Linux

Call it the week of Splashtop (see our Splashtop FAQ). Earlier this week we got some alone time with the Voodoo Envy’s IOS environment powered by Splashtop. Today, an ASUS representative stopped by our offices with the Eee Box and we got some more alone time with a pre-Windows Splashtop based enviornment - ASUS’ ExpressGate.

Though the Voodoo and ASUS Splashtop interfaces have been customized, they work in the same way.

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Today, Iomega announced that it’s rolling out a new integrated local and online backup solution that will allow user to double up on storing and protecting vital data. The company’s new external hard drives, which will be available this month, are compatible with a new downloadable software bundle that contains EMC Retrospect Express backup software and Mozy’s online backup service (2GB free; unlimited storage for $4.95). There are three versions of the Retrospect/Mozy combo:

Retrospect Express HD 2.5 for Windows is the basic model. It lets users send information to an external drive, to the cloud, or both.

Retrospect Express 7.6 for Windows is designed for more savvy users who want the option to backup to an external drive, CDs, DVDs, and Iomega’s REV Backup Drive. It includes a launch button for both MozyHome and MozyPro.

If your notebook doesn’t run Windows, you aren’t left out of the party. Retrospect Express for Macintosh 6.1 includes many of the same features as Retrospect Express 7.6 for Windows, but lacks the integration with MozyHome (the software can be downloaded from Iomega’s site). Iomega is also planning a Linux version that will be released at an unspecified date.

Note: If you’re a current Iomega drive owner who took advantage of the Retrospect software offered with the unit you purchased, you’ll be prompted to upgrade to Mozy.

On my daily walk from the subway to my office in Times Square, I pass a handful of electronic kiosks. The hoards of cell phones in the window usually catch my eye, but not enough to make me venture into the shady stores to check them out.

But one store on 39th Street and 7th Avenue with a neon-orange, marker scribbled sign reading “Laptop Sale from $99.95″ gave me a kick in the butt to open the door to a pushy salesman today. Some will say that my love for cheap laptops has gone too far. I say nonsense.

What will $99.95 buy you at the small electronics store at West 39th Street and 7th Avenue? A used laptop and we aren’t talking a used OLPC XO or Eee PC. The extremely pushy salesman pulled out an eight year old Dell Latitude LM. The laptop, which is as thick as a Harry Potter book, to my surprise actually booted up without an AC adapter.

When we asked what operating system it ran, all we got from our salesman, who we will call Sketch, was “It has Microsoft Office inside!” And he was absolutely right. When the Windows 2000 Professional desktop displayed we found a Microsoft Office suite under Programs. Not too shabby. He wouldn’t let us check the system properties but he told us it had 12GB of space. The CD-ROM drive on the right side of the machine miraculously opened with a splash of dust. We suspect it had less than 1GB of RAM. Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier this month, we spoke with Gerry Carr, marketing manager at Canonical, about the upcoming Ubuntu Netbook Remix, a specialized version of Ubuntu aimed squarely at the mini-notebook market. In the interview, Carr said that Ubuntu Netbook Remix would have a boot time of 5 to 10 seconds, but it appears that may have been in error. Carr contacted us this morning with this statement:

In our interview, I inadvertently gave you some misleading information with regard to potential boot times in upcoming Netbook products running the Ubuntu Netbook Remix or derivatives of it. I spoke about 5–10 second boot times, which is way off what we are seeing right now and was based on a misinterpretation of some data I saw in a very early spec for these category of machines. In short, I was plain wrong and we don’t want to set expectations we are ultimately going to disappoint in market.

We are working very hard to reduce the boot times we are currently seeing, which we think are too long. Right now we can’t give accurate estimates but it will be longer then 5–10 seconds for sure. When we have more accurate estimates, I will be happy to share it with you and your readers.

So there you have it folks: the real deal on Ubuntu Netbook Remix’s boot time. Much thanks to Gerry Carr for clearing up the situation.

Today, Toshiba took the wraps off its refresh of its Satellite notebook line- the 15.4-inch A300, the 14.1-inch M300, the 17-inch P300, and the 13.3-inch U400- which feature several improvements over previous models. These include:

• 64-bit computing: The notebooks are now compatible with the 64-bit version of Windows Vista, which lets the systems take advantage of a full 4GB of memory for editing photos and video or creating audio files.
• e-SATA port: Enables high-speed file transfers between a notebook and an external HDD, with rates up to 5X faster than USB 2.0
• Three Sleep-and-Charge USB ports: Users can power their gadgets via USB even when the systems are powered down.
• Facial Recognition: Users can log into their systems by using just their faces.
• Intel’s latest Core 2 Duo processors
• Built-in FM Tuner

Besides the new additions, pricing and configurations remain the same for these notebooks as their previous iterations, the details of which can be found here. The Satellite refreshes are available for purchase now.

Acer sure moves fast. This morning, a little over a week after the company announced its first entry into the mini-notebook space, the Acer Aspire one (Linux version, full review here) arrived in our offices to much glee. We couldn’t wait to test Acer’s answer to the Eee PC, HP Mini-Note, and MSI Wind NB.

However, before we began testing, we talked to our Acer rep who informed us that ours is a pre-production model that has a handful of known bugs (primarily inconsistent Wi-Fi and video playback issues), which are being fixed before the system ships. We kept that in mind as we dug into the system and evaluated its potential.

Design and Aestheics

Upon getting our hands on the Acer Aspire one, one of our first thoughts is that this doesn’t look like a budget machine. Our system sports a glossy white lid on the outside (it will also be available in black and blue), and a glossy black bezel on the inside which frames the 8.9-inch, 1024 x 600-pixel resolution display Unfortunately, it was a bit of a fingerprint magnet.

What we didn’t like is that the Acer Aspire one has a gap between the bottom of the display and the base of the machine, which reminds us a little bit of the Everex Cloudbook, a mini-notebook we want to forget. Whether or not you like a gap between your screen and your notebook body is totally subjective so we won’t hold that against the Aspire one. Overall, it’s a nice look and one that we’d gladly whip out at a coffee shop without fear of pointing and giggling.

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Timed perfectly with the deluge of mini-notebook news coming out of Computex, Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu Linux, announced its new operating system: Ubuntu Netbook Remix.

Set to arrive preinstalled on mini-notebooks later this year, the Ubuntu Netbook Remix will feature some of our open-source faves such as Firefox 3, Thunderbird, Pidgin, OpenOffice, Rhythmbox, FBReader, Lifrea, and F-spot.

We sat down for a conversation with Gerry Carr, marketing manager at Canonical, to discuss the new Atom-powered OS that’s designed to make Ubuntu the face of the mini-notebook space.

What is Ubuntu Netbook Remix and how does it differ from other Linux distributions?
It’s not a distribution. Those are products with daily builds for end users to get the ISO and put on any PC. This isn’t. We’re calling it a remix, so basically it takes the core elements built into the desktop edition and it’s optimized for the Intel Atom processor. It’s built for small-factor machines and is fast-on, fast-off. It’s all about getting on the Web quickly, as that’s the primary user experience on these machines. It’s built equally for touch as it is for mass driven.

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The Eee PC family has developed a rabid following due in no small part to its tiny footprint, lightweight build, and wallet-friendly prices. Naturally, ASUS has decided to extended the brand—this time to desktop computing. Similar to the way the Eee PC made traditional notebooks appear downright bulky in comparison, the Asus Eee Box B202 looks to make the desktop mobile with this 2.2-pound, 8.5 x 7.0 x 1.0-inch tower.

Check the specs:

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Yesterday I spent a lot of time with 3K Computer’s RazorBook 400. At the time, the system was priced at $399 and compared with the $399 Eee PC 4G (Xandros), it just couldn’t hold a candle. I noted the system’s inability to load on new programs and Flash to view streaming video. Today the company has announced that the system is now priced at $299! Coincidence? I think not.

I received an e-mail this morning from 3K Computers in response to my concerns. It read:

The 3K RazorBook 400 is not designed to support the functions that they [LAPTOPMag.com] are attempting at this time. Its intended as a low cost, portable computing appliance, for basic internet browsing, word processing, spreadsheets, e-mail, media/video playback, online Flash Games, and instant messaging.

Not intended to support what we’re attempting? Dude, it’s not like we were trying to turn the thing into a Web server. We were just “attempting” to view YouTube!

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I am a big fan of Xandros on the Eee PC, but I’ve always said it has its limitations, especially when it doesn’t give me access to my favorite Windows programs. But when my editor told me earlier this week about Wine HQ, I nearly freaked. Wine HQ enables a compatibility layer that allows Windows programs to run on a Linux OS.

Wine isn’t the easiest to configure, but I figured it out with the help of the ever-informed Eee PC forum members. Check out my step-by-step instructions here.

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