Greetings from Calpe, Spain

I can’t believe that you left the Sylvania Meso g off of the list. It has an Intel Atom 1.6 GHz processor, 1 GB memory, an 80 GB SATA HD, 3 USB 2.0 ports, a built-in SD card reader, built-in wireless b/g, an external monitor port, an ethernet port, a webcam, and a 1024 x 600 screen. It comes with Ubuntu Netbook Remix installed on it. Plus, the price is SWEET … only $269 on Amazon.com. A fully charged battery will allow over 3 hours of battery runtime. You can’t go wrong with this one! And no, I’m not affiliated with Sylvania. I’m just a VERY satisfied user!!

Not being an Ubuntu fan, I installed a FULL version of PCLinuxOS 2009 (test release 6, aka TR6) on it, and it runs amazingly fast and is incredibly stable.

parnote

+ G-dium : A MIPS based netbook. 100% Linux ( no Windows version ) with an attractive dev program ( OLPH ), running Mandriva : http://www.gdium.com/
http://www.gdium.com/product/blog ( videos, infos ).

+ Hercules e-cafe : A netbook with commercial games available and developed specifically for it by Gameloft ( known for their mobile games ). running Mandriva :
http://www.ecafe.hercules.com/us/
http://www.gameloft.com/netbook-games/
http://www.ecafe.hercules.com/us/blog-actu/

Processor, screen size, storage needs will vary with users but the items above are some of the key reasons people might buy a net book over a notebook which aren’t that much more expensive than most net books. I would say the computer companies are selling net books because they are a novelty item that can be sold at a higher margin than more commodity items such as low end notebooks.

Here is what I see as really the next phase (net books are intermediate devices).

Think small tablet pc with a touch pad or touch screen interface (like a Kindle or Palm with a bigger screen) built in wireless and solid state storage, camera & microphone and usb only peripheral ports. Keyboards should be separate accessories and will now doubt vary from be hard form factor to flexible rubber type keyboards that can be easily folded up and stored in a bag or even a pocket.

These devices presume an increasing number of users moving to online storage of data and use of online apps. The need for hard disks on these devices is somewhat of a mystery to me. These are not intended to be hold all storage devices.

So far these devices seem like really cheaply made devices and more of an upgraded version of a ToysRUs type kids computer. A lid that covers the screen for protection but can be opened at more than a 180 degree angle so it can act as a stand and easel would be most welcome.

Maybe, but I’m not sure if that applies to everyone. Plus if you want a longer battery life, you should run XP. Every spec I could find online for these devices showed XP with a longer battery life than the Linux version on the same hardware.

> 2nd : Pricing with Linux as opposed to XP

I’m not sure why the price differential matters. In general, a netbook with XP will run about $50 more. When you highlight that you end up with a situation like with the MSI Wind. People bought the cheaper model (Linux) and returned almost half of them.

> 3rd : Wireless access functionality (does it work).

I think you can take it for granted that the wireless will work on a netbook coming from a vendor with Linux pre-installed. That’s exactly why we did pre-installed netbooks rather than “you might be able to get slack running on netbook X.”

@linux_wizard971 Thanks for the links.

I’m getting a number of emails with pointers to “white box” netbook vendors and some less-than-obvious manufacturers (like Sylvania). We’ll probably need to follow-up with another article expanding this list.

http://itechlog.com/easy-tips/2008/12/04/3g-mobille-broadband-huawei-e156g-usb-dongle-on-linux/

Hope it helps!

No flaming from Linux users … the facts are the facts. Linux still doesn’t have power management mastered as well as the evil empire from Redmond does. Also, such laptop functions as “Standby,” “Suspend to RAM,” and “Suspend to Disk” are truly a hit-and-miss proposition in Linux as to whether they will work with your laptop.

Aside from all of that, I’m perfectly happy with a greater than 3 hour battery life from a rather small 4-cell Lithium Ion battery that comes with my Sylvania Meso g.

The dialer config was setup firstly for the Huawei E220 but then someone tried it on the e156g and it worked. Have you had a go at it?

Hmmm. Well, the good news is that it is being sold in the US…sort of. I received one, an S10e, less than a week ago. While mine is sold into the enducation market, it is somewhat different than other S10′s (with an SSD instead of a hard drive, and a six cell battery as standard equipment).

Though some will argue, this is still an S10. Mine comes with SLED installed, which I replaced with Crunchbang more easily than I would have expected. It is a sweet box, and with the SSD it is more resistant to damage when being dropped on the floor by our “young leaders of tomorrow”.

Is there any place to get them? I tried the generic Ubuntu netbook remix, and it crashed after a few days. I’m back with the stock Xandros OS that came with the unit, but find the lack of ability to remove a lot of things confining. I know there is a way to unlock the Xando easy mode, but it didn’t look very user friendly. Has anyone listed a SIMPLE and COMPLETE set of instructions for this? TIA John

I came across some interesting information about the Windows EULA. It turns out that if you do not accept the terms, you can send the software(cd and sticker) back to the manufacturer and get your money back for windows. This really changes the game if you were not buying a windows laptop because you don’t want to support windows. Plus it brings the Asus 1000he down to ~$280.
http://lifehacker.com/software/goldenrule/run-linux-and-get-money-back-on-your-new-pc-216393.php

Too bad Dell stock has completely gone down the sh*tter since then – I highly doubt Dell is giving any refunds these days, with their bumpy performance, not to mention lawsuits… An Asus 1000he for $280 is nice though