Joined: Aug 13, 2004 Posts: 321 Location: Maysville, KY
Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 6:14 pm Post subject: micro linux laptops and devices
Dell announced and has delivered on their promise to offer Ubuntu on its line of laptops and desktops. Lenovo (ThinkPads...previously by IBM) announced plans to also release laptops with Novell Suse. Both of these decisions are overall good for linux since these are major hardware distributors. However, I was reading the Lenovo release announcement today and got a little pissed off to say the least.
First of all, I have some sentimental value to thinkpad notebooks.....having owned 2 in the past (both by IBM). I was really looking forward to lenovo releasing laptops with linux preinstalled. However, in the release announcement I read about the upcoming January 14 release day, was this "The starting price for this system will be $949, $20 less than the same laptop with Vista Home Premium"
Did I miss something here? Lets have a look at some figures:
Microsoft Vista Home Premium Retail Price: $239 (without any microsoft support )
Novell Suse Linux Retail Price: $50 (includes 1 year of support) or $125 (3 years of support)
Looking at the above figures, this same hardware configuration has a retail price of between $114 - $189 savings by selecting Linux......then how is there only a $20 overall savings?? I will tell you......thieves!!!!!! Its going in Lenovo's pockets!!!!!!!
I understand they get a volume licensing for vista, but what do their licenses actually cost per system from Microsoft??
Either way, this is what I will do....I bought a cheap dual-core amd 64 HP laptop for about $800 with Windows Vista Premium which I then erased and installed a free edition of Sabayon Linux. I also upgraded to 2GB of memory and my costs were still less than the Lenovo laptop........and I am damn happy with it so far and it even has a much better Nvidia graphics card in it.
I would be interested in reviewing any linux laptops or desktops that are massed produced for businesses....especially from Dell, HP, Lenovo or these which are targeted more for home users:
Joined: Aug 13, 2004 Posts: 321 Location: Maysville, KY
Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 9:03 pm Post subject:
I think I am going to use some of my college money to get the Asus Eee mentioned above and also another hardware toy to replace my zaurus sl-5500 pda. This will be the Nokia n800 or the N810 (I can't decide if I want to pay $200 more for the cost of the 810 which really only includes a sliding keyboard and built-in gps and 1 less micro slot -- the n800 can use 2 x 8gb cards while the n810 can only use 1 x 8gb card - however, the n800 can add on a gps unit.....so maybe the n800 is the way better deal).
I might also add that the reason the Nokia n800/n810 is so appealing is that it can do all the things my current pda does.....which I use primarily (read....entirely) for network auditing in a very small and inconspicuous package that fits in your pocket....something the Asus Eee won't do.
Here is what I am wanting to get:
Asus Eee - 8GB Unit - it runs Xandros Linux - people are getting these, but I cant find anyone local or even amazon.com doesn't have them listed -- they have the 2G/4G and 4G-Galaxy models in stock.
Nokia n800 (retail $299 street price $229 ) or n810 (retail ? street price $421) runs linux that has the SDK available for it - can run Ubuntu (meaning, it can probably also run other 'nix OS's) - circuit city in cincinnati, ohio has both of these in stock but amazon.com has better prices.
Here is a picture I am borrowing from Ultramobilegeek.com (link goes to side by side shootout article) which shows the Asus Eee behind the mans hand while the Nokia n810 is in the mans hand. I might add the Asus Eee has a 7 inch screen, so both a very, very small.
Joined: Aug 13, 2004 Posts: 321 Location: Maysville, KY
Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2008 12:20 am Post subject:
Because I have added so much to this thread about the Eee, maybe I should change the topic??? Anyways, I found this ultimate Eee upgrade guide. You won't believe what this guy has done to his:
2 x additional usb hubs
gps with antenna
bluetooth
card reader
flash drive
power switches to control all add-on components
wifi a/b//g/n
fm transmitter
modem
and more planned. This is why I love linux so much.....you can not only hack software, but hardware too (hack in the sense of modifications.........and well, technically the other way too).
Differences between the 700 and 900 series include 20GB storage and a larger screen 8.9" screen which allows a 1024 x 600 resolution. Ships stock with Xandros linux - many others available: http://www.eeeuser.com
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