Greetings from a lurking ex-transitional-Dorsetian now in S.A.
Noticing a flurry of netbook-related content in your list I decided to share a review I wrote for the ubuntu-za list, of the abovementioned device (attached).
Regards, Michael.
Tech news followers will be aware that the ARM processor architecture, the staple of the smartphone industry, is poised to invade the laptop and server sectors, largely due to its energy efficiency. Vodacom SA recently made news by releasing an Ubuntu-powered ARM netbook under their brand for just R1500. Impressively, they sell it without any commitment to other purchases such as data. Spurred by the theft of my previous workhorse, I took a chance on one. Purchase required a pre-order of a few days, and Vodacom sales staff were totally unprepared for any complications: my machine needed some switch flicked behind the battery before it would boot, and it took them days on the phone and me much petrol to sort that. My complaints were soothed with gold-toothed smiles and free Vodacom pens and rulers. First off, the "Webbook" is certainly energy-efficient, not producing enough heat to need a fan, therefore being free of grilles other than a speaker area. Its underside is utterly sleek; no RAM covers or the like (it's specced at 512Mb but could probably be pimped by removing the whole shell). The fact that it has no hard drive also helps: it features a 4 Gig SSD - rather small but twice that of the first netbook's (the venerable EeePC, which 4 years ago, cost twice as much). With a modest 3-cell battery, the device is <1kg and could presumably survive falls that would doom most computers. The 6-hour battery life claim is fulfilled even using WiFi. However, there's no escaping the fact that this is an entry-level device. Processor speed is stated as 800MHz, although I find it no slower than my Eee, which was rated 1,2 GHz (Intel Celeron). The ARM-ported version of Ubuntu 10.04 comes with Firefox 5, which I haven't upgraded since the Mozilla site, detecting a "mobile", refers me to the Android Market. I therefore seem to be stuck with occasional unresponsive scripts which slow the machine to a crawl. Facebook is the worst culprit. Normal browsing involves only a slight lag, unless there is any other process under way, such as software installation, when it becomes tiresomely slow. I was curious about whether Ubuntu's applications would make the transition to the ARM-port universe. They seem to, but a third-party accessory, Ubuntu Tweak, seems not to (I am using the GNOME desktop option, while waiting for Unity to become more tweakable). However, after installing GIMP I haven't tried it on actual work, after seeing the Webbook's tendency to slow to a crawl. I have an un-networked machine I can use for serious image processing. Which brings me to the fact that the Webbook has only 2 USB ports. If one regularly used a dongle and mouse, an external hub would be required to swap files etc. Well, you get what you pay for. Although proudly sporting an "Ubuntu Certified" sticker, the device fails to wake properly from Suspend when selected onscreen. The solution is to suspend by closing the lid. In sum: if you're stuck for a computer and hard up, you could do worse; if you want something highly mobile, rugged, and not too much of a loss if stolen, this could be a good addition to your gear.
-- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-12-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread on mailing list: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
