Comments on: SubNotebook Gladiators (Part 2)

By: OLPCOMGWTFBBQ » siliconchef.com 2.0

OLPCOMGWTFBBQ » siliconchef.com 2.0 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 03:19:33 +0000

[...] I am so glad to be an EeePC user right now. This just makes the little libertarian in me scream with joy, since the free market has apparently done something that OLPC can’t … make Linux a good option for the average computer user. [...]

By: Rick

Rick — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 01:15:46 +0000

I have an eee pc and now you make me want to get an OLPC. It is a shame they discontinued their buy one give one program.

The screen is a little small, but XP has utils to fake (subpixel) into 800×600 and even 1024×768. It is very useful for games. I install all of my games on an 8GB flash drive. It is very slick.

I love my little black galaxy and was super impressed when I saw the neoprene sleeve. I run xp home on it after I found out about nlite. It made my (licensed and real) copy of xp into a tiny little install. I think the disc image was only 280MB after I nlite’d it.

I have a feeling the UMPC will hold up and be a collector’s item for years to come.

Thanks for the great review.

By: Pat Meyer

Pat Meyer — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 03:37:00 +0000

Thanks to Rachel(my daughter) and Mark (my son in law) I was able to play with the OLPC for a week. I am a third grade teacher who has been a geek since Rachel was well very young. The OLPC is a perfect computer for those schools that don’t have the funds right here in the good old USA to teach computer skills to the students. The interfacing gives the students the opportunity to experience communicating in the cyber world while staying under the watchful eye of the teacher. During that week I used nothing but the OLPC for all of my computer needs. I attached an external keyboard (The lime jello tied my fingers in knots) and used most of the software. This will be a great addition to my classroom if and when it becomes available for purchase.
The Eee has really gotten my attention, because I need a small laptop to bring back and forth from school. I love the macbook, but it is heavy and big. So to fix this confusing problem I have decided to get one of each and do my own comparison. The problem is I can’t get my hands on an OLPC. There are a few on e-bay, but they are going for insane prices. So my first purchase will be the Eee, (Sky Blue) which will arrive Tuesday. I got it for 275.00 on Amazon with free shipping. As was stated, at this time I am seeing that the OLPC is great, but as it stands now it was created for a specific audience. I am going to have a lot of fun comparing them both, and of course my students will do their own comparisons and reports.

By: siliconchef

siliconchef — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:42:37 +0000

Mark: Yeah, I think OLPC has launched a lot of nifty product ideas. It’s definitely part of a change in the PC market.

By: Mark Gray

Mark Gray — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 16:51:08 +0000

The display on the OLPC is cool enough I think it deserves its own section. It can flip around so the notebook is closed with the screen and a few buttons on the outside. I think of that as e-book mode. In sunlight (where normal laptop screens are hard to read) it can change into a crisp black and white display that uses less power.
I haven’t gotten to play with the built-in camera yet, but it does seem cool that some kids who haven’t used a phone will have video chat.
The OLPC association is not focused on delivering consumer satisfaction to rich North Americans. It will be interesting to see how their spin-off company Pixel Qi does at continuing to create innovative, inexpensive, efficient tech and getting it included in a wider variety of machines. I can imagine an OLPC-like machine with a more comfortable keyboard being a great book reading, note taking, online chat machine. I am glad that the OLPC has gotten people and companies interested in the smaller/cheaper/tougher direction.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:59:21 +0000

The software version shipped with the Give 1 Get 1 laptops does not include suspend/resume. There is a new software version called Update.1 that is scheduled to be released in February that will include that, as well as many bug fixes and improved memory usage. Release Candidate 1 is available as build 690, which I’ll probably be trying out this weekend.

By: EeePC vs OLPC at WhatTheCast?

EeePC vs OLPC at WhatTheCast? — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 02:21:15 +0000

[...] comparison of the Asus EeePC & OLPC is up at siliconchef.com. GEEK FIGHT! These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover [...]