Comments on: Dell (sorta limited) Netbook for $199

By: Moon Shot into the Blogosphere « The Dodge Retort

Moon Shot into the Blogosphere « The Dodge Retort — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:00:23 +0000

[...] BTW, it was Nine Lives’ Workswithu.com blog about Ubuntu Linux web site that drove all that traffic Tuesday to a TDR netbook post. [...]

By: HP Drops Mini 1000 price, Dell Still Lowest « The Dodge Retort

HP Drops Mini 1000 price, Dell Still Lowest « The Dodge Retort — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 16:31:24 +0000

[...] to $279.99. While it has twice as much storage (8G solid state) than the $199.95 Dell Mini which I blogged about yesterday, the HP price cut seems mild by comparison. I could not find the original HP price of the Mini [...]

By: jdodge349

jdodge349 — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:12:10 +0000

To be honest, I have not used Linux…but XP on the HP Mini and Asus Eee boots pretty fast. There again, I have not loaded tons of stuff onto them like I have my desktop which takes fully 5-7 minutes to boot. And I take stuff off it periodically which I suspect few people do…

By: Sokraates

Sokraates — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:12:45 +0000

The problem with Linux is that

1) it’s not Windows and
2) customers don’t realize this

Netbooks look like Laptops so most customers expect them to work like Laptops and that includes having Windows (I refer to the general customers, not us computer-litereate people reading this blog).

The higher return rates for netbook result from customers buying a netbook, trying to install some Windows app from the internet and then getting furious when it doesn’t work. A truly unpleasant surprise.

As long as the customers are not properly enlightened by the vendors that Linux is not compatible to Windows, Linux will in many cases fail to meet the customer’s expectations. This has nothing to do with the technical quality of the Linux-OS installed on the Netbook.

By: Cataract Moon

Cataract Moon — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 06:23:40 +0000

I must disagree with the previous writer. Linux does not always boot faster than XP. Ubuntu and OpenSuse both boot slowly in my opinion. But, an operating system should not be judged simply by its booting capacity. The netbooks could really strip down its OS and create a fast Linux boot, but offering a 4gb flash drive while giving XP better opportunities to succeed is a slap in the face to Linux Distros. I cannot wait until the Netbook Wave truly explodes; I actually like the new Ubuntu GUI for netbooks. See Ubuntu Remix at http://www.canonical.com/projects/ubuntu/unr

By: Stormy

Stormy — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:52:59 +0000

I don’t think Linux restricts the netbook market. I believe most people use netbooks for browsing and as long as they have Firefox, they can get everything done.

Linux is actually an advantage on netbooks because it boots much, much faster. On the order of seconds instead of minutes.

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:48:23 +0000

One question – “It comes with Linux which severely restricts the market for it.” Err, have you looked at or dare I ask used Linux lately?

It is no longer the OS of die hard techies, but is actually a very usable competitor to either Windows or OSX. There are almost no tasks (I personally can’t think of any at all) that can not be completed perfectly well on pretty much any Linux variant.

On limited hardware such as the 9n Linux can provided an environment that is perfectly usable for pretty much anyone, unlike Windows or OSX.

I personally recommend the openSUSE distribution of Linux, but ultimately I recommend any variant of Linux. It is perfectly usable for everyone, not just the uber geek.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 13:50:04 +0000

Wow, 512 meg, 4gig? Not useful enough to bother with.