XCore's EduBook, a Netbook That Runs on AA Batteries 217
I'm typing this on a netbook with no hard drive, not using a chip from Intel or AMD, and powered by AA batteries. Eight rechargeable AAs, to be precise, in a bank of cells right where a Li-Ion battery would sit in a conventional laptop. The batteries charge in place, too (regulation prevents overcharging) meaning that the power cord is a simple three-prong-to-cloverleaf cord, no wall-wart required. It's the EduBook from Xcore (see that page for some photos of the internals, too), and it's a cool concept. Despite some warts, it's one of the most interesting things I ran into on the CES show floor last month (Xcore's Michael Barnes kindly supplied the laptop, straight from the display case). Read on for my review.
Yes, it runs Linux.
Before diving in to anything else, note that this is a laptop built for running Linux; the one I'm using is running Ubuntu 9.4 (Jaunty), and others that I played with briefly on the show floor were running instead Barry Kauer's lightweight (around 100MB by default) Puppy Linux. Though Puppy's quite a nice OS, I stuck with Ubuntu on the EduBook, because that's what I'm most used to.
Why 9.4, now nearly a year out of date? Because a few bits of stock Ubuntu caused hiccups, which Barnes blames on packaging goofs by Ubuntu. Xcore has tweaked the default drivers to get working two important subsystems -- networking and sound. (Puppy Linux apparently works on these fronts just as supplied.) Until I know that an upgrade won't result in a disconnected and mute machine, I'm sticking with what works. (Other distributions, including Ubuntu derivative Linux Mint, are reported to work well, too.)
Purpose, Philosophy, and Ingredients
The EduBook is what you might get if you gave the OLPC team a simpler mandate in their quest to provide laptops suitable for educational use: it's small, cheap to produce (currently, the retail price for this 512MB RAM/8GB SD version is about $200, depending on order size), fairly sturdy, modular, and upgradable — after a fashion. And like the OLPC project's XO, it's intended as an educational tool, and for distribution in places around the world where computers have long been too expensive to be common. To that end, the company's shipped machines (besides "quite a few" to the US, Canada and Mexico), to South America, Asia, the Middle East, and six countries in Africa (Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Uganda).
Modularity means the EduBook can be readily assembled inside or outside of an importing country, which can make a huge difference in the local price of a computer because of the vagaries of import duties and other taxes. Some countries charge higher import duties for importing un-assembled computer parts, though often the opposite is true. According to Barnes, "Indonesia now allows people to import computers with no tax. Thailand does as well. However, in both countries, they will apply taxes on the components if you bring them in as components. Both countries have programs where you can build in tax free zones and export but if you import the parts to assemble and sell locally, it is cheaper to buy it already assembled."
The machine's guts are made for flexibility. Unlike the all-in-one approach of Intel's Centrino line (incorporating wireless as part of a motherboard+processor package), the EduBook uses a x586 system-on-chip core (block diagram) to provide processor, video and 512MB of main memory, but farms out wireless and storage; for wireless hardware, there's essentially a USB slot and a niche carved out of the motherboard. That way, the latest and greatest wireless interface (or the cheapest and most readily available) can be added at assembly time, keeping the three external USB ports free. Any USB wireless device small enough to fit will do -- it just has to work with the OS. (The company also runs a development and support site for working with the quirks of running a slightly offbeat processor.)
The EduBook is upgradeable, but not user upgradeable. Instead, the parts are modular enough that new chip generations, larger SD cards, or improved wireless modules can be readily swapped in by the maker (or by local manufacturers) while preserving all the user-facing parts (screen, keyboard, ports).
For storage, there's another (internal) slot for an SD card — an 8GB card in my sample — presented to the system as an IDE device. No conventional hard drive (though it is possible to order one in place of the SD card) means that the EduBook lags even typical low-end netbooks for raw storage capacity, and SD cards aren't the speed demons that SSDs are. But this isn't a machine built for carrying a road-warrior's movie collection or sticking into a data-center rack, and XCore86 have snipped out probably the most common failure point for laptops. (And SD cards are easier to source and simpler to replace than hard drives.) In practice, and considering that the system-on-a-chip processor is also aimed at frugality rather than speed, it's hard to fault.
The outside of the case is typical (but tough-seeming) netbook: the only port on the back is the AC inlet to power the laptop and charge the batteries; on the right side of the chassis are two USB ports; on the left, one more USB port, along with ethernet, a VGA out (which I didn't test), microphone and headphone jacks, and a 10/100 ethernet port.
Facing the user is a perfectly nice, perfectly standard, 1024x600 LED-backlit display. A Pixel Qi daylight-readable one would be nice; maybe one will show up in a future iteration.
Fit, finish, feel
The input devices on a laptop with 9" screen are small, of necessity — but for me, even a small keyboard beats a touchscreen or thumbboard. The keyboard is of the "nearly full size" variety. The touch-pad, also constrained by reality (about 2.5" x 1.5") is smooth and responsive — perhaps too responsive. My hands aren't big, but I've still had some curse-inducing frustration and backspacing at typing on this.
One problem I have with touchpads generally (and most laptops are saddled with them) is that an inadvertent tap of the thumb while typing can lead to an accidental cursor jump or text swipe -- and suddenly you're typing in the middle of the wrong paragraph or wiping out a chunk of what's already been written, and scrambling for Ctrl-Z. On the EduBook, this happens far more frequently than I'd like, though it's teaching me slowly to keep my thumbs hovering a bit higher. In use, and knowing that this is a machine built for other than high-end multimedia use, the twitchy keyboard and pointer are my biggest complaints. Another nitpick: the trackpad's buttons work, but they're chintzy, and ever-so-slightly misaligned, catching the skin on my thumb slightly when I move from left button to right.
The case seems strong — a little brick-like, even, at slightly more than an inch thick. The bottom of the case (not metal, but heavy-duty plastic) features two large areas of corrugation for an additional bit of rigidity. I am skeptical of Barnes's claim that it compares well with the durability of the OLPC XO, but that's a very high bar: the sturdy case and solid-state storage sure make it seem more drop-safe than my 10" Asus Eee or most other laptops I've owned over the last 18 years.
What's missing
Going in, I knew this was a small laptop built for getting online and as a tool for school kids, rather than a high-end machine (in which case I'd have a different set of complaints). Taking the EduBook on its own terms, though, I'd like to see a few things:
- Better Battery life indicator. Though the reader can gather from an LED at the front edge of the case whether the machine is charged, charging, or drastically low on charge, it would be nice to have a better-integrated on-screen indicator for remaining battery life.
- An external SD card slot. After first dismissing such a slot as a novelty, owning two laptops with built-in SD slots has spoiled me for the convenience. And on a storage-lean device like the EduBook, its absence is notable. An external SD slot would make this machine a lot more flexible.
- An easier system to change the batteries. The bank of AAs lives behind a small door secured by a pair of small Phillips-head screws. It's a small thing, but one reason I like AA batteries as a power source is that if you really needed to, it would be cheap to buy a few hours' worth of power, or to keep a spare set of Eneloops or other charge-retaining rechargeables around. (No heavier than the wall-wart you don't have to carry.) On the other hand, the batteries aren't soldered in place, and carrying a mini-Phillips driver around is no great burden. And, since this is a device intended for schools and children, the company has no intention to make the batteries or other internals easier to get at. Having accidentally tried to recharge some alkaline batteries recently (in a wall-charger, not the EduBook), I concede this has some merit.
- Working Suspend/Resume. The great bugaboo of Linux laptops raises its head here, too; shutting the lid or selecting Suspend from the Gnome menu triggers the error message that "Suspend is not available on this computer." A shame, when power savings are part of the overall appeal.
Performance, and the Takeaway
The 2000ma batteries in my sample gave me between 3 and 3.5 hours unplugged; that's about an hour less than the best performance I get from my Eee laptop's 4-cell battery, but still a respectable netbook battery life (though falling behind the new generation of all-day machines). Charging (until the light on the case indicated a full charge) took between 4 and 6 hours.
Wireless performance was quite good at Seattle coffee shops and in hotel rooms in Las Vegas and Portland, but I've hit an odd hitch: it's finicky on the (Apple-based) network at my home — I can see a fairly strong signal, but sometimes can't connect. (Gremlins?) An ethernet port on the side means I'm not totally out of luck.
The practical outcome of using a processor that's proudly taking up the rear of the performance curve is that startup takes over a minute (I timed 1:05 from hitting the power button to the Ubuntu login prompt, and another 45 seconds to a Gnome desktop). The low-power chip means that it doesn't do Flash either (no Facebook Scrabble for you!), but using the EduBook for most Internet tasks, typing notes, creating scripts or other light programming, and even using The GIMP is acceptably, usably quick. But note: applications work fairly well once they've started, but that startup can be a bit painful; more than a minute for OpenOffice, for instance. A faster chip would be nice (and bumps to the processor speed are expected), but as a connection to the Internet with a real keyboard and a decent screen, capable of running standard versions of word processors, programming languages, graphics packages and more, it strikes me as less obviously innovative but more flexible than OLPC's machines. It's impressive to me that an x586 can run Ubuntu and Gnome as well as it does; though there are lots of promising developments in the world of non-X86 chips, too, right now X86 is still the target architecture for the bulk of Linux distros, including ones built for education.
All of this means that the EduBook is slow, but useful, not just in its intended classroom application, but as a knockabout netbook generally.
Very interesting except... (Score:2)
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Good plan. You'd never run into problems with your credit card number on American networks. Oh ya. Wasn't it Best Buy and TGX that both got caught sending cc info via unencrypted wireless?
Stay safe, play in the US. Be sure you email your name, address, date of birth, SSN, bank account info, and all your credit cards to hacker@i.promise.not.to.steal.your.identity.us
It runs XP (Score:5, Informative)
One thing that review did gloss over, but which is right there in TFA, among the first things listed.
"It can support Microsoft Windows XP." [norhtec.com]
So Linux is one of the options for this thing (they actually list a bunch of distros that work, apart from the one they specifically designed for the thing), not the only option.
Given the cries of how OLPC had sold out when they said they're going to support XP, I thought it would be kinda relevant...
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If it doesn't start with windows then they aren't paying a windows tax so who cares?
Where the Windows install = sales the seller cares a lot.
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drop the price to $100 and I'll consider it
I got one of these! (Score:5, Informative)
$199 too high! (Score:5, Insightful)
You can buy a Lenovo S10 with 1GB of ram, 1.6Ghz CPU and 160GB harddrive for $249, and that includes WinXP.
The AA batteries sounds interesting, but since all the netbooks come with a battery, and they are cheap enough to buy an entire new netbook with new battery when anything breaks or wears out.
If this unit was $150 or less, it's slow CPU and AA battery power might make sense. But at $199 it's not worth it.
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Two big reasons you're wrong. First, that $50 discount might be essential for many poorer kids, even in the U.S. Second, that $50 puts downward price pressure upon other netbooks.
Re:$199 too high! (Score:4, Interesting)
Except four things:
The $199 price does not include WinXP. The $250 Lenovo S10 price does.
The $199 price does not include 1GB of ram (only 512mb). The $250 Lenovo S10 price does.
The $199 price does not include 160GB harddrive (only small flash drive). The $250 Lenovo S10 price does.
The $199 price does not include batteries (AA or otherwise). The $250 Lenovo S10 price does.
What does the $199 unit cost with a copy of WinXP Home, 1GB of RAM, a 160GB harddrive, and a supply of AA batteries?
A lot closer to $250 than you imply.
(and you have the much slower CPU in the AA battery unit)
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The "netbook" price MS charges for XP is $8 in volume. At that price it's inclusion or not doesn't mean much to the price.
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Not everyone wants XP. Why does anyone would want to use an eight year old OS?
RAM is cheap
A flash drive may be preferable on a device like this
AA batteries are cheap.
AA batteries are easy to replace if you run out.
Re:$199 too high! (Score:4, Insightful)
Since I'm posting, the AA batteries are a HUGE advantage. I've refused to buy any digital camera that doesn't take AAs for ages now and the result is that the last three cameras I've bought are all still perfectly usable. Meanwhile, I'm onto the second battery for my Eee (which I effectively got by buying an entire 2G Eee fairly cheap), and my early digital cameras (which I spent quite a bit on) are glorified paperweights. There are some very, very nice rechargeable AA options [eneloop.info] out there and some seriously good chargers [thebatterywizard.com]. I've invested in some of this stuff and would love to be able to use it with my netbook.
Re:$199 too high! (Score:4, Informative)
The price is determined by what they can get for it, which is determined in part by the price of the Lenovo. If they don't sell enough the price will come down.
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The price is determined by what they can get for it, which is determined in part by the price of the Lenovo. If they don't sell enough the price will come down.
But not by much.
You have to meet the costs of production and distribution. You have to show a profit. Your distributors have to show a profit.
WalMart shed all its Linux inventory.
When product doesn't sell, it may just be because no one wants to buy. Even at the deep discount price.
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You'd be surprised at how many people will go out and by a Laptop simply because its $199. They don't care what it runs, how fast it runs, or even battery life. They want a computer they can carry around that they can plug in somewhere, and use it to type up stuff while they watch TV.
And a $199 desktop, while probably more powerful, is too clunky to carry around, especially when you add the monitor on top of that.
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This is about damn time. Using standard rechargeable AA would be awesome. Right now, each laptop, netbook, and mobi has unique and expensive to replace battpacks, cords, and warts that have to be specially ordered instead of purchased off the shelf. You could replace AAs easily and inexpensively. Hopefully this will start a new open power revolution.
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Ok, according to http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:expandcategory?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087¤t-category-id=0549C687E3D24BBD998B20D96BBB1281 [lenovo.com] the Lenovo S10 Starts at 330 USD. Can you please post a reference for the 250 USD ?
Charging AAs (Score:2, Interesting)
AAs are typically charged in series by in-device chargers. That is significantly worse than single-cell chargers because small differences in the capacity of the single cells result in over-charging which kills the batteries. Li-Ion batteries on the other hand are always charged individually because they are actually dangerous when overcharged.
There isn't a good reason to use AAs for a device which goes through one charge in a matter of days, especially when an unsophisticated charger is used. What we reall
I have a very similar machine from 1983 (Score:4, Interesting)
See here [wikipedia.org] for more info.
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I also had a model 100. Its important to note that the FOUR AA batteries literally lasted weeks. Perhaps 50 hours of continuous use? I know I went thru a set of batteries every month or so. Also the ancient static ram drew enough current in sleep mode to drain the batteries in about one year.
This thing drains its EIGHT AA batteries in the traditional laptop 3 hours or whatever. Lame.
My palmIII ran for weeks on two AAA, my ipod touch runs about one day per charge.
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Yes, but your Model 100 doesn't run Linux.
(I have a 102, and it was a great machine to learn machine language on, and hardware interfacing... I still have it a few feet away, for hardware interfacing and stuff)
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You do realize that your watch is more powerful than that computer?
I have one too! (Score:2)
I loved it. I'm sure it still works. I also have the acoustic (300 baud) coupler for the built-in modem.
Also, there's the Newton.
Some day maybe 2 week battery life will be back.
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I loved it. I'm sure it still works. I also have the acoustic (300 baud) coupler for the built-in modem.
For a moment there I thought you were talking about the edubook.
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With low power LCDs(or e-ink, if you can handle the refresh) we should be able to easily get lower power drain and higher resolution, as long as we don't spring for a backlight.
As for processing power, I can hardly imagine how little power a 2.4MHz 8051 and 32Kbytes of RAM would consume if fabbed on a modern process.
The biggest power drain by
Did they name it the XCore Edubook (Score:3, Funny)
because critics would have lambasted the "XCore E8"?
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I'm personally more excited about the XCore System. Guaranteed to get the bugs out!
Is that really a good idea? (Score:2)
From TFA: "There is no bulky power adapter. The power supply is built inside the Gecko so that all you need to carry is a power cord."
I've had enough ATX power supplies and laptop power adapters go bad... one of the latter even threw sparks and smoke. Never damaged the actual computer, and they were all easy to replace.
The power adapter for my netbook is smallish, but bigger than I'd want embedded inside my netbook. And what about RF noise? What about safety? Sounds crazy, but I've had a waterfall (from a l
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Toshiba made laptops like this for years. I don't recall it being a problem for them, I DO recall it being very convenient.
I think I have a Satellite 100CS with Win95 on it around here somewhere like that...
kinda expensive (Score:2)
I did RTFS, and even went to their site
- $200 is a lot, there's netbooks for $250
- the datasheet lists an external SD slot, the summary says there aren't any ?
- available with up to 1 gig RAM
- optional "real" batteries instead of 8xAA
- Vista certainly not supported, otherwise they would say so.
Oh boy. This IS the future. (Score:4, Insightful)
Soon on Slashdot, we will not longer be discussing laptop computers because they are going to be as ubiquitous and cheap (as in 'Toys R Us' cheap) as the humble pocket calculator.
My Dad's first calculator cost $300 and it took a full pack of AA's and it had glow-y red numbers inside tiny light bulbs or vacuum tubes or something. And it came with a power cord. And it was the most exciting thing in the world! If there had been an internet back then, there would have been feverish discussion and hardware hacks and all kinds of 'boy' chatter regarding it and other devices competing for the same market.
But nobody talks about pocket calculators much these days. We've solved them. They're done. They work perfectly, and most of the time the build-quality is somewhere between "Fischer Price" and "Dollar Store G.I. Joe reject".
This is the second computer on a chip I've seen this week. ARM had an even smaller system which out-powered the one in this article by many orders of magnitude, all destined for the same market.
Yeah, it's kind of cool that portable computers are about to be Capital-S SOLVED; that we'll have long battery lives combined with high computing power in a small form-factor, all for $29.95 (or less). Great. Computers are going to be no more exciting than a new binder, pencil case and protractor set. -And probably about as durable, because stuff that lasts doesn't make money. Welcome to the Industrial Age.
Sigh.
So stop and look around. These are the last of the, "Good old days". Breathe it in, folks. It's never going to be the same again.
Of course, I'm sure we'll all find something new to get geeky about. Maybe radio-control cars will come back into vogue. Who knows?
-FL
Re:Oh boy. This IS the future. (Score:4, Interesting)
My Dad's first calculator cost $300 and it took a full pack of AA's and it had glow-y red numbers inside tiny light bulbs or vacuum tubes or something.
Those were Nixie Tubes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nixie_tube [wikipedia.org]
And it was the most exciting thing in the world! If there had been an internet back then, there would have been feverish discussion and hardware hacks and all kinds of 'boy' chatter regarding it and other devices competing for the same market.
We mostly talked in person back then, but it was just as exciting.
But nobody talks about pocket calculators much these days. We've solved them. They're done. They work perfectly...
Why can't I find one as good at being a calculator as my nearly 30 year old HP-15c?
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xcalc -rpn on a linux smartphone?
I still use my 23+ year old HP-15C at home, though.
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Or any of the dozens of HP emulators available for almost every platform that has two transistors to rub together... I use Free42 [thomasokken.com] on my n810. (Yeah, I know, it's not technically an emulator, but you'd never know that it wasn't running actual HP ROMs.)
Though I also have the 25 year old HP-15C that got me through an EE degree, as well as a 42S and a 16C that I acquired later. They all work great and see almost daily use. Especially the 16C which is, without question, the best damn programmer's calculator ev
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Even among pocket calculators there's a huge variety of different devices. Some are for complex scientific work, others are just for adding up your weekly grocery expenses. Surely the complex scientific calcs are going to continue to evolve, just like laptop computers will continue to evolve. Either that or they'll be replaced by all-in-one devices like smartphones running specialised software.
I agree with the gist of your post, I think we'll see more and more "appliance" type computers which will be so sim
Costs more than an EeePC, and isn't as fast (Score:4, Interesting)
I purchased an Asus 900 model for $180 over six months ago that runs an intel atom at 1.6 GHz and has 1GB of RAM with a 4GB SSD, all for less than this slower model that has a higher cost and runs a smaller subset of the available software. Can somebody explain how this machine is worth the money?
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I also payed 150 USD for my 900A, but it was refurbished on Ebay. A new one is 350 USD and that is what you need to compare this laptop against.
Not interesting. (Score:2)
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Prelink? (Score:2)
That would accelerate startup times of programs. (But at the expense of RAM, if not properly done.)
One question: If the chip forces you to use Linux anyway, then why did they not use a ARM chip, and save even more energy?
There are so many easy-to-solve problems in this one, that it boggles the mind.
Batteries: Use a normal lid. Maybe with a locking mechanism. But not with screws.
SD: cut a opening in the case, and you have a SD slot.
WLAN: Same thing. Just make it so it has one smooth surface with the case, wh
Solar? (Score:4, Interesting)
12 Volts, 1.2 watts .... my eee needs 36 watts (12V * 3A = 36 watts) according to the power adaptor.
For 31.65 + s/h I can make this Solar powered
http://www.altestore.com/store/Solar-Panels/1-to-50-Watt-Solar-Panels/Kyocera-12W-12V-Mini-Solar-Panel/p718/ [altestore.com]
I can see the application in this.
Nice Review (Score:2)
Hi,
I liked that review. It was interesting enough for me to read it in full, and you seems to have covered everything I wanted to know, with no uncalled for overhyping or bashing.
One minor gripe I have, not necessarily with your review per se but in general:
Sure, GNOME and OpenOffice.org take a long time to start up, and Flash runs like molasses unless you have a beast of a CPU, but let's not hold that against the devices. It's the software that makes it that way. Every time a low-power device is introduced
Re:Hurray for LandFills! (Score:5, Informative)
If you RTFA, the thing gives you an option of using AAs, or Li-ion, as you see fit.
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If you RTFA
If I do that how the hell am I supposed to formulate a semi written out thought and get it submitted so it doesn't just look like I'm yelling out FIRST POST, without paying for it of course.
Re:Hurray for LandFills! (Score:4, Insightful)
Ah, but if you RTFA, then you can make witty retorts to FIRST POSTS which get modded up in a shower of karma. Without paying, either.
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Do you hear that sound? That's the sound of enlightenment dawning.
Re:Hurray for LandFills! (Score:5, Funny)
I know you guys hate Apple for it, but there's a reason they're getting 8 hours out of a 17" laptop. It's because they threw away all the 'packaging' crap that comes with normal batteries and only packaged the 'energy storing' part.
So when it explodes you get more bang for your buck.
Re:Hurray for LandFills! (Score:5, Informative)
I have an older consumer digital camera made by sony that had rechargeable batteries that were AA's. Worked extremely well as long as I owned the camera. The nice thing was in a pinch, say a long day of pictures or forgetting to recharge the batteries, I could run into any store and grab a pack of AA and keep on going. Granted, only got about 3 hours of shooting time on 2AA's, but it was handy.
I imagine this would be the same way, some kind of rechargeable that are in the same form factor as AA and then you can pop in AA's in a pinch.
Best of both (Score:2)
Re:Hurray for LandFills! (Score:5, Insightful)
AAs are a horrible way to power a laptop. Why not power a car with them?
Last time I checked, a laptop wasn't an automobile.
And by your logic, AA batteries are a "horrible" way to power *anything*.
AAs are a horrible way to power a TV remote. Why not power a car with them?
AAs are a horrible way to power a phone. Why not power a car with them?
AAs are a horrible way to power a portable device. Why not power a car with them?
See how stupid it sounds?
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And yes I do realize there is some sort of rule about disposing batteries that is completely ignored in north america. My japanese prof actually asked the class one year wth we were su
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One issue with rechargeable batteries is that they don't hold a load so well (higher internal discharge current) - so you put a set of batteries in your flashlight, and a couple of months from now when you need them, they're empty.
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For high drain devices, the life of the battery will be overwhelmingly shorter than the life of the device. A computer that might get 4 hours on a charge might easily last 4 years. Primary cells would be an extraordinary waste, rechargables are the only way to go.
For a low drain device, like a little slice of battery backed RAM, battery self-discharge could easily exceed load drain. This means that a modestly sized lithium primary cell will la
Re:Hurray for LandFills! (Score:5, Funny)
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I have a 4-cell charger that will charge 2200MaH Ni-MH cells in 15 minutes. Special cells, but damn, I can recharge a spare set in about a half hour. Not unreasonably priced back then. These were the IC3 cells. I can't find them any more, apparently Ray-O-Vac discontinued them in favor of hybrid cells, not the same thing...
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But I think this type of design could eventually/soon get laptops under 100~150$ and that would be a very good thing for poor countries. By type of design I mean using as many common and
Re:Waiting for Recall (Score:5, Insightful)
Ah, you're that person companies have to write stupid shit like: "Don't get in the bath with this laptop", for indemnity, and because you're retarded.
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My favourite of all time was on a flexible keyboard:
It cannot be putted into the oven and putted on the fire to roast
Good job I have a large oven, otherwise I probably couldn't even fit turkeys or my keyboard in it.
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Ah, you're that person companies have to write stupid shit like: "Don't get in the bath with this laptop", for indemnity, and because you're retarded.
Remember what home power tools were like before GFI and double-insulation?
How easy it was to set yourself up for a severe electric shock?
Fast-forward to 2010 and you will see maybe 20 or 30 electrocution deaths a year. Use a Ground-Fault Circuit-interrupter With Every Power Tool [cpsc.gov]
It is always easier to re-design the machine than the user.
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Ah, you're that person companies have to write stupid shit like: "Don't get in the bath with this laptop", for indemnity, and because you're retarded.
So this cute little laptop was taking a bath, and I wandered by and thought "Damn! I'd like to get into the bath with that laptop". So I undressed and hopped in and .... KAPOW! Electric shock!
Doesn't anyone else think that when they see "Don't get in the bath with this laptop"? Someone? Anyone at all?
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Nyarlathotep? (Score:2)
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No 12 Vdc power input? How do I run this in my car? Now I've got to buy an inverter.
Re:Waiting for Recall (Score:4, Interesting)
Hack it and install a DC power socket. Its only a cheap device after all. How about installing a three pin regulator while you are at it?
Re:Waiting for Recall (Score:4, Insightful)
Direct AC connection? 110-240V? I don't know about you guys, but I ain't gonna put that damn thing on my lap. This is a laptop. I have spilled coffee, juice, other drinks on my laptops. I don't want 240V shock on my private parts. I let my young kids to use laptop too and certainly wouldn't allow this one to them.
Most likely the AC-DC power converter is sealed up. Take a look at a "wall wart" power supply sometime - do you see anywhere for liquid to leak in? Even my EEE's AC adaptor, which isn't sealed, also doesn't feature any openings into which liquid could readily flow.
And then, what do you think this combination of liquid and voltage is going to do, exactly? Is the voltage going to follow the liquid's electrical path out of the abundantly ground-planed environment of the power supply and computer, and follow a path up your arms, through your heart, and then back down to the computer to get to a ground path?
I'm not feeling too scared, really.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Recently, I received shock from my iron even though it had a ground pin (I was not ironing, so I was trying to test, if it was hot enough). When I opened it, I found that the ground wire was broken and live wire was touching the metallic case. This was just at the place where it was receiving 3 pin input. So even if the AC to DC converter is sealed, you may not be safe.
Re:Waiting for Recall (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Waiting for Recall (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Waiting for Recall (Score:5, Funny)
You show them what little capacitance for suffering their antics you have, and induct them into a local orphanage.
Re:Waiting for Recall (Score:5, Funny)
How dare they conduct themselves in that fashion!
Re:Waiting for Recall (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Waiting for Recall (Score:5, Funny)
An Ohmage to Thomas Edison, if I relay correctly.
Re:Waiting for Recall (Score:4, Funny)
Your comment sparked an interest and I just couldn't resist replying.
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed, some people don't like them, but there's much less resistance when you tell them in parallel.
Have to know... (Score:2)
DId you JUST change your signature to what it says now, or is that entirely coincidence...
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
That's gotta be one of the longest press releases (written to be an review) that I've seen in a long time.
I wonder what it costs to have your ad run on the front of Slashdot as a story these days.
Re:Woah. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm still trying to decide whether to be disappointed that the editors no longer care, or happy that they're being more honest about blatantly slashvertising.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Runs linux? Check. Oddball underdog processor? Check. Not in general availability yet? Check. A few interesting wrinkles on the popular-but-now-somewhat-dated netbook concept? Check.
Re: (Score:2)
Plus, as far as slashvertisements go, I don't terribly mind when it's a company that will probably end up bringing technology to thousands of kids who've never touched a computer (much less owned one).
It's OLPC minus the bureaucracy.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Regardless... I am in love.
Seriously.
This machine specs out like a lady at my parents' house, and a slut in the bedroom.
Re: (Score:2)
This machine specs out like a lady at my parents' house, and a slut in the bedroom.
Sir, I salute your ability to find a way to add innuendo to common computer specifications.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
Michael Barnes' company, NohrTec, is about 3km from my Bangkok condo, and I appreciate what he tries to do. All of his products are very FOSS-friendly. He even had a special version of Puppy Linux for his old MicroClients (I own one, and it runs Ubuntu 9.10 perfectly). There aren't that many companies out there designing hardware specifically for Linux and low-poer requirements, and he probably deserves more exposure than he gets. He certainly deserves as much as Pandora and the like get.
The XCore86 is a re
Re: (Score:2)
For me it is an unusually interesting slashvertisement so I think it belongs on the front page.
Wow. (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2, Troll)
We already passed that point when moderators stopped reading the comments.
Re:SD slot??? (Score:5, Insightful)
SD slot??? WHY??? How about just a USB reader and a USB port on the machine?
Then you can use SD, CF, microSD, xD, miniSD, MMS,...
If you look at the pictures: the SD slot is internal. It's one of the options for primary storage. I can only hope the thing has a very good SD card interface... The reason they included this slot is to provide a cheap way to configure the machine with solid-state storage. SD cards can't compete with good-quality SSDs, but it's very cheap to add an SD slot to a machine, the SD cards themselves are cheap and easy to find, and it doesn't take much physical space inside the machine.
I own a EEE 901 - personally I find the built-in card reader quite convenient. IMO it beats dragging around a USB accessory, at least in cases where I'm just dealing with one memory card format. (It's actually very rare these days that I have to deal with anything other than SD - though I do sometimes travel with a USB card reader just in case.) I like that even if I forget to bring a card reader with me, my 901 can read SD cards for me... Other netbooks are even more handy in this regard, as they feature multiformat readers...
I honestly wouldn't want to run a machine like this on AA's, and I'm not sure that having that capability is worth the trouble - but I do kind of like that they threw that feature in there. I can imagine a couple years down the road having trouble finding a replacement battery for my 901 (well, Asus uses the same battery pack in other models, so maybe I've got a while before that would be a problem) It's kind of nice that this machine uses "off-the-rack" li-po batteries instead of proprietary packs, and the AA fallback option is interesting... Reminds me of my old TRS-80 model 100, actually. :) I've seen tons of old laptops at flea markets - rendered not only obsolete but fairly useless as well as a result of the batteries having gone. Meanwhile, I was using my model 100 to type up reports in the late 1990s. The idea of a machine like this being genericized to the point where replacement batteries can be found anywhere is really appealing - even if the machine is very weak by today's standards.
Overall, I'd say the machine is pretty much junk. XD But it's fun junk, like the way the original EEE 7 and 9 inch models were fun junk. When they mention an internal USB slot it makes me think that they've got hobbyists in mind as much as anything... Netbook hackers just love an internal USB slot. :) ...Though it does seem that you need that slot for wi-fi, so maybe not?
Re: (Score:2)
"Reminds me of my old TRS-80 model 100, actually. :) "
I was just going to say that it sounded from the summary that someone had finally reinvented the "Model T" (as it was affectionately known). These probably won't have the mechanical longevity of those, however.
Re: (Score:2)
From the web site:
> Internally, there is a SD socket which can be used as a low cost boot or storage device. There is also space for a 2.5 inch hard disk. Externally there is another SD socket. that can be used for transferring data from mobile phones, digital cameras or other devices.
Perhaps you could use the external SD socket as, well, an external SD socket.
I did see that - but the review seems to contradict that information (actually, the reviewer specifically complained that there's no external SD slot...) - I'm not sure which bit of info to believe, honestly. <shrug> doesn't matter really.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
***for the times you run out of power and can find AA batteries but not an outlet?***
More for the times you left the charger in Dayton, or the charger pins don't match the wall plug, or the $#@(*& charger just won't work for no very obvious reason. You really can get AA cells just about anywhere.
Re: (Score:2)
I wonder if you could add one more battery and be able to then swap out all of the batteries one at a time without losing power.
Re:uhhhhh....... (Score:5, Insightful)
This reminds me of the time when I was in Nuremberg and the batteries for my camera died.
I ran into some random shop and managed to get a new pack of AAs without even needing to speak the language (I speak _some_ German, but I have no clue how to say 'AA batteries')
So, say you're in some random city outside and the batteries die. Where do you plan on plugging in? Sure, a laptop is a bit different than a camera, but still. You can't plug in everywhere. You _can_ usually find batteries everywhere. What if you're taking a 12 hour flight? Sure is nice to have extra batteries to switch out in such a case (I carry a spare for my laptop in such occasions). Or if you're on a train? Or even a coffeehouse without public outlets or where the public outlets are all in use or far away.
Let's see, this week alone I've been in the following situations where I would _like_ to be able to charge my laptop but no outlet was available:
Running a table for a student organization on my campus. There are no outlets where they place the tables, and I can't exactly just move. And hell, in the summer we do those things outside.
Attending a meeting. Yes, there are outlets in the room. Two of them. No, there weren't any open chairs near the outlets.
Hosting a meeting. For some reason they didn't think to install a power outlet anywhere near the VGA input for the projector...
Just sitting outside doing work.
And this is on a college campus, where everyone has laptops with them damn near all the time. What about third world countries, which is what this laptop is really _designed_ for? You really expect children in a third world country to have access to a power outlet absolutely everywhere that they go?
Re: (Score:2)
Likewise, do you really expect children in a third world country to be able to run down to the 7-11 and pick up 8 new AA batteries? Remember that whole "$0.50 feeds this child for a week". Hmmm, batteries for my laptop for a few hours, or food for the next three weeks. That becomes a pretty tough decision, where batteries won't win.
I will agree with you, it
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
How do you say "AA" battery in Romanian?
R6
How do you say "AA" battery in German?
Mignon
Re: (Score:2)
NImH batteries are 1.2 volts alkaline are 1.5.
12 - 9.6 = an extra 2.4 volts it wasn;t designed for.
Sure, but most electronics today is equipped with a regulator. Also, under load, the Alkaline go rarely over 1.3V
Re:What's missing? (Score:4, Informative)
It's ok, you can call it a clit mouse [xkcd.com] if you want.