Dell Begins Selling Inspiron Mini 9 320
mocoloco writes "A week after the rumored date, Dell has begun selling their entry into the netbook/subnotebook/UMPC market, the Inspiron Mini 9. The base system for $349 includes Ubuntu 8.04 "with custom Dell interface", 512MB RAM, and a 4GB SSD. There are options with XP, one that includes an 8GB drive and a $40 instant savings, another with a 16GB drive and 1GB RAM that has a $55 instant savings. Curiously the Ubuntu systems are a pre-order at this point, to be shipped within 15 days. Also, no Red option yet."
Not in Canada (Score:5, Informative)
Like normal its not on the Canadian site. Usually launches in the Us of product is on the same day in Canada but Dell dose not give us Canadians as many options for pc/laptops as they do to the US. HP also has a limited website for product configuration/product compared to the US. Considering how closely tied we are and how most company release Canada/us same time this would be in Canada to.
Re:Not in Canada (Score:5, Funny)
You should learn to proofread. You're giving us Canadians a bad name, therefore Dell won't sell their new products to us.
Re:Not in Canada (Score:4, Funny)
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Munitions export laws. You guys are poised to attack us. Look, you've even amassed all your population along our border. And you don't even pronounce the letter 'o' correctly in 'about'. And don't even get me started on about the beer....
Re:Not in Canada (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not in Canada (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, it's weapons-grade beer. You've also stocked up most of this continent's oil too... hmmm.
Re:Not in Canada (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah. OK, well, uh, we found, uh, this mouse in a bottle of YOUR BEER, eh. Like, we was at a party and, uh, a friend of ours - a COP - had some, and HE PUKED. And he said, uh, come here and get free beer or, uh, he'll press charges
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How does a reference to "Strange Brew" [imdb.com] get marked insightful?
Re:Not in Canada (Score:5, Informative)
Historically, the reason that Dell hasn't released products in Canada at the same time as the US is because they need to sell it in French as well as English. That means they have to translate the manuals, and that they need to provide French-language technical support. Doing otherwise would open themselves to a lawsuit for discrimination. They don't have French tech. support for *any* of their Linux offerings, which is what explains this one. That's what prevented the Insprion N-series Linux-based systems, as well as the XPS One from being released in Canada.
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And yet they'll release to France next, right?
That's what they did for ubuntu systems, at least. =/
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and the consumer.
[citation needed]
Re:Not in Canada (Score:5, Insightful)
Big disclaimer: French is (or was) my first language. I live 100% in English, 'cept when I visit long-time friends or family.
As an ex-Quebecer, I have absolutely no pity for unilingual French speakers. English is the de facto language of business and of the world. Chinese people speak English. Indian people speak English. Dutch people speak English. Hell, Chinese people IN QUEBEC speak French and English. So why the hell do less than half of all Quebecers speak any English ? I'll be quite frank: if they're too dumb to learn English, they're too dumb for me to give a damn. I make one very narrow exception, and that's for people who didn't have English classes in school at the time - that was a while ago!
Now don't get me wrong, I think French is a lovely, expressive, intelligent language, and I would never want it to vanish. Even our cussing is artful and rich! But less than two percent of the whole world speaks French, and the great majority of them live in France, about 90% of all French speakers, to be exact. There are roughly twice as many French speakers in France as there are Canadians in Canada! So really, why does our so-called Government force every single business to do backflips for this tiny demographic sliver of society ?
I don't know of any other non-religious nation that is so anal about language. Do English people in Japan whine to the government about not being about to read anything on the goddamned menus ? No.
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Do English people in Japan whine to the government about not being about to read anything on the goddamned menus?
No, but the government of Japan also never signed any treaties with those Anglophones' ancestors promising that their great-grandkids would be allowed to do business in their own language.
I find the backflips just as inconvenient as you do, at times. But these backflips were part of the deal offered in order for Quebec to join the nation in the first place. To renege on it now would be to cancel
Re:Not in Canada (Score:4, Insightful)
I'd call that stupid for you, for not having done your research in advance.
Please explain, how is it worse for you to have a product available in a language that you do not speak than it is to not have that product available at all?
Re:Not in Canada (Score:5, Informative)
Good point. I probably wouldn't have thought of that even. It's just another reason why having mandatory second languages hurts companies and the consumer.
Lots of companies dealing in Canada don't have french support. Even many Canadian companies don't. Head over to to the West Coast (French is primarily spoken in Quebec eastwards, and dwindles the farther west you go.) By the time you reach Vancouver the odds of a small business having any one that speaks french above a pre-school level is pretty low.
Sure their products still have bilingual labels and instruction booklets and they'll happily ship them to Quebec, but that's about the extent of it, and its not expensive to have a translator write those for you. Point is, lots of Canadian websites and companies are english only.
Dell does have to provide french language manuals and labelling with their products which is a minor burden, but they do not have to provide french language support.
They offer french support not for regulatory reasons, but for competitive reasons, to appeal to french speaking Canadian, and also to make them eligible to sell to large Canadian enterprises and government entities that require bilingual support for practical reasons -- they want to buy computers from a company that provides support in the same languages that their employees speak.
Because Dell chooses to offer support in French, its in the interest of customer support simplicity to offer it consistently across all their products, not just some of them.
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Dell probably figures the potential market of Linux in Canada isn't worth the cost to hire an intern and run their manuals through an Engrish translation tool.
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Their French-language support is currently done by an outsource in Montreal, but they're expecting to have a call centre in Morocco online by March. At that point, they could very well start selling Linux products with French support. For now, though, it doesn't make good economic sense to train up a bunch of contractors who won't be working for the company 6 months down the road.
You're right, though. They don't speak French in India... that didn't stop Carly Fiorina from moving my job there back when I wo
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Re:Not in Canada (Score:5, Funny)
"reboot your PC" - "rechargez votre PC"
"reinstall the operating system" - "réinstallez le du système d'exploitation"
I've got most of the work already done!
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What about bilingual English/Klingon? Should be a fair number of them.
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Many computer terms tend to be cut and pasted from English into foreign languages, especially if the word is exclusive to computing/technology developed. Something like 'Laptop' would have a foreign equivalent since it's a word made from existing words but something like 'Modem' and all the acronyms we know and love probably won't be any different.
Which only goes to show that common sense, logic and knowledge are not the same thing. The French are ferociously territorial with their language and the make up francophone terminology for everything they can. I guess it stems from the days that French was the Lingua Franca [wikipedia.org] of the the world. Spanish speaking countries for instance are perfectly happy to say "software" (although there is a little-known native word coined, programalógica, everybody I've ever known that's heard it hates its guts). But
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That's not how you actually calculate the price before VAT.
Think of the pre-tax price as 100% and then you add 17.5% to get 117.5% for price+VAT.
Another way of thinking of this is that you multiply your 100% by 1.175 to get 117.5%.
i.e. price_before_vat * 1.175 = price_including_vat
So, price_including_vat / 1.175 = price_before_vat
Therefore $528/1.175 = $449*
The value of Windows (Score:5, Informative)
I just love it! Go price out the same specs with Linux or Windows. The Windows machines are cheaper! Gotta love this, Linux is now more valuable than Windows!
Yes I know what is actually happening, Dell is keeping Microsoft happy. But lets all spin this as Windows is now the option nobody wants and see what happens. :)
Re:The value of Windows (Score:5, Interesting)
No kidding! Go fully-loaded with Linux and it costs $20 more! LOL. MS must be practically giving them XP.
Re:The value of Windows (Score:5, Informative)
They are. Having dealt with some OEM contracts, XP can end up as low as 5$ per license. Then add what companies pay Dell to install crapware, and you end up with negative cost (until people start developing crapware for Linux anyway)
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Yea people don't seem to realize that the crapletts are a source of cash. Dell probably makes a good $30 more installing Windows than Linux.
I wouldn't mind paying for Windows version if only I could use that copy of XP on a different machine.
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Really? It sounds to me like MS is paying them to preinstall XP.
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There are enormous economies of scale in the Windows marketplace
I understand, but are you telling me that Dell's cost to install Linux on a hard drive exceeds $20 + the cost of the Windows license? Dell is legendary for cutting costs - I doubt that the load costs them anything significant... hell, they may even dump the responsibility on a vendor.
I think it is much more likely that all the income from the crapware on a Windows install more than makes up for the cost of the Windows license.
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The only place where I could see significant increased costs for Dell is "support". It is entirely possible that the people who buy Linux call in with more questions - or are more likely to return the unit.
Re:The value of Windows (Score:5, Interesting)
Yea, well couldn't you get the Windows one, refuse the EULA, and get $100 back? That sounds like the way to go to me. :)
Re:The value of Windows (Score:4, Insightful)
The Windows OEM EULA leaves the refund/return policy up to the manufacturer. While some manufacturers have paid out to placate angry customers, they're not required to give refunds. Since Dell actually supports Linux on this laptop, they'd probably just ship you a Linux restore CD to wipe away Windows. (At cost to you, of course.)
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Linux already has a reputation for being nerdy or hard or not having their favourite programs so why create a product with that OS and then charge more which will put those people off?
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Re:The value of Windows (Score:4, Interesting)
lets all spin this as Windows is now the option nobody wants and see what happens. :)
Nobody wants? Lots of people want Windows. Surprising though it may be, outside of technically aware circles, there are many computer owners who don't even know Linux exists. Then even if they find out, how many shops sell Linux software on their shelves? Again, there are still lots of people who like to buy their goods in high street stores.
I'd buy the Windows version, put the backup media aside, then install Linux, in full knowledge that if I decide to I can change to Windows with ease.
I wouldn't want a machine without an option to install Windows on it if I want to, and that means getting the licence when I buy the machine.
But then I must be a freak, because I like Linux and Windows XP. Ok, not Vista, I'm a freak, but I'm not crazy.
Re:The value of Windows (Score:4, Insightful)
> Surprising though it may be, outside of technically aware circles, there are many
> computer owners who don't even know Linux exists.
Outside of technical circles most people only know Windows exists from the PC vs Mac commercials. Try an eeepc and you will know understand that if properly preloaded the average person can use Linux just fine, especially on these new small machines where running 3D shooters isn't going to be an option anyway.
> I'd buy the Windows version, put the backup media aside, then install Linux...
Thats you. Me, I am typing on this Thinkpad that we wasted money on an XP Pro license for that MIGHT have accumulated twenty hours of use in four years, because we didn't have a choice. Then I probably blew more than a man day on getting Linux up and fully twiddled. Gimme a preload anyday and keep yer stinkin Windows sticker. Now if Dell would sell one preloaded with XP AND toss in a Linux recovery disc I'd think about it. Somehow I suspect Microsoft won't be subsidizing that option though.
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> a day twiddling? My x41 ran perfectly with ubuntu no twiddling involved.
Did ubuntu even exist four years ago? Yes some things are easier to get going out of the box now, but there is still value in a preload image. With a preload you expect EVERYTHING to just work the first time and can pik up the phone if it doesn't.
Re:The value of Windows (Score:4, Interesting)
Funny that the build your own doesn't allow you to select the OS. It would feel so good to select one of the Windows configurations and be able upgrade to Ubuntu. But with any luck once Ubuntu isn't a pre-order, you'll be able to.
Re:The value of Windows (Score:5, Interesting)
It is more of a fact that they need to alter the production line and put a different OS on the system. Thus costing more as it is an exception to the process. When you are mass producing things every step of customization costs more. Having Linux or Windows option means most likely the drives default come with windows on them and then there is an extra step to reimage it with Linux. This doesn't have anything to do with Linux being better or worse then Windows, or even the cost of the licenses that dell needs to pay for it is about costs of mass production. Say each Windows License costs Dell $100.00, it is quite possible the extra step in production is costing dell $120 for an exception of a Linux image (Labor Costs+Benefits, QA, support, inventory....) It all adds up.
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I disagree. Dell has a drive-image process where they pull out any one of like 500 images (for different hardware, drivers, etc) for different machines.
It can't exactly be rocket science for them to pull the "Ubuntu for mini9" instead of "Windows for mini9".
I think the price difference is that the crapware they load from Google and others almost totally offsets the cost of the Windows license AND they probably tack on an additional $20 for the required support staff for Linux. Those two things combined pr
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Um, then are you saying that every single drive in every single Dell laptop has the exact same image?
I would assume there would be an image for every drive size for every combination of laptop hardware they sell.
It isn't like they get imaged hard drives from the manufacturer, they have to image them somewhere, and right before they put it into a CTO laptop seems like a good time, since they could then include any updates, regardless of the OS.
They already have like 8 colors of some laptops, so having two di
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Re:The value of Windows (Score:4, Funny)
This irks me, if you go to the "design" tab and hit "Meet the Mini" it says "Look for Ubuntu Linux 8.04 with custom Dell interface when customizing your Inspiron Mini 9, or upgrade to Genuine Microsoft Windows XP."
So XP is considered an Upgrade? Aaarrgh!
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They probably copy-and-pasted that from the blurb for machines that come with Vista pre-installed. Simple mistake.
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If you calculate in Windows' negative value, it makes sense. It would be like buying a new car that had soda spilled all over the seat, discounted because you'd have to clean the crap out before you can use it.
"Custom Dell interface" (Score:2)
Curiously (Score:4, Insightful)
There are options with XP, one that includes an 8GB drive and a $40 instant savings, another with a 16GB drive and 1GB RAM that has a $55 instant savings. Curiously the Ubuntu systems...
Aren't eligible for "instant savings."
Instant Savings= money we pass on to you for loading bloatware?
Discounts make the Windows=Linux in cost (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Discounts make the Windows=Linux in cost (Score:5, Informative)
The discounts on the two windows based versions equal out the cost of configuring the Linux version exactly the same. The resolution of the screen is 1024x600 making it slightly better than some competitors.
I don't know how you configured yours, but if you specify everything:
1GB DDR2 at 533MHz
16GB Solid State Drive
Built-in Bluetooth 2.1 capability
Integrated 1.3M Pixel Webcam
Windows=$479
Ubuntu=$494
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You get $55 off on the Windows machine, bringing the cost to $424 before shipping. The $55 off does not not apply to the Ubuntu selection.
No, what I posted includes the discount.
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The MSI Wind and Asus eees (minus the 7xx versions) come with 8.9 inch screens and with the 1024x600 resolution as well. The Acer Aspire One is the same. Not sure how Dell's is any better. Now that it's released I think I may go with the 6-cell Acer Aspire One. I can't believe Dell didn't include F# keys and instead left a high 2-3inch gap above the keyboard. Poor planning on Dell's part IMO.
HTPC Capable (Score:2, Interesting)
I saw on the specs that it has a vga port. Could these computer serve to dish out divx and hi-def video from a wireless server? Is the chip-set capable of tv out with a vga2svido adapter o connected straight to a vga port on the tv?
The best bang*buck... (Score:2)
...is the 16GB SSD variant, which comes with WindowsXP. Turns out, if you get the one with Ubuntu, you get shafted. Wanna bet the Linux version won't be hugely popular?
I'm slightly dismayed.
"With Custom Dell Interface" (Score:5, Funny)
Cue ominous music...
Custom Dell Interface? (Score:2)
Which window manager are they using for the Ubuntu version? I hope its not Gnome; I have nothing against it but Gnome is not really designed for this type of layout. I am very interested in something like the Remix WM [markshuttleworth.com] and would love to know if it would work on the Inspiron Mini 9.
Does anyone have any details?
Re:Custom Dell Interface? (Score:4, Informative)
$99! (Score:5, Interesting)
yourblog [direct2dell.com] found via endgadget. [engadget.com]
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Great! Think of all the money you'll save by spending that extra $1000 on a second laptop.
Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
Available in the UK (Score:4, Informative)
Review with video (Linux version)... (Score:5, Informative)
The 99 dollar deal is sweet. (Score:2)
Shipping Date - GRRRRR (Score:4, Informative)
I just ordered mine a few minutes ago and got my order confirmation. The anticipated shipping date is October 10Th !!!!!
If you plan on running Linux and use Flash... (Score:2, Informative)
Cheaper Widescreens Yet? (Score:3, Interesting)
I bought a Dell Inspiron 8000 in 2001. For $2200, it came with a 15" 1600x1200 screen, the first one in an under $5000 notebook. I knew I was buying a PC that would stay "current" for quite a while (despite its P3/1GHz and slowish CD-R). But if I want to jump to the next higher resolution now, 1920x1200 (1080p), I've still got to spend well over $2500.
After the past 7 years, in which notebooks, TVs, projectors, phones, iPods and everywhere else I look have made substantial LCDs a huge mass market, why aren't these things cheap yet?
I don't really need a palmtop PC to take everywhere. I'd rather keep my phone with me all the time, and use it as a remote and mic/earphone when I'm near a PC (maybe booting the PC off my own secured Desktop stored on the phone). If P4/2GHz/1GB/GPU notebooks with 1080p (1920x1200) screens 15" or bigger were $500 each, I'd buy a bunch of them to leave in my usual haunts, instead of schlepping them around.
How long must I wait?
$99 with another Dell machine (Score:3, Informative)
More for white, windows kickbacks (Score:2)
Second, we have never a seen a better example of the MS kickback. In exchange for exclusivity, it is clear that MS is offering some financial incentive. Linux is only sold on the smallest machine. It makes no sense for Linux not to be sold on all machines,
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Linux is only sold on the smallest machine.
You've got that just backwards. Linux is sold on any size machine -- click "Build Yours" and you can increase disk and memory. However, Windows is available only on the machines with larger disk.
Look at the keyboard before you buy! (Score:5, Informative)
I was actually considering one of these until I took a close look at the keyboard.
They moved the quote key.
Look at it! The '/" key has been relocated from right next to your pinky to somewhere weird! How the fuck am I supposed to touch type with that monstrosity? WTF!
Anyway, buyer beware.
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I'd love to buy the new Acer Aspire One model 1447, but where in hell do I actually get one? It's been "released" now by Acer for over two weeks, and I can't find a single retailer anywhere with one to sell. (I started with Acer's own "where to buy" list.) It's just ridiculous; don't announce, then release, products that people can't actually buy.
With 4, 8 and 16 GB of RAM... (Score:3, Interesting)
It seems that mini-laptops such as these almost REQUIRE the user to carry extra/external storage media/um. If one is to put Mandriva or PCLinuxOS, or SUSE or Fedora, etc, on it, say, and add even just 1/2 of the available popular mag-distributed DVDs, one would be short on space in a short period of time after adding personal /home/user/user's-files.
Another thing: I am soooo sick and tired of those kiss-ass computer makers running adverts such as "[Dell/Toshiba/Fujitsu/Sony/HP/et al] recommends microsoft (operating system) (for all your computing needs)", as IF there is no Linux/FreeBSD/BSD available. IF windows WERE all there was, then there'd be no NEED for ms to payola these guys to even say such slogans/subliminal types of messages.
It would be nice if some of the US advertising laws would have to follow some European laws where product placement cannot disparage or misrepresent other competing products. Even better, it would be nice if some products (such as operating systems) were required to list at least 4 (or some number of) competitors or near-competitors. This way, mshaft would not keep getting the near-free ride they get.
If those adverts said, "microsoft recommends vindoze wista instead of (Ubuntu/Mandriva/PCLOS/Red Hat/SUSE/Fedora/et al) for all your computing needs (such as surfing wired or wirelessly, burning CDs/DVDs/watching DVDs, creating web sites, writing programs, composing music, managing servers, doing some CAD, hosting content, learning to type, studying astronomy, and a few dozen other things that ALL of these OS' can do equally as well as or better than our own wista).... See you sales person for a demo/floor comparison!", why, then Linux/Open Source would probably finally get some improved/increased professional polish, Linux-specific vendor drivers, more press, and increased loosening of ms' illegally-obtained near-death-grip control of the market.
Now, if only Linux land comes up with a true end-user WYSIWYG database/front end like Lotus Approach. If only i could legally get my hands on win XP pro to replace vista (the piece of crap it is, using 1.5 GB RAM and nothing to show for it relative to XP -- and to Linux as regards graphics bells and whistles), which is crippling two of my Lotus SmartSuite apps....yeh, IBM might have released patches, but STILL....
Finally, what'll REALLY be awesome for mini-/mid-full-size laptops/portables will be unpluggable/swappable video chip modules so that users can get more out of their graphics-related task software. Not necessarily to increase time between hardware upgrades, but to give more flexibility for situations when weaker video options limit us. For example, it would be nice to not have to buy external bulky video splitters. My backpack already is at 35 lbs, what with my 8.5 lb, 17-in display, dual-hard drive Gateway, my mouse, 3DConnexion, several books, about 2 inches of 8.5x11 papers, adapters, USB tip converters, index cards, and other miscellaneous stuff, with enough space to stuff in my lunch. Hell, even when I carried my 2001 Sony Vaio, in another, smaller back pack, with a portable Canon printer and wedge-like surge strip, one of my friends asked, "Man, what the *fuck* you got in there? You look like a BACKPACK bomber"...
Re:Needs an HD option (Score:4, Insightful)
> SSD is cool and all, but a 80GB disk would be cheaper
And be larger, heavier and draw more power. You are missing the point of a SMALL laptop.
Re:Needs an HD option (Score:5, Interesting)
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I too own Eee (and dropped it plenty of times), but I'm not impressed with SSD's power `saving' (nor heat!)---as much as everyone seems to say they're ``better'' than real HDs... I think my Thinkpad is more energy efficient than the Eee.
Durable, yes, but not altogether better.
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The SSD drives for this notebook in particular look awfully expensive to me. $50 to go from 4GB to 8GB?
You can get a full 16GB SSD (with USB interface) from NewEgg [newegg.com] for just $35!
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Yeah, and why not slap a GeForce 9800 on there too, a nice big 19" LCD display, full-size keyboard, and two quad-core Intel chips! Then it would be the best subnotebook ever!
Re:Linux + Bigger HDD? (Score:5, Informative)
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Most higher-end EEEs come with Linux... (Score:3, Interesting)
...whereas the higher-end Minis come with XP.
Re:I rather have an eee (Score:5, Interesting)
I get about 7-8 hours of *actual* battery life with my 1000H in the field with the optional Asus AL24-1000 8800mAh battery for Eee PC 1000H (yes, I ebayed it straight from Taiwan/China). NOTE: The 1000H comes default with the Asus 6600mAh AL23-901 battery (about 5-6 hours *actual* runtime).
I yanked the OEM 1GB SODIMM and replaced it with a PC-5300 2GB Corsair Value Ram SODIMM. (After updating to the latest Asus 1000H BIOS, it detects the full 2GB SODIMM, whereas before the BIOS update it only detected as 1GB, but still worked fine at 1GB...) It appears the Atom chipset memory limit at 1GB is artificially crippled initially.
Also yanked the OEM Wi-Fi card and installed a much better Intel 4965AGN Wi-Fi card.
I am about to replace the OEM Seagate 5,400RPM SATA 80GB HDD with a 64GB SATA SSD, but the run times named above were with the factory HDD and the Asus WinXP performance profiles set to "Auto". (Note that the Asus Eee 1000H has an 80 GB HDD with two 32GB partitions, the OS is ont he first one and the second one is not used. (but present as a D drive. Ans yes, you can install any notebook SATA drive, including the 320GB Seagate model, according to my buddy). Not sure why the 32GB WinXP partition, but it can be modified by pulling the drive and using Partition Magic (or whatever) to delete the other partition and change the size of the primary 32GB partition to fill the drive...
As I understand it, Microsoft has deliberately restricted the systems that can be licensed with OEM WinXP by mandating that devices having screens smaller than something like 10" or 11", and no more than 1GB of RAM, a HDD no larger than 80GB, and a processor slower than 1.8GHz. (Someone feel free to correct me on the exact WinXP OEM Netbook licensing hardware restrictions, but I have read about there somewhere recently...)
It is probable that the *nix versions of Dell's teeny PC can have larger/better hardware installed because *nix does not cripple the Atom-based PC's hardware restrictions.
The REAL QUESTION is, will Dell do what Asus did and allow their BIOS to allow 2GB of RAM and different NICs and BT modules and HDD. (But I rather doubt that Dell will release a 8800mAh battery for their Atom-based Netbook... I would like to publicly state to Microsoft that, "I think that a hardware *restriction* policy for OEM Netbook WinXP is just a bunch of CRAP!" Maybe Linux will eat their lunch because of it... Too bad I have to have windows for my work software...
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Re:I rather have an eee (Score:5, Informative)
It had an AzureWave AW-NE766 Mini-PCIe card factory installed so just I removed the standard white and black antenna connectors and swapped cards with my Intel 4965AGN card. (because the Intel card has more features and is well-documented.) I just had no third antenna to connect to the center "gray" antenna connection on the Intel card, but it works fine.)
Here is an article of an EeePC 1000H it with the back cover off, etc... http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1474/2/asus_eee_pc_1000h_under_the_covers/index.html [tweaktown.com]
Re:I rather have an eee (Score:4, Informative)
Re:I rather have an eee (Score:5, Interesting)
I think you're mistaken abut the 1GB memory and the BIOS update. To expedite boot-up, the eee skips alot of the hardware checks that precede the OS initialization. You can restore them in the BIOS setup.
My 2GB stick wasn't recognized as more than 1GB until I entered BIOS setup for the first time. I think that was the first opportunity the system got to say "Oh, look, new RAM."
I assume that flashing the BIOS also forces a hardware check on restart, which would explain why it suddenly started working for you.
Re:I rather have an eee (Score:4, Funny)
Geez, that's a lot of "yanking" and "pulling". Are you sure you're talking about a laptop? If the processor should ever fail, I wonder if Asus is going to honor the warranty considering the case has been violated more than Paris Hilton.
By the time you're done, you could have had Steve Jobs personally build you a custom MacBook with knurled hand-rubbed walnut trim.
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because *nix does not cripple the Atom-based PC's hardware restrictions.
But that's if the harsh atom limits are not hit first.
Atom and Microsoft go hand in hand. That's why I've been planning to go for a VIA netbook. the 1000 series are looking very nice, even though no other netbook is really as cheap as the dell one.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Basically, I had to use the Asus restore DVD (Version 3.0) to boot/format/restore setup the blank SSD drive with a USB DVD-R Drive. (It was interesting that the Asus restore DVD boots to Norton Ghost v11.0 to restore the various partitions and drive images after which, WinXP Home came right up...)
If this is the REAL WORLD performance and speed to be expec
Re: (Score:2)
Pfft... not always true, im typing this from a 6 year old Dimension 8300, thats traveled by bus and by airplane at least twice each, has been on nearly 24/7 in those 6 years, and the only problem its had is the CPU fan (Radeon 9800 Pro) ran out of oil/lube which was a 5 minute fix...
Everything that was there originally still is, ive only added, not taken away or replaced anything... and it hasnt had it easy, gaming (even new games which its relatively underpowered for) and a hell of a lot of 3D editing and
Re: (Score:2)
I didn't know the Radeon 9800 Pro was a CPU fan.
Re: (Score:2)
GPU fan...rather...
but, you should see it, its great... 6 Radeon 9800's spinning at 3000 RPM... fantastic!... plus when the power goes out, it turns into an alternator, and powers the PC for a bit... :|
Re: (Score:2)
If I'd be given the option to buy a Dell instead of this Macbook Pro and still run the OS 100% working and legal I'd for sure take the Dell for amount of options and price.