Wal-Mart debuts $498 Linux laptop

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CubaTBird

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Wow, that is cheap for a laptop. Wonder how popular it'll be though and how many people will buy it not realising that it doesn't come bundled with Windows!
 
OMFG A CD-ROM DRIVE!! 128MEGARBITES OF RAMEN?!?! WOW!!!!! :D

Has anyone here used a VIA processor? Do they suck? Are they amazing, even though no one knows about them? All I know is, they exist :confused:
 
this laptop is great for families who want to send their kids to college but don't have enough money for a laptop, but feel the need one.. :eek:
 
I've heard of via processors, I even have a via mobo in one of my pc's. I don't have any problem with it. Via also make some really small mobos for people who want to make really small computers

Here's a link to some via stuff
http://www.epiacenter.com/index.php
 
at least the hardware on this thing will probably hold up better than a powerbook :(


the hinge will probably even open without creaking...and the palm rests won't rust...
 
munkle said:
Wow, that is cheap for a laptop. Wonder how popular it'll be though and how many people will buy it not realising that it doesn't come bundled with Windows!
Click to expand...
Given how most of the desktop systems for Linux are designed to look and work like Windows, I don't guess this will matter much. Looks like the laptop in the pictures is running Linspire anyway, which is marketed pretty much as a Windows replacement.
 
I didn't know that Via still made desktop processors. I know that about 5-6 years ago their Cyrix processors were a reasonable (and comparitively cheap) alternative to AMD and Intel, but if I remember right, they didnt really match up as far as performance.

Consumer reports reviewed this laptop about a month ago, and basically said it was a total piece of crap, and not worth the small savings compared to a low-end laptop from other venders.

In essance, this would have been a fine laptop 3 years ago, but now it is just something that is destined to become a paperweight in no time. If it were me, I would just get a used laptop off of eBay... for the same price you could get something that is not only faster, but of better quality, even thought it was used.
 
Counterfit said:
OMFG A CD-ROM DRIVE!! 128MEGARBITES OF RAMEN?!?! WOW!!!!! :D

Has anyone here used a VIA processor? Do they suck? Are they amazing, even though no one knows about them? All I know is, they exist :confused:
Click to expand...

They are slow, you can use them for the everyday kind of stuff shure and they'll be fine for that. But they are still slow, both when considering either preformance per Ghz or just raw clockspeed.
 
A used iBook probably can be purchased in that price range. Just up the memory. Hopefully it will have a airport card since the old ones are hard to find.
 
absolut_mac said:
Which version of Linux is bundled with it? Red Hat or Lindows?
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It's stated in the article... Linspire..


128MB isn't much RAM, but I've often found out that linux isn't that ram hungry as osx and xp.
I'm sure this laptop is pretty comparable (speedwise) to a Celeron laptop with 256mb RAM (shared vram too...) running XP.

Is VIA a x86 compatible CPU, can Windows be installed?
 
Thanks

cluthz said:
It's stated in the article... Linspire..
Click to expand...

It was late when I glanced through the article last night, so I missed that part.

I don't think that the Via can be as bad as a Celeron though. My limited experience with Celerons has not been a happy one :mad:
 
This may be good for famalies who don't have a lot of money, however Linux is probably not the best thing in the world for a computer newbie.
 
Don't know anything about VIA CPUs, or much about Linspire either.

Still, for $500 it's a brand new laptop, and Linux is less of a resource hog than other OSs. It costs about as much as a several year old PC laptop, with performance to match (except that it is Windowless).

I'm curious as to how many people with little computer experience will buy such a machine, and how well they will recieve it.

I'd prefer to see a DVD-ROM, but its a minor complaint at that price point.
 
VIA C3 Processor Info

The 1GHz VIA C3 Processor features a 133 MHz Frontside Bus. It is comparable to a 1GHz Pentium III Processor. Yes it is fully compatible with Microsoft Windows XP and other x86 Software. It is a great value processor. Although, I would suggest at least 256 MB of Memory
 
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