee PC—that runs on Linux.
The significance of this development is easy to miss, particularly if you have your head buried in the Windows or Mac OS X world. (The other five models on Amazon’s list over the weekend were versions of the MacBook; there were no Windows machines in the top 10.) For the first time, a Linux-based consumer product is making waves, not just among geeks but among buyers.
(Excerpt) Read more at manilastandardtoday.com ...
Although I'm saddened to hear that the EeePC doesn't include the fantastically simple Synaptic program for software installation.
A little bit on phones, a little bit on desktops, and a little bit on laptops. Give it a year or three and people will be wondering "where did this linux thing come from all of a sudden?"
You get up way too early on Saturday mornings!
I would short MSFT.
:-)
This is my first saturday to get up this early, but it’s gonna be regular from now on.
Job changes. Working on maintaining my new body clock.
Huh?
Sell your stock in Microsoft.
I have been putting off purchasing a laptop for myself literally for years, because I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for, which was something very light and portable, and priced reasonably. Plus I was not looking forward to Vista.
This little computer has all that...weighs barely 2 pounds and fits easily in my backpack with all my other junk, it only set me back $400, and it runs a customized version of Xandros linux, which actually works great.
It's easy to customize yourself as well. In fact, I managed to mess something up this morning, and couldn't get firefox to run. Just power it off, power it back on, hit F9 while it's booting, choose 'restore defaults', and it boots back to the out-of-the-box state!
. . . The other five models on Amazon’s list over the weekend were versions of the MacBook; there were no Windows machines in the top 10. For the first time, a Linux-based consumer product is making waves, not just among geeks but among buyers.
Back when the NextStep was just a gleam in his eye, Steve Jobs predicted that Unix was the future. Now all the top ten selling notebooks are running Unix.OSX transitioned the Mac to Unix, now in the Leopard (10.5) version fully certified UNIX 03. And with its ability to function as a Windows PC as well, the Mac provides another transition path from Windows to Unix, more fully even than Linux.
Ubuntu is developing a “Mobile” Linux platform, right now. The first Alpha is said to be ready by the end of this month.
Tablet PC, UMPC, PDA, Pocket PC, etc, etc.
Cool! I know ten or so people that are waiting for theirs to come.
Why don’t you do a review for us, with specs and pics and capabilities?
Hah! I don’t own any stock currently.
But I wouldn’t count on MS losing their majority any time soon.
Well, I'm not much of a reviewer, but here's my go at it..
Specs:
900 MHz Intel Celeron M ULV 353 CPU (running at 630 MHz)
4GB solid state drive
512Mb DDR RAM
7” diagonal WVGA 800 X 480 LCD screen
Customized Xandros Linux OS
5200 mAh battery
external MMC(plus)/SD(HC) slot
3 USB2 slots
VGA D-SUB (up to 1600×1280) connector
Ethernet port
802.11b/g WiFi
headphone/microphone jacks
built-in speakers, microphone, and web camera
comes with an AC adapter and a carrying case
The whole thing, with battery, weighs 2 lbs
Here's the pros--
Boots fast (around 30 seconds or less); shuts down even faster (~15 sec.)
Easy interface, simple to navigate, well identified icons.
Comes with Office suite, multimedia suite, Skype, various other tools.
Wireless configuration is very simple, and has great reception.
Case feels sturdy and well built. Screen is sharp and bright, with brightness controls via function keys. Speaker mute and volume also controlled by function keys. Wireless can be switched off, to save battery life.
Have had no problem using a USB stick or SD card. I bought an LG external USB powered CD/DVD reader/writer, which was properly detected. I was able to watch a video DVD. Unit will boot off USB or SD.
Comes with a restore DVD which includes Windows XP drivers, should you ever want to install it (I don't know why you would...the default OS has every application you need).
Finally, what I don't like (most people complain about these):
The smallish screen will have you occasionally scrolling left and right to see an entire page (proper HTML and CSS will prevent this, webmasters!), and some dialog boxes with buttons on the bottom will fall off the bottom edge of the screen (use control + left mouse to drag the box up so you can get to them).
The squished keyboard is challenging until you get used to it (I'm getting there).
However...I can put up with these, because the size and weight of the unit is more important to me. It's small, light, fast, and does what I want (web browsing, email, editing documents, primarily). And the price was right.
Sure seems to me like you get more, for a lot less, than on a Mac Book Air. LOL
Does it have some mechanism for downloading and installing new software?
As an aside, I saw a 320GB SS drive today for only $1495.00! :)
Y’know, I’d really like to have one of these!
Really.
Me, too. But not at dat price! :)
If you switch to 'Advanced desktop' mode, you have Synaptic available to update and install software..
Thanks, I suspected it did, but saw posts that said otherwise.
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