Not enough RAM, not enough speed, screen not big enough, no carrying case, no wireless technology and I bet it's a brick with a short battery life and an extra charge for a warranty. In short, a toy for high school students but completely unsuitable for university requirements.
I was using an old Sony Vaio TR running Trinux and SuSE for many years for network engineering and security. But it's so old now I can't even upgrade the memory (Sony proprietary). And Sony wants to sell the (also proprietary) CD drive for a king's ransom.
Upgrade the memory another 128K and this machine *might* be a good alternative to buying an old laptop off eBay.
In short, a toy for high school students but completely unsuitable for university requirements.
And if it was a better machine, we could claim that it was a toy for university students, but completely unsuitable for CAD work. Then again, if it were even less powerful, we could claim that it was a toy for grade-schoolers, but completely unsuitable for high school requirements.
The press release clearly states that the machine is "perfect for use as a second or third home machine." Furthermore, it states, "The Balance notebook is the lowest-priced laptop currently on the market..." Does that sound like the perfect machine for a college freshman?
The machine is bullet-point and price competitive with Dell's Inspiron 1150, but contains much more software. Anyone buying a computer at Wal-Mart and expecting it to be a state-of-the-art machine needs to get a clue.
First of all, Linspire would not support most of the applications and games we already have.
Second, the slow processor and tiny screen would annoy most anyone.
I shudder at the thought of how many times I would get "fragged" on Unreal Tournament using this thing.
I have installed many flavors of Linux and other UX-based OS's. They were designed for business server-type apps - not laptops. While I use HPUX, Solaris, RedHat everyday and like the stability they provide at work, I don't want to run them at home. Maybe someday the "open-source" community will mimic Microsoft's useability enough that I would change my mind - but not until then.
Forget Linspire and go with an OS that supports 98% of the software you see on the shelf. And unless you want to squint at the screen all day, part with about $200 more and get something a bit bigger. Try Pricewatch.com.
If you are set on a slower CPU and small screen, Walmart is selling some of these for around $568 that have Windows XP Home installed. At least you can then avoid the Linux learning curve and compatibility issues.
You get what you pay for.
. . . just my 2.5 cents worth.
> In short, a toy for high school students
Right. Watch the rebates at Circuit City or CompUSA and you'll get a real machine for as low as $700.
I predict this machine will be an absolute flop and they'll bring out a Windows machine with a decent processor, RAM, screen and disk for about the same price within a year.
Buyer beware. I am less impressed with WalMart all the time.