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VIA Open Platform Mini-Notebook Serves up Linux

Posted by timothy on Tuesday May 27, @08:44AM
from the cognitive-dissonance-alert dept.
Portables
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."

Related Stories

[+] 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."
Firehose:VIA Open Platform Mini-Notebook Serves up Linux by Vigile (99919)
[+] VIA Introduces the Nano Processor 155 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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  • 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, @08:52AM (#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

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

        by jedidiah (1196) on Tuesday May 27, @10:38AM (#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, @08:57AM (#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, @09:05AM (#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, @09:31AM (#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: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

  • Performance (Score:4, Informative)

    by Fackamato (913248) on Tuesday May 27, @09:09AM (#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

      • 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.

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

    by Paul Carver (4555) on Tuesday May 27, @09:27AM (#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

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

      by deathguppie (768263) on Tuesday May 27, @10:56AM (#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.

    • 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 the

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

    by zsouthboy (1136757) on Tuesday May 27, @10:03AM (#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.

  • cad files? (Score:4, Informative)

    by delirium of disorder (701392) on Tuesday May 27, @11:59AM (#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.

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