John noted this in yesterday’s Tech5 Podshow. Here’s the details.
PC maker Everex rolls out a budget desktop PC today that costs $200 and combines the Ubuntu Linux kernel with Google applications and open source software.
The machine uses a 1.5GHz Via C7-D processor, Via UniChrome Pro IGP graphics core, and comes equipped with 512MB of memory, an 80GB hard drive, a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive, and has built-in Ethernet.
But the real secret sauce is a software suite that begins with what the company calls its “gOS,” which turns out to be a customized Ubuntu Linux kernel. The software bundle includes open source desktop applications highlighted by OpenOffice, GIMP photo software, the Xing DVD and video player, and Rhythmbox music management software.
Additionally, the PC’s user interface includes icons pointing to popular Google applications such as Documents and Spreadsheets, Calendar, News, and Maps. Also pre-installed is the Firefox web browser, Meebo IM, and Skype.
Special note of the inclusion of Skype. Should piss off Telcos.
I bet they could get it down to 100.00 if they made it out of bamboo.
I could buy a faster computer for the same amount of money and install the FREE software myself. Duh.
lols
improbus:
“I could by a faster computer for the same amount of money and install the FREE software my self. Duh.”
Doubtful but I’m all ears. Prove it.
Sorry, guys – but, instead of sitting in front of a computer costing 5 or 10 times as much and patting myself on the back for being so bright and witty – I think it’s great that someone who’s shopping WalMart can buy a computer for themselves or their kids that they realize they can afford.
Getting folks access to what computing and the web offers is always a positive step. Making it closer to affordable is part of the process.
I wonder if it has PCI slots. Does that price include a monitor?
Wow! Lots of good cheap linux computer news this week. Also check out the EEE Pc on Newegg.com. Item number N82E16834220244. It’s a $400 tiny notebook that is all solid state storage.
How much computer does the average family really need. I think this set up will fit the bill for many out there, who would not be able to afford a higher end system costing 3x as much. Plus any computer thats helps spread Ubuntu to the masses is ok in my book.
Why all the skeptism about this computer?
(not just here but in the blogs I looked at.)
I think it s fantastic — a kind of dream-come-true, really.
For many YEARS we in the geek community talked about computers being this cheap and now that it’s here, we resist it!
Did we expect a $200 computer to also be a state-of-the-art powerhouse? OF COURSE it is an underpowered basic machine.
My next dream is a similarly priced laptop with no internal moving parts (like my old Tandy 102!)
If you’ve ever used Puppy Linux or PortableApps.com, you know that the OS and a whole bunch of apps can fit on a couple of megs of flash memory.
But, when my dream computer arrives, I now expect that everybody will knee-jerk criticize it!
The problem here is going to be parents buying the rugrats this great $200 computer then walking over to the software section and buying a couple of PC games. (You know no one at Wal-Mart is going to tell them they won’t run) They will be all wrapped up and put under the Xmas tree.
Come Xmas morning little Johnny wil be able to write grandma a letter or help her with her budget. It’s going to make forgetting batteries look great in comparison.
My bet is 50%+ return rate on the machines.
Disposable computers, pffffttt!
Sean >> Wow! Lots of good cheap linux computer news this week. Also check out the EEE Pc on Newegg.com. Item number N82E16834220244. It’s a $400 tiny notebook that is all solid state storage.
I checked out your tip — what a cool computer! I would really like one for traveling.
It seems to me that the price-point is about a hundred dollars too high. It seems well worth it, at $400 except that people can buy a conventional laptop for about $500 at the same web site.
As for me … I’d be willing to pay a little more for less computer.
When I’m traveling, I need less, not more and that laptop seems about right for me.
No.10 good point that’s always a problem when buying at a big box as opposed to a specialty retail outfit.Just remember Ya gets what ya pay for sometimes…..I don’t trust cheap computers because if you really use the burner they usually need to be fixed every 3 or 4 months.The average burner seems to last about 100 burns.BTW no O.S. usually means no fun.I recently bought a refurb from Tiger.With shipping it came to 255.00.No bargain but it came with XP which I prefer.
I can’t criticize the idea behind this unit…
But lets face the real issue. The market for these machines is not made up of Mensa candidates. It’s poor people, and poor people often means under-educated, and sometimes means just plain dumb (though certainly not always)
These people need support. Not the strong suit of the Linux crowd. When hardware fails or software gets screwed up, what is it going to cost to service.
When my high end machines glitch, I just fix them. But when their machines glitch, they own $200 bricks.
It’s all warm and fuzzy to talk about how great Linux is and perpetuate the myth that Microsoft is evil… but the reality is that Linux is not the OS of the masses and MS software works very well… If anything, MS should be criticized for not having a low cost OS solution that can be used in a machine like this.
I think the solid state laptop’s time has come.
#10 will you stop with the PC game bullshit. Every time the M$ army comes to bash Linux and Mac they bring out the PC game issue. Sorry to bust your bubble, but its not really an issue. The bulk of computer user ARE NOT PC gamers. They couldn’t give a shit because they own a game console.
Aren’t desktops basically 200-300 already?
Aren’t desktops basically 200-300 already?
This is the point I was trying to make earlier. You can buy a refurbished computer more powerful than the one mentioned here for the same amount of money (check your local computer store circular) and if you have a IQ with at least three digits you can install Linux for free yourself. It really isn’t that hard.
#17 – Not good ones.
#16 – Real gamers game on PCs – But let’s ignore that. What about video editing? Sound recording and engineering? CAD design? Large database management?
There should be run of the mill cheap hardware for the masses who browse singles site and check football scores and sync iPods. But real computers are important to a very large number of us… and these Linux toys or Apples are not real PCs for real work.
And every time you abbreviate Microsoft as M$ you sound like an idiot. I know you are a conservative, poor people hating, capitalist… but you want your slur against Microsoft to be that they are a company that tries to earn a profit for their shareholders? That’s different from Apple or the various Linux dealers how?
And don’t its because MS software sucks, because it doesn’t. When you have a 90% market share, your flaws are easier to see, but other OSes crash and other OSes have weaknesses too.
@OFTLO
Put down the coffee cup and step away.
My only problem with this computer is the droves of dumb-ass Wal-mart customers clogging up the net.
#20 – What? I wasn’t ranting. You know when I’m ranting don’t ya? 🙂
#20 its not coffee, but a nice cool glass of M$ koolaid.
Yeah, I’d like to see the specs on this. Actually, a picture of just the mini- ITX motherboard would help satisfy my curiosity. If it’s like a lot of the mini-ITX boards available, it has one real PCI slot and a funky connector that’s electrically compatible with PCI, but requires an industrial standard (read expensive) expansion board to work. If the modem is on the mainboard, then the PCI Slot is free. The onboard video should play DVD’s but NOT most recent games. An open PCI slot means that you could put a fairly decent video card in, not an 8800 GT or anything, but good enough to play a lot of available games with the settings and resolution turned down some. A PVR tuner card is another possiblity for someone buiding a cheap MYTHTV box. The $200 is cheaper than you can get a comparable mini-ITX board for by itself. It’s a potential Geek-mod toy.
This doesn’t strike me as being a good computer either. It doesn’t have an Intel or an AMD chip.
#23 – Whatever… I’m critical of Microsoft when they do wrong… and wow, have they ever done wrong on more than one occasion or what?
But your constant tirades against Microsoft are not that dissimilar to listening to a Klansmen rant about blacks and Jews. It’s just unbridled and unjustifiable hate.
And the M$ abbreviation will always be the sign that the comment is born of irrational rage.
#25 – You can say that again… I’m an AMD fan, but I wouldn’t turn my nose up at an Intel chip… But seriously, in the mainstream PC world, what other chip can compete?
These should use AMD chips. Entry level Athlon 64s like 4200 X2s would be great.
#26 – Considering the twin horrors of backwards compatibility and security concerns brought to the fore by the development of the Internet, Microsoft has done pretty well, all things considered. I still think they can wear the asshat pretty well, too.
#26 I resent you equating my dislike for M$ to being a racist. I guess you’re just showing everyone here that you are a fucking douche.
#29 – What I was comparing was the irrationality of your hatred of the company and that inh no way implied that you are a racist. If you honestly think that I meant it that way, I do apologize…
But that doesn’t change the fact that your opinions about Microsoft are just loony ravings with no rational thought behind them.
#28 – There are many times that they get to wear the Ass Hat. Microsoft Genuine Advantage is one. The way they they strong armed OEM dealers for so many years is another. Releasing Vista with broken support for 5.1 audio (and so many other problems) is a third.
When these guys do wrong, they do it big. But that said, XP is a solid OS. Meeting the demands of so fickle and disagreeable a consumer base as we are isn’t easy. Balancing the needs of an enterprise with the needs of a million households is no small task. Managing 40 million lines of code will never be a perfectly executed task.
MS has strengths and weaknesses. Criticism is fair. But the broad sweep of “MS sucks and is evil” is just boneheaded and wrong.