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110 Comments
- ravi7791, on 10/10/2007, -9/+50Seems pretty darn expensive. Rather get the 12" dell for less and better specs and pop in linux.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -2/+34This just confirms for me how good Dell has been for Ubuntu.
- control98408, on 10/10/2007, -3/+33Why does the superkey not feature tux?
- cactus476, on 10/10/2007, -6/+28The base specs of that laptop suck and they're wanting $1000 for it!
- TheRealToma, on 10/10/2007, -3/+23Now if only Skype had video support for linux, we'd get some good use out of that webcam!
*slap Skype* - Xenoxi, on 10/10/2007, -2/+14I wish everyone would stop flaming the hardware. Have you looked at the weight and screen size? When people buy laptops this weight and size they do not intend to play the latest games on it, its for traveling around, fairly simple computer use. Different laptops for different reasons...
- themuffinman, on 10/10/2007, -2/+14The upgrade prices on the Darter are much more reasonable. I know you *can* buy ram and such on your own, buy a lot of people would be afraid to do that with their shiny new laptop or just don't know what fair prices for these parts are. So if we compare to a more loaded macbook...
Darter Ultra $1428
C2D 2.2 GHz
2 GB ram
160 GB hard drive
DVD burner
Macbook $1549
C2D 2.16 GHz
2 GB ram
160 GB hard drive
DVD burner
And then you still need to remember that this is, as Tippis pointed out, in a different market because it is both smaller and lighter. Don't get me wrong, I love my macbook, but you need to look at things with some perspective. With this computer, upgrades are so cheap it's stupid to not make them. With the macbook, this is not the case. The macbook has better base specs, but this one gets right up there without too much of an increase in price, and gets cheaper quickly. - starsky51, on 10/10/2007, -2/+13As Chris from the Linux Action Show explains, it's not a Windows logo, it's a super cape!
- lengau, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10I've been wondering that, too. Windows machines have the Windows logo there, Macs have the Apple logo for that key (yes, I realise that the key has slightly different use on the mac, but I'm talking about the fact that theres, Ctrl, Alt, and then another modifier, which is the Super key), so why shouldn't Linux machines feature Tux (or the Ubuntu logo, since these are Ubuntu machines)?
- Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10...the price is for the size, not the features. Compare it to other 12"-and-lower notebooks, and it's pretty standard pricing.
Lenovo X-series: $1700 and up
Vaio TX- and TZ-series: $2000 and (way) up
Asus (varios series): $1500-range and up.
You can get a 12" HPs and Dells for slightly less, but they come with even worse specs than this one at that price.
Remember, in this range, specs are not the main criterion any more. Instead, people go by the logic "in a year, your fast computer will be slow, but my small and light computer will still be small and light." That said, this one is heavy as hell, so it still sucks ;) - Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8If you get the baseline Dell yes... start upping the specs on it, and it quickly becomes the more expensive one, as far as I can tell...
- sqrt7744, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8skype blows chunks - wengo phone is simply better. Cross platform, webcam support... Most importantly it supports voip STANDARDS, has better native call-out rates than skype (but you're free to choose your SIP provider), and is GPL licensed.
It's also a great chat client for all common protocols (MSN, Yahoo, etc) - MasterChi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Agreed. You can clearly see it's using the Windows Vista key image, although slightly stylish, it is still a Windows key. It can't be entirely too expensive to make a key and just pop out the Windows and plug in the Tux, and even in this case it would be worth it since i'm sure people wouldn't mind paying an additional 5 dollars to the total for this.
- coditza, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9Dudes, don't compare that to regular laptops. Afaik, only Toshiba makes similar models and they are way more expensive. 12" display and only 4.5lbs? Didn't ring any bell?
- Macuyiko, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Cherry has a Linux keyboard sporting a Tuxkey. It's a good keyboard (just like almost any other Cherry keyboard).
Picture here: http://www.cherrycorp.com/english/cymotion-line/images/cymotion_master_linux_full.jpg and info here: http://www.cherrycorp.com/english/cymotion-line/cymotion-line_master_linux.htm - whiskeysquared, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Because they're just buying whitebooks and loading ubuntu as the OS. They build whitebooks with the windows key.
- manicallday, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5I'll just wait for the Asus $200 flash drive laptop. To come out next month.
http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/Hands_on_with_the_ASUS_Eee/ - fierarul, on 10/10/2007, -3/+8You have the source code to the whole product under an open-source licence. Who cares there's a company behind it ?
I guess you never heard of having a legal or marketing team no ?
Even Mozilla made a corporation since the non-profit part wasn't such a bright ideea (with all the money coming in). - Sal4, on 10/10/2007, -7/+12Wow... It's REALLY expensive. The cheapest MacBook is WAY better value. Faster all around, and only about a 100 bucks more. I thought Open Source software was supposed to make computers cheaper... If they sold MacBooks without OSX they'd be cheaper than that Ubuntu laptop and it'd be far faster....
- ilovenicotine, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5You can find a better deal on a 12"? show me man!
- HalfGiraffe, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Well if you're buying an ULTRA-portable (as per the headline of the article) the weight is not exactly a moot point. And how were you able to determine that this is a "POS" based entirely on the price?
- GelfTheElf, on 10/10/2007, -9/+14The basic MacBook costs basically the same and has BETTER Specs!
This POS $1000
Celeron 1.86 GHz (not a duo!)
512 Megs of Ram (not even a gig!)
40 gig drive (not cool when your mp3 player has more space than your laptop)
Macbook $1099
2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
1GB memory
80GB hard drive - Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4No, it is worse by default because we're talking about a completely different segment of computers.
The 12"-and-lower market is intended for people who are going to travel a lot and work on their computer wherever there is a somewhat flat surface. At that point, size and weight are the *main* selling points -- specs are secondary. If you want a nimble computer, anything from the 13" and up ranges is out of the question because it's simply too bulky.
The Inspirons are worse than the Darter for the same reason the XPS700s are worse than a HP T55xx thin-client: because it won't fit where it needs to go. - richardiscool, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4EVERYONE KNOWS, YOU RETARD.
- superspud, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6What's Canonical got to do with anything? Other than being headed by philanthropist Mark Shuttleworth (who used to be a full time Debian developer).
- MasterChi, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5What didn't you understand from the people who replied to you above.......THE SOURCE CODE IS PUBLIC. If Canonical says "No more Ubuntu" then people will pop up with the source code they downloaded and continue making updates without Canonical or the original Ubuntu team. Problem solved.
- arbulus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4But why would Canonical do that? It's not like Ubuntu is some fringe project in the basements at Canonical, it's almost completely all they do.
- Izzie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4O RLY ? then I would be grateful if you would give us a link to another reseller where we can have better hardware for less money . instead of just boasting that you could, do it and share with us!
- Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Most larger manufacturers (Lenovo, Sony, Dell, HP, Asus) make similarly-sized laptops, but with far higher price tags... Well, the HP and Dell ones can be had cheaper, but they are crap at the base price as well, so it's all the same.
- Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -6/+10You're missing the most important specs -- the ones that explain the price:
Darter -- 12.1" screen, Weight: 4.5 lbs.
MacBook -- 13.3" screen, Weight: 5.1 pounds
So no, the MacBook's specs are not "better" because it's not in the same segment. - stmiller, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Yes why would they 'shut down' the very product they offer?
"it seems few know Microsoft has control over Windows and they can shut down the project if they want to."
"it seems few know Apple has control over OS X and they can shut down the project if they want to." - Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4The 15.3" widescreen is what makes it a "worse" deal in this case. Check the Newegg pricing on 12" laptops...
- Izzie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+315"3 widescreen means it's larger, heavier, and with lower battery life, hence cheaper because less usable for shorter time hence need less design, less efficient components.
what I want in a laptop is being able to take it with me everywhere I go and be able to use it at the very least 5 or 6 hours, if it doesn't come cluttered with stuff I don't need and don't want is a plus
I also don't want to pay the m$ windows tax when I buy a laptop, for those who don't already know: bundled software represent between 10% and 25% of total price of a computer. guess where that money goes ... - abandonedhero, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Because 4GB is going to cut it...
- BlackCow, on 10/10/2007, -4/+7Ok wtf, those specs just suck, how can they charge 1,000 bucks for that. I could find a much better deal for 1,000.
- streetblader, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4How can you sell a computer starting at $1000 with only a small hard drive and 512 ram? No one will buy it like that....
- abandonedhero, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I'm may be little slow here, but has anyone else realized how much of an idiot PJBonoVox is?
- Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Again, baseline prices, yes, but start adding to it and the prices change:
Maxed-out blackbook: $1,774
Similar Darter: $1,504
(And the macbook is still hellalot bulkier than a 12" - no configuration change can help it)
Maxed-out 12" Dell: $2,043
Similar Darter: $1,754
(And once again, the Dell is almost twice as heavy, but it *does* have better GFX) - Izzie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3wow! you bought a 24" screen laptop last year! good for you.
oh sorry forgot that we were in laptop world and that doubling some stats means dividing size and weight, so let me rephrase:
wow! you bought a 6" screen laptop! good for you
oh wth, either way your comment is meaningless - whitehornmatt, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5The word 'Ubuntu'
- Spr0k3t, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3The laptop is in the classification of the UPLT (Ultra Portable Laptops). If you want to compare the Darter Ultra, you should compare it to the Dell D430 Latitude. You will find one of these laptops specced close to the same the Dell will run about $300 more. If you don't care about an ultra portable system, you should compare the 1505N against the System76 Pangolin. Even then the System76 is still cheaper than Dell it looks like.
- nukem996, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I have a keyboard from penguincomputing which has a Tux Superkey. It was one of the only places I have seen that has one.
- Izzie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3can someone refresh my memory about when exactly digg got invaded by people who have little or no clues about technology ? this one feels like eternal september all over again.
- Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Not the same segment, so the specs cannot be compared.
The Inspiron is much heavier and much larger, so it is, by default, worse. - richardiscool, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Why would they shut it down? It's how they make their money.
- cyclopsface, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3configured the same as the low end macbook: $1,254.00
(low end macbook: $1,099.00)
configured like the high end 'blackbook': $1,388.00
(blackbook: $1,499.00)
not sure about dell - Aspero, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4IMO buy a mac book and install PCLinuxOS or Ubuntu on it.
- Izzie, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2macbook isn't ultraportable, and when you buy a macbook you're paying for an OS you're not going to use. If macbook were available without any bundled OS, it would be worth buying one to install as it price would be somewhere between 10-25% cheaper.
- GabrielS, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Why did they ditch the 13.3" model? That's my next purchase as my present notebook is a 12.1" dell with a microsize keyboard. I deal with it, but it's really hard computing with the girlfriend when she's on a Macbook.
- CCmachined, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3agreed on the fact that its a ultra-small laptop and should be expensive.
also, since they're not a big player in the market i'm guessing they don't get discounts for buying in bulk, so they're just trying to make a profit.
since system76 is _yet another_ linux machine supplier that only goes to the US, why not get a dell ubuntu? i would love to see someone other than efficientPC in the UK, too expensive :( -
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