[wplug] Any thoughts on Alpha 400 MIPS Linux Ultralite Notebook

[Eric Cooper]

On Thu, Aug 28, 2008 at 10:25:51AM -0400, David Tessitor wrote:
> I just noticed a week or so ago that Geeks.com now has an Alpha 400 MIPS 
> 400MHz 128MB 1GB 7" Linux Ultralite Notebook for $199.  That's half the 
> price of the Nokia n810.  Just wondering if anyone has any thoughts 
> about the  MIPS Ultralite as opposed to other comparable things on the 
> market now.

It looks comparable to the 7" Eee PC. But I'd be cautious about a
couple of things.

Hardware: looks like no built-in wireless?  That's a big drawback.
Also, 128MB of RAM is too little.  The EeePC starts with 512MB, and
most people put 1 or 2GB in it.  I couldn't tell from the specs
whether it's expandable or not.

Software: Asus was (eventually) very open about the source code of
their Eee PC software. There are multiple communities that have put
Debian, Ubuntu, etc. on it instead of the vendor's Linux version.  I
couldn't even find a site for the manufacturer of this device, let
alone specs or a community of Linux users.  For example, the resellers
say it has a 2.4 kernel, not 2.6 -- that's a huge red flag.

-- 
Eric Cooper             e c c @ c m u . e d u