On Feb 1, 2008 10:38 AM, James Shoemaker <<a href="mailto:james@dhlake.com">james@dhlake.com</a>> wrote:<br><div class="gmail_quote"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div class="Ih2E3d">Brandon Griffis wrote:<br>> I have a friend on another Linux list that won't shut up about them. But<br>> honestly I don't get it. If it were really an inexpensive option, then yes<br>> it'd be rather interesting. But you can get a "real" laptop for <$400 these<br>
> days. If they were really the initially advertised $200 then it'd be<br>> interesting, but as most are pushing $400 or more I really don't see the<br>> point.<br><br></div> Where's the $400 laptop with 3.5 hr battery life, or even 2.5 hr<br>
battery life? That weighs what the eee does. And is as small as the<br>eee is.<br> It's the battery life and size that attract me to the eee, not just<br>the price.<br><div class="Ih2E3d"><br>> I do think there's a market for something like this if they can put a decent<br>
> size screen on it and give at least 4GB for the OS and still keep it around<br>> $200. But so far nothing I've seen comes close.<br><br></div> What's a decent sized screen? One of the big advantages of the eee,<br>
it's small size, if you make the screen much larger it would have to<br>make the whole thing bigger.<br></blockquote></div><br>I got to play with one a little in November. It was in some Asian language so I couldn't get the full effect, but really, the screen was pretty nice. The size of the screen and keyboard felt good. It was obvious you were using a tiny notebook but it should get the work done.<br>
<br>I think the price holds it back. At $199 - 249 they'd sell like hotcakes.<br><br>Of course, the real question is, what can you do with these that makes them valuable? For me, I don't write that many documents or spreadsheets on the go. If I wanted something to check my e-mail I'd use a blackberry or similar. If I wanted to surf the web then I'd hold out for one of the devices coming on the heals of the iphone that have a cellular data connection and also work like a phone or a device like the Nokia N series that uses wifi but still fits in a pocket. If I want to play games, do graphics work or write code I really need a bigger machine (screen and horse power). If anything, this device is too big.<br>
<br>I will say that if you're looking for a linux based mobile computer that can fit in your pocket, you don't have to wait long. There are a ton being engineered now. Soon, maybe this year, there will be far more Linux "devices" (computers, MIDs, phones, etc) than Windows devices.<br clear="all">
<br>-- <br>Matthew Nuzum<br>newz2000 on freenode