Slim Linux laptop has potential (LinuxDevices) [LWN.net]

Slim Linux laptop has potential (LinuxDevices)

Posted Jul 16, 2007 19:50 UTC (Mon) by muwlgr (guest, #35359)
Parent article: Slim Linux laptop has potential (LinuxDevices)

I would rather wait for Asus EEE PC 701.
890 gramms for $200, joke or not ? -
http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/asus-new-eee-pc-701-jo...
http://www.hothardware.com/articles/Hands_on_with_the_ASU...
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/pocket-browser/asus-eee-pc-get...

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Slim Linux laptop has potential (LinuxDevices)

Posted Jul 16, 2007 21:19 UTC (Mon) by evgeny (subscriber, #774) [Link]

Sounds too good to be true... Given that similar devices today cost at least a few times more, it's surprising Asus wouldn't want to price it higher.

Slim Linux laptop has potential (LinuxDevices)

Posted Jul 16, 2007 21:28 UTC (Mon) by tomsi (subscriber, #2306) [Link]

The point is that these computers should be "cheap as chips". This is of course to sell a lot of them.

My first thought when I saw the Foleo was "Neat. But it is way to expensive".

Tom

Slim Linux laptop has potential (LinuxDevices)

Posted Jul 16, 2007 21:40 UTC (Mon) by evgeny (subscriber, #774) [Link]

OK, it's $250 already for the base version (http://www.eeeuser.com/). And I bet the final price will be closer to $400. Indeed, if the new Fujitsu costs above $1k (http://www.dynamism.com/u8240/pricing.shtml), this just can't be so cheap... And I even don't talk about Sony UX or OQO2. OK, there is no tablet input and HD, and the design obviously looks cheaper, but still...

Slim Linux laptop has potential (LinuxDevices)

Posted Jul 17, 2007 16:52 UTC (Tue) by thebluesgnr (guest, #37963) [Link]

<i>OK, it's $250 already for the base version (http://www.eeeuser.com/). And I bet the final price will be closer to $400.</i>

They simply dropped the cheaper versions with 2 and 4GB storage capacity, the base now has 8GB and costs $250. I see no reason why the price won't be what ASUS already said it will be.

Keep in mind the Eee PC is coming real soon now. It was supposed to ship in July, but then moved to August. If they weren't planning to release it so soon I might agree with your point, but as it is...

Slim Linux laptop has potential (LinuxDevices)

Posted Jul 16, 2007 21:34 UTC (Mon) by ibukanov (subscriber, #3942) [Link]

Well, they definitely put some efforts to customize Linux for the thing. It means that Windows tax is too high for the device so 200 USD may be realistic.

I hope most buyers would avoid Wndows tax either.

Slim Linux laptop has potential (LinuxDevices)

Posted Jul 17, 2007 0:22 UTC (Tue) by dkite (guest, #4577) [Link]

One thing to remember is Palm already has software that can edit MS
Office files. Spreadsheet, wordprocessing and presentation. It works now
on my Tungsten E. Not MS Office, but it works.

Derek

Slim Linux laptop has potential (LinuxDevices)

Posted Jul 16, 2007 21:53 UTC (Mon) by bk (guest, #25617) [Link]

The only problem is the 3hr battery life. I'd expect these devices to have at least 5-8hrs per charge to be fully useful (similar to a cellphone or ipod).

Slim Linux laptop has potential (LinuxDevices)

Posted Jul 17, 2007 0:04 UTC (Tue) by dkite (guest, #4577) [Link]

I would be willing to spend another $2-300 for a full day's worth of
battery life.

If cheap is the goal, $200 is fine. If mobile usefulness is the goal,
then the competition is, what? How much does one have to pay for a laptop
that can be used all day? I don't think the $500 machines can do it.

Derek

Slim Linux laptop has potential (LinuxDevices)

Posted Jul 17, 2007 5:03 UTC (Tue) by Cato (subscriber, #7643) [Link]

Even without turning off WiFi, you may find that the Foleo's 5 hours is enough to work all day - most people don't use a computer all day, as they also have meetings, phone calls, lunch, etc, so this could be fine for an 8 hour day. For a longer day, just turn off WiFi when not needed, and turn down screen brightness etc.

Slim Linux laptop has potential (LinuxDevices)

Posted Jul 17, 2007 5:01 UTC (Tue) by Cato (subscriber, #7643) [Link]

Palm quotes 5 hours battery life with WiFi on and screen at default brightness (65%), which is significantly better than my heavy Dell D600 laptop with two batteries. The problem (for Palm only) is that Palm isn't lying about battery life the way most manufacturers do, so they look bad...

Slim Linux laptop has potential (LinuxDevices)

Posted Jul 18, 2007 7:55 UTC (Wed) by drag (subscriber, #31333) [Link]

With Linux's newer powermanagement features.. Things like the new wireless stack (the dscape thing, what is it called now? n802.11?), powertop, tickless kernel, etc etc should help to extend the battery life on the thing.

How about another hour or so?

I am actually kinda excited about this laptop. For 2 reasons.. Firstly, personally I want one. Secondly, every review I've seen online always had people wanting to buy one, or several, just as a toy.

The thing is so cheap it should be popular just as a sort of secondary thing. But cheap, small laptops like this can possibly be a huge foot-in-the-door for Linux-on-the-desktop.