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VIA Open Platform Mini-Notebook Serves up Linux

Posted by timothy on Tue May 27, 2008 07:44 AM
from the cognitive-dissonance-alert dept.
Portables Hardware
Vigile writes "VIA is attempting to outdo the ASUS Eee PC with its new OpenBook platform reference design that not only offers up extra features but also supports many more operating system choices as well. The exterior design is pretty damn sexy and is built around (of course) VIA's own CPU and chipset products and can be equipped with WiMAX and/or 3G networking like HSDPA or W-CDMA. What is really impressive is that the device can run versions of Windows Vista or XP, Ubuntu, Suse or gOS." Update: 05/27 13:30 GMT by T : alphadogg adds a bit more information on the "open" part of "Open Platform," writing "The CAD (computer-assisted design) files for the OpenBook reference design can be downloaded for free and made available to anyone under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 license. The terms of this license allow the CAD files to be freely copied, shared and modified."
+ -
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[+] CNet Compares Eee PC Against the Competition 203 comments
An anonymous reader writes "CNet has recently done a comparison of the Asus Eee PC against six bargain laptops that all fall under $1000. Included in the list is the Elonex One, OLPC, EasyNote XS and MSI Wind. "Since the Eee's launch, many of its rivals have begun to create similar alternatives — each designed to pilfer a piece of the budget ultraportable pie. Some are trying to beat the Eee on price, some on specs, but they're all tiny and they're all camped out in the bargain basement." Let the 'race to the bottom' begin."
Submission: VIA Open Platform Mini-Notebook Serves up Linux by Vigile (99919)
[+] VIA Introduces the Nano Processor 162 comments
Vigile writes "While the VIA Isaiah architecture had been previously discussed, the new x86 processor is officially being released as the VIA Nano. The Nano marks VIA's first 64-bit, superscalar, speculative out-of-order CPU design and is being built on Fujitsu's 65nm process technology. While direct performance comparisons are still missing, the products being released could bring Intel's Atom platform to its knees: clock speeds as high as 1.8 GHz or as low as 1.0 GHz with a maximum power draw of only 5 watts! VIA's recently announced mini-note OpenBook platform is a likely candidate for the Nano the processors but they will likely find their way into mainstream desktop and notebook computers as well." Reader MojoKid contributes a link to HotHardware's story on the chip now known as the Nano , as well as a January interview with VIA's Centaur design center president, Glenn Henry, who "went into fairly deep detail on what VIA had in store with Isaiah."
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VIA Open Platform Mini-Notebook Serves up Linux 50 Comments More /

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  • More details here, neat, clean single page (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 27 2008, @07:46AM (#23554595)
    http://www.hothardware.com/News/VIA_Unveils_New_OpenBook_UMPC_Reference_Design/ [hothardware.com]
  • The exterior design is pretty damn sexy

    Are you looking at the same case I am? That thing is hideous.

  • what an irony... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by holywarrior21c (933929) on Tuesday May 27 2008, @07:52AM (#23554647)
    that today we have another articles in the FP about why we should buy computer preloaded with linux. I am just glad that another company is bringing up linux computer preloaded which is a great challenge to windows and i think that is just stupid idea to think that preloaded OS as tax. just as apple's computers run OS X like a charm, a manufacturer should design a computer for linux as well. that is exactly what we needed. i rather have companies design computers for linux, not windows. I bet it is easier to wipe it out and try other distro. this is good news! another remarking event that shaped year of linux.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by qortra (591818)
      It could just be me, but they seem not to be pushing that option quite as hard as Asus. Their demo at Computex ran XP, and all these screenshots had Vista's dubious mugshot all over them. I agree that having the "Ready-To-Go" option is nice, but I really hope they push it at least a little.
    • You're in the massive minority, though. That's the problem - what would really appeal to the slashdot crowd (as large as that is) still won't have enough support in the general population to become massively popular. Most folks just want windows, unfortunately. I'm all for competition, but this isn't it.

      • Re:what an irony... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by jedidiah (1196) on Tuesday May 27 2008, @09:38AM (#23556043) Homepage
        Most folks just want a few basic features and not too much bother.

        This "Windows" thing isn't even on their radar.

        The age of "it's gotta be DOS compatable man" is over. The
        whole thing is running on inertia and vendor lock now.

        That's why Apple is chipping away at Windows marketshare.
        For many people, the computer might as well be an appliance
        with the OS and all applications burned into a big ROM.

  • I'd rather have an X02 (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Mr. Droopy Drawers (215436) on Tuesday May 27 2008, @07:57AM (#23554721)
    As intriguing as this is, I, for one, would like to see something like the X02 [laptopmag.com] foldable notebook in an open format.

    This is the first innovative design that I could actually use in a notebook design. My portable requirements rarely have me typing much. The real estate provided in such a design would make the size very versatile.

    But, make make a version with a processor and memory usable for the western countries.

  • I wouldn't buy a via system again.. (Score:5, Informative)

    by Manic Miner (81246) on Tuesday May 27 2008, @08:05AM (#23554793) Homepage
    I bought a via system for my home media centre, sold by the promises of Linux support and low power hardware - never again! I've got the worst performing badly supported and buggy heap of junk, lots of things simply don't work even with the latest kernels even when you use Via's nasty binary only drivers.

    On the other hand the Asus machine will come running Linux, so hardware support will be there from the work go.

    • Re:I wouldn't buy a via system again.. (Score:4, Interesting)

      by mollymoo (202721) * on Tuesday May 27 2008, @08:31AM (#23555049) Journal
      Yes, but it uses a buggy binary-blob driver for the Atheros WiFi. I'm always having trouble with it failing to connect when waking from sleep or when turned on and off and I'm far from alone. Given the WiFi uses about 10% of the power on an Eee, not being able to reliably turn it on and off when required is a noticeable extra drain on the battery. I wish they'd dump Atheros and go for a WiFi chipset with a proper open-source driver.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by javilon (99157)
      Every time people talks about Linux on the desktop, they talk about applications, but as you point on your post, the real problem is drivers. The applications are there for many users, but the drivers aren't. Until Linux market share goes up a bit more (something that is only a mater of time), we are still getting sub par drivers (the problem used to be that we didn't get drivers at all), and this is the biggest drawback for any non power user. Troubleshooting drivers forces you to move to the command line,

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by jedidiah (1196)
        Via is a minority player. Unless you go out of your way to be excessively cheap, VIA doesn't exist for you.

        Intel, ATI and Nvidia are far more relevant in this regard.

        Via has a long history of being an anemic performer. This goes
        equally well for Windows or Linux (as some posters have already
        mentioned).

        • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

          by SaDan (81097)
          I recently purchased both an Everex gBook VA1500 laptop and an Everex gPC2, both of which use VIA processors and motherboard chipsets with integrated video.

          Wow. I can't believe how bad the OS (gOS) is on either system. The gPC2 isn't as bad as the laptop, but it's still pretty darn bad. I ended up using a PCI video card just so I wouldn't have to deal with the crappy drivers for the integrated graphics for the gPC2.

          The gBook is simply a joke with regards to driver support. I ended using the OpenChrome d

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by wITTus (856003)
      Full ACK!
      Have a look at this thread. [tkarena.com]
      I'll NEVER NEVER NEVER again buy something from VIA.
      Watch out for mainboards with VIA chipsets!

  • Performance (Score:4, Informative)

    by Fackamato (913248) on Tuesday May 27 2008, @08:09AM (#23554823)
    Apparently the performance of this CPU is equivalent of a 900 MHz Pentium-M... ( http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/hp-2133-mini-note/4505-3121_7-32924066.html [cnet.com] ) or an 800 MHz Intel A110. However, with HW acceleration of a lot of video formats, this won't matter much while watching video, probably. You wouldn't want to run Gentoo on this thing though. ;-)
    • You wouldn't want to run Gentoo on this thing though

      Why's that then ?

      Nn

    • I've had a lot of Via machines come through the shop(as they are often the Wal Mart clearance PC) and I have found that you really need to halve the Mhz rating to get an idea of the real performance. That said,I can't honestly see why anyone would want ANYTHING with a Via chip in it. My 8 year old 1.1Ghz Celeron performs better and the driver support from Via no matter what the OS is just bad. I'm talking ATI during the Rage 2x days bad. And if you are wanting to build a quiet PC a stock Celeron can easily

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Fackamato (913248)
        Because (afaik) Gentoo primarily compiles its packages, and that would take a very long time on this piece of hardware.

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by ErroneousBee (611028)
          Not that I'm a fan of gentoo, but it does have a binary bootstrap thing, and also is able to offload the compilation onto other machines using distcc or similar.
          • My experience has been that distcc works with very few packages - almost nothing is made with distributed compilation in mind.

        • Because (afaik) Gentoo primarily compiles its packages, and that would take a very long time on this piece of hardware.
          Couldn't you just install a stage 3 build and then have it recompile all packages over the course of a few nights? That and you could use distcc [gentoo.org] to tap your other computers' CPUs.

  • Up to 3 hours???? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Paul Carver (4555) on Tuesday May 27 2008, @08:27AM (#23555001)
    How can people seriously call these things "ultra mobile" when they have to keep getting plugged into a wall outlet? An gee, I wonder why none of the photos show them plugged in. I suppose with a 50 foot extension cord you could be "ultra mobile".

    My Lifebook P2120 gets about 8 hours with its dual battery setup and I consider that adequate although I wish it could do better. How many people work less than 8 hours? When I leave the house I grab my P2120, I don't pack a bag with a charger or spare battery. Eight hours can just barely get me through the day if I'm careful to set the screen brightness to minimum and hibernate a couple times.

    Call me when an "ultra mobile" gets 10 hours of "typical" battery life, not 3 hours of "up to" battery life.

    I'm looking at the Lifebook T2010 as a replacement for my slow and somewhat beat up (dropped it a few times) P2120.

    The T2010 is a bit bigger than the P2120, but with 11 hours of battery life I'm probably going to overlook its flaws and its steep price tag.

    My typical use is wandering around theatre using software to control the stage lighting via 802.11g. To me "ultra mobile" means the computer comes with me as I move around and I don't have to stop working several times a day to recharge, or carry a pile of spare batteries, or drag an extension cord around.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by MBCook (132727)

      No kidding. My 2.4GHz MacBook Pro gets 2.5-3.5 hours of battery life when surfing with WiFi on and possibly listening to music and doing other activities. Why would I want a crippled little laptop that gets the same battery life?

      Don't get me wrong. I see real appeal in little laptops. If there were 12" MacBook Pros, I would have considered one. But if I'm going to get a small laptop where I have to compromise on things like CPU power, I want something out of that compromise: I want battery life.

      For such a

    • Re:Up to 3 hours???? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by deathguppie (768263) on Tuesday May 27 2008, @09:56AM (#23556317) Homepage

      The fact is that a lot of us are tired of lugging around a laptop. If the screen and features on my smart phone were capable I would just use that.

      The reality is that my $400 eeepc is almost perfect for my needs. I'd be willing to say perfect if the screen was a little bigger. (the next model will have this)

      The fact is, a lot of people aren't using their laptop as a desktop at work. We just want to be able to have an easy mobile system that we can use when we need to access other systems or to carry data to and from remote locations.

      That being the case, I find 3 hours more than enough. I usually keep the power adapter in my bag and pull the end out and plug it in while I'm sitting at my desk. I've never run out of power when I needed it.

      I have a laptop as well, but its been sitting on the shelf at home now for a few months, and my shoulder is very thankful for it.

    • How many people work less than 8 hours?

      Is that counting posting on Slashdot, or not?
    • I think they are personally half-assing it with most notebooks. Strange as it may seem, I would prefer if there was an option to buy most laptops without a battery. The damn batteries don't last very long when you do have them anyway, many people use their laptops as portable desktops, batteries tend to make the laptop that much heavier when you change your work venue, they add a lot to the price of the base system, and having one less battery manufactured is most likely helping the environment.
      • Get the big battery. I managed to get 5 hours from the thing. One of the least ugly Dells I have ever seen.
        • This is good advice for most notebooks if you have the option on a BTO machine or if you are replacing your battery. The upgrade from 4cell to 8cell is usually cheaper than buying a second battery, it gives you enough juice to occasionally run the notebook at full speed and it's one less thing you have to carry around.
  • Last time I checked, the only Linux support for Via GPUs was with the aid of binary blobs. Are they opening up their specs with this and allowing real DRI support, or keeping it proprietary. I'm much more interested in open software than availability of CAD drawings for the hardware.

    • Are they opening up their specs with this and allowing real DRI support, or keeping it proprietary.

      They're opening their Spec.
      They've announced around 1~1.5 month ago [phoronix.com] that they were going to join the open-source fest of Intel and ATI.

      At first, due to the lack of ouput, some called bluff [phoronix.com] and though VIA only pulled a PR stunt.
      But recently VIA finally released huge chunks of code [phoronix.com] under GPLv2, and thus opensource project like openchrome [openchrome.org] and unichrome [sf.net] will definitely get a boost.

      Specially since the VIA openbook is more based on classical VIA platform (instead of, say, an Isaiah with either their newest chrom

      • Definitely a step in the right direction. Shame they chose GPLv2 though. The rest of DRI is MIT-licensed (including the Intel-contributed drivers), and so can be used on other operations systems like FreeBSD and OpenSolaris without licensing problems.
  • Gosh, that just isn't what I call competitive. Speaking of which, what ever happened to the $200 eeepc? Everywhere I look they are > $400. Last "full size" laptop I bought from Dell cost me just over $500 including shipping -- on sale, but still... Why would anyone buy a sub-laptop for a mere hundred or two less than a full laptop?

    Meh. I'll stick with my Treo + full laptop until a real laptop replacement costs $200 or until a newer smartphone can completely replace my laptop -- which will probably happ
    • The eeepc & via pc are not a real replacement for the full desktop pc but more for the ultra small notebook pcs that cost you at least double that price before.

      However this via pc lie the msi wind lacks the SSD disk, which makes it much less suitable for people who handle their laptop with less care (schools/kids/light bags)

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by domatic (1128127)

      Why would anyone buy a sub-laptop for a mere hundred or two less than a full laptop?

      I agree with you with UMPCs are going the wrong way being ever more featured and expensive. I want to see something like an EEE PC in a blister pack at Target for $150. We'll probably get there too but it will require a new manufacturer that has no "big laptop" lines to protect and isn't bound by any sort of agreement with MS that would require crippling such devices.

      However there are reasons to want such devices even w

    • Why would anyone buy a sub-laptop for a mere hundred or two less than a full laptop?

      I think you lost the track here. There are two main ways to go with computers starting from a "full laptop":

      1. You want a powerful yet small computer.
      2. You want just a small computer.

      From that perspective, I'd buy a sub-laptop, because for less, I can obtain more portability. Rather than buying a toshiba, sony, lenovo or a MacBook Air that give the portability increasing the price in 300% (or more). Now, if you want

  • So I can see what Via is doing, (Score:3, Insightful)

    by zsouthboy (1136757) on Tuesday May 27 2008, @09:03AM (#23555515)
    but I'm not sure how it's going to work in the end: since they can't compete with the marketing budgets of the big boys, they're attempting to leverage the open source community - they're being "different" to stand out.

    Releasing materials under CC license, etc., in hopes that someone else will take it and run with it, make a funny youtube parody video, something like that to generate buzz.

    It *could* work, if they don't try to force it.
    In the past when companies have tried to do something similar (case in point, Sony with the PSP blog thing), they've always been the ones behind the (seemingly unbiased) blog or website talking about the product - and it backfires.
  • The CAD files are available once you register, wait for the email, fish it out of the junk folder, click the link, log in, download the four separate parts, click through the CC EULA for each of the four parts. Once it's downloaded stick it back together and you have one ProE part file.

    I mean it's a nice try, but how many people here can do anything with it?

    Does anyone know if PVX (or equivalent) is easily available these days? The file says WF 2 M150, so it will need to be from the last couple of years.
    • Nope, I was wrong. What was in my coffee? It's four separate parts.

      A is the lid.
      B is the inside of the lid.
      C is the top cover for the bottom half.
      D is the bottom of the unit.

    • I mean it's a nice try, but how many people here can do anything with it?
      I'm sure at least some of the people from over RepRap [reprap.org] or Fab@Home [fabathome.org] will have great fun trying to build these parts in their kitchens/basements.

  • cad files? (Score:4, Informative)

    by delirium of disorder (701392) on Tuesday May 27 2008, @10:59AM (#23557261) Homepage Journal
    Looks like these are just pro-e files of the case design. When I can get gerber files for the motherboard and VHDL files of the ASICS, I'll be impressed.
    • That's really more of a coffeetablebook than a notebook, innit? Why not just go for a world atlas with a 21" LCD?
    • Are you really trying to compare a 17 inch, 12-pound desktop replacement "notebook" to an >10 inch 2lb ultra compact? A dogdge minivan gets greater range on a tank than . . . say . . . a SMART [wikipedia.org]. Vastly different target audiences who will use them for vastly different purposes.

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