HP Unveils Small Commercial Linux Laptop

Ryan writes "HP had unveiled their version of a miniaturized laptop for school kids. The tiny device boasts speeds up to 1.6 gigahertz. They haven't yet decided on a name, but 'netbooks' is one possibility. They will be used for surfing the Internet and doing other basic tasks like word processing. The company plans to have 50 million units available in the marketplace by 2011. Optical drives have been left out to prevent kids from playing 'unauthorized games.' Weighing less than 3 pounds with a tiny 8.9 inch screen, the machines start below $500 for a Linux-based model. Prices are expected to be higher for Windows Vista models."

500 bucks?

[geekoid (135745)]

Try again.

Re:500 bucks?

[snl2587 (1177409)]

With inflation that will be about $4 in 2008 dollars by 2011.

"Try Again"

[Moryath (553296)]

Optical drives have been left out to prevent kids from playing 'unauthorized games.'

Of course, being kids, they will require ~30 seconds (maybe less) to figure out a way around this. USB optical drive / keychain drive? Check. Daemon Tools and ISO image? Check. No-CD Patch of whatever game they want to run? Check. Web games, bittorrent, whatever else their little hearts might desire? Check.

I have a vision of 1,000s of kids sitting in school, on school-approved laptop, all endowed with MAME and console emulators... "and god looked down, and saw that it was good."

Heh.

Re:

[Ethanol-fueled (1125189)]

The day that a "kid" is able to run WOW or Counterstrike in WINE without an optical drive is the day that I'll fart dust and piss rust. Get off my lawn!

Re:"Try Again"

[SanityInAnarchy (655584)]

The day that a "kid" is able to run WOW or Counterstrike in WINE without an optical drive is the day that I'll fart dust and piss rust.

Now that I've got you on record...

WoW works, out of the box, on Wine, with maybe one small tweak -- and kids tend to tweak out their WoW anyway, as it's somewhat scriptable, in a few small, deliberate ways.

It is possible, though unlikely, that a kid wouldn't be able to figure out how to install it from an ISO. Were that the case, all it takes is copying the .wine directory to wherever you need it to be, because once installed, it doesn't check for the CD -- being an MMO is much better copy protection than any CD scheme they could do.

And remember, it only takes one kid to do that, throw it on his iPod, and teach the other kids the three or so steps that it'll take to copy it to the laptop's hard drive.

If they really don't want people to play games, they should just give it a crappy video card... Oh wait, they plan to have a Vista model. Never mind.

Re:

[Ethanol-fueled (1125189)]

Whoa there, feller. It's called "sarcasm". Please don't perpetuate the notion that all slashdotters were picked on in grades K-12 and are now using their mod points to seek revenge against outspoken bullies. Here, I brought a tag for you: [/sarcasm]. Truce? :)

Re:

[SanityInAnarchy (655584)]

I've got a 6600, and yes, it did. Not as fast as on Windows, but it did, in fact, just work.

And in the context of kids on laptops, that's really good enough. Or if it isn't, they'll all play Warcraft III with Dota mod, or they'll find something else that does work -- Quake 3 is ported and open source, and Quake 4 is ported, and in both cases, the Linux installation instructions are along the lines of "install this thing from the Internet (or with your package manager), then copy some files off the CD" -- wh

Re:"Try Again"

[qbzzt (11136)]

Optical drives have been left out to prevent kids from playing 'unauthorized games.'

How about "Optical drives have been left out to drive down the cost, but some marketing weenie thought it would sound better if the press release said it was for the children"?

Engineering is about reality. Marketing is about perceptions.

Re:

[fragbait (209346)]

Engineering is about reality. Marketing is about perceptions.

...there you go assuming your engineers have an accurate perception of reality.

-fragbait

Re:"Try Again"

[el americano (799629)]

Relax, they didn't really leave the CD drive out to restrict the kids. They just found out it was a really good spin for the design decision to leave it out. Teachers love the idea that children won't be allowed to do something. They're thinking, "Now, they will respect my authority."

Re:

[HTH NE1 (675604)]

The real question is: will it run WoW?

I thought the real question was, "Will it blend?"

1.6GHz?

[Lord Grey (463613)]

From TFA:

... Prices go up for Windows Vista models with faster processors.

The processors HP is using are made by Via Technologies Inc., the distant third-ranked player in the microprocessor space, and come in clock speeds up to 1.6 gigahertz. ...

I interpret that as saying that the non-Vista machines will be running a slower processor while the Vista versions get the 1.6GHz model. My son's Toshiba laptop, purchased this last Christmas, runs Vista at about that speed. It sucks. (That's a unanimous opinion among all members of our household, geeks and non-geeks alike. Even the cats hate it.)

Won't someone really think of the children for once?

Re:1.6GHz?

[Sockatume (732728)]

The reviews seem to suggest that although the 1.6GHz CPU can run Vista Business perfectly soundly, it keeps the temps high and the fan running and only gets a scant 2 hours out of the basic battery. So it probably shouldn't be on Vista.

Re:1.6GHz?

[by Anonymous Coward]

My son's Toshiba laptop, purchased this last Christmas, runs Vista at about that speed. It sucks. (That's a unanimous opinion among all members of our household, geeks and non-geeks alike. Even the cats hate it.

Well they would, wouldn't they? Everybody knows cats need fast processors to run extra grammar and spelling checks. For a cat, being caught spelling something incorrectly is the height of humiliation.

Re:1.6GHz?

[dubbreak (623656)]

For a cat, being caught spelling something incorrectly is the height of humiliation.

wut dat u sez?

I can has werd chekerz?

Re:1.6GHz?

[slimjim8094 (941042)]

Joke: <--------

You:
          0
         -|-
         / \

Re:1.6GHz?

[WhiteWolf666 (145211)]

They did.

That's why they ship Linux

ASUS's EeePc has the bigger manufactures salivating. Their nothing thinking standard desktop/laptop replacement, they're trying to look at alternative markets.

Disposable computers, super-light-weight computers, computers for Grandma/Grandpa, and network-only computers.

These are all areas in which Vista cannot compete at a given price range, and are separate market segments from traditional computing. The only problem (for Microsoft) is that if Linux catches on in all these spaces, Linux will finally have a strong niche from which to leap into the mainstream market.

If there are 50-150 million lightweight, 1+ ghz Linux laptops out there with a GMA X3100 or equivalent graphics chip; then there's a beautiful market for software. Games included.

Re:1.6GHz?

[DarkSarin (651985)]

Are you _certain_ the cats hate it? I mean they are cats. They may just artfully disdain it, as per their usual stance. Cats don't usually hate much of anything. Frankly I think if the cats had decided that they hated Vista, we'd see that microsoft would already be in flames by now. No my friend, I fear the day cats actually wake from their millenia of apathy and begin to actually hate. When that happens we shall all die a painful death. Their studied indifference to our human and insignificant lives is vastly preferred to any notice that they might take of us.

Re:1.6GHz?

[AndGodSed (968378)]

Ironic that the more expensive model will run slower than the cheaper model, will feature more restrictive licensing and the user will not be able to tweak it as much as the cheaper version...

Re:

[bluemonq (812827)]

You are plain wrong. Vista will be offered with the C-7 1.6Ghz chips at launch. Units have been out for review for a while now; embargo dropped at midnight. Here is one such review: http://www.jkontherun.com/2008/04/jkontherun-revi.html [jkontherun.com]

Something lined up

[Bombula (670389)]

The company plans to have 50 million units available in the marketplace by 2011

They must have some massive orders lined up. Unless that number is wrong, no WAY do you talk about figures that large without clear knowledge of huge orders already in the pipeline. That'd basically be one for every schoolchild in the US by 2011.

Could they be in talks with, for example, the folks in charge of the education changes that will be coming with the changing of the guard from republican to democrat White House administrations? Or with foreign governments (in both developed and developing countries)?

Re:

[mi (197448)]

Could they be in talks with, for example, the folks in charge of the education changes that will be coming with the changing of the guard from republican to democrat White House administrations?

They may well be... Teachers' Union endorsements don't come cheap.

Hey check this out!

[symbolset (646467)]

I just discovered a secret. Most schoolkids [wikipedia.org] don't even live in the US. Shocker!

Re:

[Bombula (670389)]

True. Most live in countries where the $500 pricetag of this product represents more than the GDP per capita. Do note that the 'G' in GDP stands for 'gross', as in 'not net', as in 'the chance of us having $500 to spend on this is roughly equal to chance of us becoming astronauts'.

Time to offend just about everybody

[symbolset (646467)]

Is it too conservative to point out that you don't introduce new technology to a culture by selling it to the poorest of them, or even the "average"?

Is it too liberal to suggest that in some cases governments might invest in technology for students to improve their nation's future position in the world?

Is it anti-american to point out that $500 today isn't any more than $250 was three years ago to the rest of the world because their currency is up and ours is down? Those GDP numbers need some serious adj

The reversal of the trend

[symbolset (646467)]

packaged to minimize price, rather than maximize performance as has been the trend in personal computer sales for the past twenty years or more.

The reversal of the trend is one thing that makes it new. Also, it's not just price. It's also weight and watts. Those two considerations in combination with the low price transform what people are willing the do with the thing, where they're willing to take it and hence how much they're able to take it for granted. It's not "The Precious Notebook" any more. I

Re:

[gfxguy (98788)]

My problem is that by 2011, 1.6Ghz is going to be equivalent to sub-Ghz now, it's going to suck, you can already buy fully functional laptops with 1.6Ghz or better processors for less than $500... the list goes on and on.

Overpriced piece of crap. I know, I know, it's somebody thinking of the children... god forbid they should get a fully functional laptop for less money when they can have this piece of junk.

for $500 i could get...

[Spy Handler (822350)]

a core2duo laptop with a 120gb HDD and a DVD rewritable drive... not to mention a 15.6inch screen -_-

Re:for $500 i could get...

[an.echte.trilingue (1063180)]

Yeah, but children have different needs. They will etch their names in the case, drop it, routinely hold it by the lid, drop it, spill stuff on it, drop it, get that cookie-saliva goo mixture from their fingers on it, etc. For a child, a tough slow box is worth more than a fragile powerful machine.

Re:

[OrangeTide (124937)]

You pay a premium for a smaller form factor. Big laptops have always been cheap. And small laptops used to be very expensive until recently.

What impresses me..

[symbolset (646467)]

Is that it can install the OS, standard apps, open office, and a whole bunch of this free stuff [ubuntu.com] in 1/10th of the minimum required for Vista, and it still looks this good.

Wait. No. It doesn't surprise me at all. Never mind.

Authorized by whom

[TheMeuge (645043)]

Optical drives have been left out to prevent kids from playing 'unauthorized games.

Authorized by whom? I sincerely hope they mean the children's parents.

This kind of language reminds me of this great xkcd.com piece [xkcd.com].

What happened to the vision...

[davecrusoe (861547)]

... of making inexpensive, simple and rugged laptops for world education? I do believe it's been co-opted by the idea of "small", but not necessarily "inexpensive", "rugged" or "adaptable" to hard environments. For instance, $500 is way above the original marks set by OLPC, I believe, and even the marks above the other OLPC clone manufacturers. Can anyone weigh in on this? $500+ is bizarre, given how inexpensive fully-featured laptops are these days... --Dave

Re:

[davecrusoe (861547)]

p.s. By 2011? Imagine the kind of technologies that will be out in the marketplace in 3-4 years, and this device seems even less relevant. However, at least our educational system won't have changed much... (sigh)
--Dave

Re:

[ShieldW0lf (601553)]

My kid has her own PC. Doesn't stop her from using her Speak and Spell, her LeapPad or her Etch-a-Sketch.

Just because new toys come along with technology that makes geeks go "Gee-whiz that's cool' doesn't mean the old tools suddenly become garbage.

Hell, half the time the new tools are the garbage, just takes you a little while after purchase to find out.

Optical left out because of games huh...

[by Anonymous Coward]

Right, cause we all know how many games there are floating around out there for Linux... on optical media no less...

"See? See? It's a feature, not a deficiency!"

I've got a name!

[sootman (158191)]

The tiny device boasts speeds up to 1.6 gigahertz. They haven't yet decided on a name, but 'netbooks' is one possibility... Optical drives have been left out... Weighing less than 3 pounds...

How about 'NetBook Air'? Catchy, I think.

Re:I've got a name!

[hey! (33014)]

How about the "ME-2"?

Correction to summary

[JustinOpinion (1246824)]

From the summary:

They haven't yet decided on a name, but 'netbooks' is one possibility.

That implies that HP hasn't named their new device yet. Actually TFA describes it thus:

The machines are so new the industry hasn't settled on a name for low-cost and scaled-down laptops used primarily for surfing the Internet and performing other basic functions like word processing. Intel has labeled them "netbooks," and it expects more than 50 million netbooks to be in circulation by 2011.

And later,

HP's foray comes in the form of a new computer called a "Mini-Note"

So HP's new computer is a "Mini-Note"... and the "netbook" term is a possible buzz-word to describe generically a very small laptops (I guess UMPC [wikipedia.org] isn't sexy enough?).

hmmm.

[WindBourne (631190)]

They are late to the market and expensive with basically a clone of others. Sadly, It says a lot about the HP of today.

Troll?

[WindBourne (631190)]

I have worked for HP and have always been proud of the past HP. It was a VERY inventive company. It always had a bit if NIH issue, but it also lead to interesting and new ideas.

Copying other sub notebooks, almost to the T, but charging nearly double is NOT innovative. They are claiming to want to sell a 500 notebook into classrooms, which is way too expensive. The classmates are about 350 and the XO are 150-180. Heck, even the Asus are 299. It is slightly greater power then these, but still can not compete against other $500 notebooks (which have diskdrives, DVDs, Ram, 14-16" monitors, 2.2G and bigger CPU, etc.

IOW, this item is either hopelessly overpriced or underpowered. That is NOT innovative and for me to call it for what it is, does not make me troll.

Unauthorized games

[Dan East (318230)]

But they say many schools requested the drives be left out to prevent students from playing unauthorized games.'

That's a good thing since games can't be distributed on USB drives, SD cards or downloaded from the internet.

Games?

[sootman (158191)]

From TFA: HP executives say the only major feature its Mini-Note lacks is an optical drive for ingesting DVDs and CD-ROMs, which can be bought separately. But they say many schools requested the drives be left out to prevent students from playing unauthorized games.

Um, what? Every time I go to the library, all the computers are occupied by kids playing a million different Flash games online. None of them are playing games that involve CDs. And plenty of small games can be run locally by saving the .SWF file, which one kid will figure out how to do in 5 minutes and the rest will know 2 seconds later.

VIA CPU... no thanks

[Dystopian Rebel (714995)]

Unless it has a math co-processor slot. Heh heh.

Anyway, for the cost of any of these small notebooks, you can buy a used IBM Thinkpad X31 or X32 and have an Intel Pentium M (Banias/Dothan) CPU, top-quality components, and Thinkpad fit and finish.

writer's laptop

[Rogue Haggis Landing (1230830)]

The Mini-Note was called the HP 2133 in the advanced press and has been expected for a while. I've had high hopes for it as a notebook for word processing, because the advance press has always talked about it having a 95% full keyboard (unlike the tiny Eee).

Anyway, after looking at some of the early reviews [google.com] you can see that the Linux model is almost the perfect machine for a writer. It's small and under 3 pounds. It has a nearly full-size keyboard so you should be able to type for hours on it with no problems. The 1280x768 screen lets you see how things look on a full page and do some editing work (which is why something like an Alphasmart doesn't fit here). It seems likely to be fairly rugged and has a solid state drive of some sort, meaning drops won't kill your work. The performance of the poky VIA processor is almost irrelevant; all you need to be able to do is type in Open Office without noticeable lag. (Or fire up a tty session with vi or emacs if you want to totally minimize distractions.) $500 isn't as nice as $400, but it won't kill you either.

The only problem I've seen is that at least one of the reviews goes on about the heat the thing generates and the accompanying fan noise. A small quiet computer is the scribbler's holy grail. There's some hope for the HP, as the reviews have all been of the $750 model running Vista off a spinning hard drive. Maybe, hopefully, the slower processor being taxed less by a lighter OS combined with a solid state drive will make the Linux model quieter. Still, if not, we've almost got a writer's computer. And hopefully someone else will come out with a perfect one soon.

what a silly excuse

[kris.montpetit (1265946)]

I think PR should have gone with the real, better excuse for not including an optical drive:

This notebook is really small, and optical drives are going the way of the floppy disk.

Netbooks is lame

[Groo Wanderer (180806)]

Netbooks/Nettops sounds so sterile and focus grouped. How about Crotchtops?

          -Charlie

Remember the eMate?

[Eponymous Coward (6097)]

Remember Apple's eMate [wikipedia.org]? I always thought it was a terrible shame that this device wasn't allowed to live through a couple more versions. The OLPC arguably is better, but if the eMate were still around, I believe it could actually fulfill the promise of a $100 machine and that would be very cool.

Re:No Thanks

[onkelonkel (560274)]

I thought classical mistake number one was "don't get involved in a land war in Asia"

Classical Mistake Number One?

[argent (18001)]

What happened to "Never go up against a Sicilian when Death is on the line?"