Re: Walmart-Xandors
Randy Edwards wrote: > I was just curious, so I checked Walmart's web site. They had > the same system with Windows XP Home ($298), Linspire ($298), > Xandros ($200) and no operating system ($248). I guess I'd go with Xandros. (LOL) Regards, . Randy I will too. I don't need a floppy drive or modem (I have several spares). I also have DSL and a wireless network. But seriously, why would a no OS/software system cost more than the Xandros system with OpenOffice and other software loaded. Marketing I guess. Thanks for all the advice. Karl ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Walmart-Xandors
> I was just curious, so I checked Walmart's web site. They had > the same system with Windows XP Home ($298), Linspire ($298), > Xandros ($200) and no operating system ($248). I guess I'd go with Xandros. (LOL) Regards, . Randy -- "Americans went to their deaths in Iraq thinking that they were avenging September 11th when Iraq had nothing to do with September 11th." -- George Bush's former head of counter-terrorism Richard Clarke ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Walmart-Xandors
On 4/19/05, Karl Hergenrother <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Is the summary that no one has any experience with Xandros, but the Microtel PC is probably suitable for an inexpensive desktop? Sounds like it. No experience with Xandros, but we have serviced a Microtel. Of course, we generally see computers which need to be repaired. (Other than the ones we build ourselves, of course. ;-) It was a basic, cheap clone. A bit wimpy on everything (150 W Power Supply, if I recollect), but, for the money, that's to be expected. Nothing strange in the system. No proprietary cases or components. I was just curious, so I checked Walmart's web site. They had the same system with Windows XP Home ($298), Linspire ($298), Xandros ($200) and no operating system ($248). The specs: AMD Sempron 1.5 GHx (2200+) CPU 128 MB DDR PC333 RAM (expandable to 2 GB, 1 slot available) 40 GB, 5400 rpm, ATA-100 Hard Drive CD-ROM 32 MB shared memory video (max 64 MB) Ethernet 56k Modem 1 PCI slot, 1 AGP slot no Floppy Drive 4 USB ports, 1 parallel, 1 serial 1 year warranty (return to manufacturer, not Walmart) The specs varied from OS to OS. Could just be badly written descriptions or a real difference. For example, Linspire & Xandros were 333 FSB whereas XP Home and no OS were 200 FSB. Xandros had no modem. XP Home and Xandros had no floppy drive. XP Home came with OpenOffice as bundled software. The description of Xandros from Walmart said: "Completely avoid infection from all Windows based viruses and womrs plaguing the Internet. Built-in firewall." So you can see where they're pitching non-Windows systems. -- Dan Jenkins ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Rastech Inc., Bedford, NH, USA --- 1-603-206-9951 *** Technical Support for over a Quarter Century ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Walmart-Xandors
> Is the summary that no one has any experience with Xandros, but the > Microtel PC is probably suitable for an inexpensive desktop? Sounds > like it. Well, I've got experience with Xandros, but not on Walmart PCs. It's a good distro in general - makes lots of things nice and easy. My biggest qualm with it was that it had it's own peculiar method of automagically setting up devices that was hard to interfere with. For the most part of course, it just works, but I had some odd hardware that didn't play nice at first, and it took a lot of tooling around to figure out how to work around it. On the plus side, there's a strong community of people trying to help out in the Xandros support forums and they were watched by Xandros support people chiming in to help often. I haven't had to reinstall my desktop in years, but were I to try, I'd at least consider Xandros. I think I'm more likely to get along with Kubuntu or Mepis, but they're all good-looking, simple-to-setup, Debian-ish desktops that seem well supported. -N ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Walmart-Xandors
While I haven't purchased a Microtel PC, I do have experience with Xandros and I can tell you it's an excellent all-around distribution. In complete frustration supporting Windows, I converted my wife and father about 2 years ago to Lindows. It seemed a great distro for newbies (at the time). In hindsight, it wasn't such a great choice. With Lin(dows|spire), there are WAY too many "user friendly" ways of doing things, each being slightly different. And when I wanted to drop to a shell to do stuff, there were none of the standard tools I expected to be there. The Click-N-Run method of adding software worked reasonably well but it wasn't easy to add a different software repository (to get the tools I needed). The Linspire support web site is NOT intuitive; navigating to the user forums always seems to be a happy accident when you arrive. About 4 months ago, I converted my wife and father from Lindows/Linspire to Xandros 3.0. Xandros really is an excellent distribution for both newbies and experienced Linux users. Just about everything can be accessed via the Xandros file manager (a souped up KDE Konqueror). When dropping to a shell to do work on their machines, most of the tools I want are already there. It was extremely easy to add the Debian unstable software repository so I could get access to tools other than those in the Xandros maintained repository. Most of all, I liked the fact that the Xandros desktop icons and application menus are sparse with a single option for most common tasks. Surprisingly (or maybe not so in hindsight), this seeming limitation on application choice made things easier for my wife and father by removing the "so which one do I use?" question. And even better is that all roads lead to the Xandros file manager so the constant use of this application becomes second nature. Mix Xandros with a reasonably priced PC and it sounds like a pretty good deal. -- Tom On 4/19/05, Karl Hergenrother <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Is the summary that no one has any experience with Xandros, but the > Microtel PC is probably suitable for an inexpensive desktop? Sounds > like it. > > Karl > > ___ > gnhlug-discuss mailing list > gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org > http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss > ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Walmart-Xandors
Is the summary that no one has any experience with Xandros, but the Microtel PC is probably suitable for an inexpensive desktop? Sounds like it. Karl ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Walmart-Xandors
Jeff Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > Do you know the manufacturer of the wood screws that are in your > house? Do you care? I don't thin I have any wood screws at the moment, but I have a bunch of sheetrock screws. I don't know the name of the brand, but I know their in a red box which came from The Home Depot, were priced very reasonably and do a remarkably decent job of holding not only sheetrock to the wall, but also the pine boards together which comprise my daughter's bookcase :) -- Seeya, Paul ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Walmart-Xandors
--- Bill McGonigle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Apr 18, 2005, at 17:45, Randy Edwards wrote: > > > IMHO, the worst aspect of them is the fact > > that they're from Wal-Mart (insert disclaimer about > union-busting, > > hyper-exploitation of workers, etc., here). > > I'm somewhat surprised they're selling non-windows > machines. At their > volumes they ought to be able to get XPHome for $14. I > know they're > big into cutting out as much cost as possible, but I > wonder if there > isn't more here to this story. >From what I understand, they have the volume to dictate terms (i.e. for some of their products, they represent as much as 20% of the sales). And they are agressive on lowest cost. And willing to NOT sell a product. Remember they don't sell Windows, they sell someone else's PC. Result: They will tell HP, etc, "sell for my price or else" - and do it. What can MS, HP, IBM, etc do to them? Tell them "we won't sell to you?" OK, so they sell someone else's product. Which they do. > > If they _can_ cut Microsoft out of the loop, WalMart > might be planning > on owning the home market, or a least one strata of it. > Once you have > that there are all sorts of potentials. It's not cutting MS out of the loop. Walmart doesn't care about MS, they care about selling home PC's. MS happens to be one piece of it. Just like they don't care what pieces are in a bike they sell, or who's name is on it. They care "is it a bike that our customers will buy? Is it the cheapest possible?" If yes to both, sell. If not, find the one that is. MS's problem is they're trying to make money selling "name brand" wood screws. To people who want to buy a house. Do you know the manufacturer of the wood screws that are in your house? Do you care? > > Does anybody know if WalMart is FLOSS on the inside? > Not a clue, but given thir costing, wouldn't be surprised. jeff ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Walmart-Xandors
Almost (but not quite entirely) OT is this review that I just happened to be reading when your query came by: http://hardware.newsforge.com/hardware/05/04/12/1355208.shtml?tid=73&tid=2 ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Walmart-Xandors
On Apr 18, 2005, at 17:45, Randy Edwards wrote: IMHO, the worst aspect of them is the fact that they're from Wal-Mart (insert disclaimer about union-busting, hyper-exploitation of workers, etc., here). As opposed to the other computer companies who give their computer assemblers good wages and benefits under OSHA-style protections and manufacture in the heartland... I wonder if more American labor is involved in the manufacture/sale/handling of a Dell or a WalMart special. I'm somewhat surprised they're selling non-windows machines. At their volumes they ought to be able to get XPHome for $14. I know they're big into cutting out as much cost as possible, but I wonder if there isn't more here to this story. If they _can_ cut Microsoft out of the loop, WalMart might be planning on owning the home market, or a least one strata of it. Once you have that there are all sorts of potentials. Does anybody know if WalMart is FLOSS on the inside? -Bill - Bill McGonigle, Owner Work: 603.448.4440 BFC Computing, LLC Home: 603.448.1668 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mobile: 603.252.2606 http://www.bfccomputing.com/Pager: 603.442.1833 AIM: wpmcgonigleSkype: bill_mcgonigle For fastest support contact, please follow: http://bfccomputing.com/support_contact.html ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Walmart-Xandors
> Has anyone have any experience with, or comment about the Microtel > Xandros Linux computers offered by Walmart. I've known a few people that have purchased them. (These were with Mandrake or Lindows; I haven't used/seen Xandros.) When I ripped a couple apart, I wasn't really impressed. But let's face it, they're "cheap" computers. With that said, they work and no one I know has had any problems with them. IMHO, the worst aspect of them is the fact that they're from Wal-Mart (insert disclaimer about union-busting, hyper-exploitation of workers, etc., here). To me, the standard caveats of buying a GNU/Linux computer apply: Do not short-change yourself on RAM. Quantity for hardware are #1 - RAM, #2 - CPU, and #3 - HD space. Regards, . Randy -- "If this war is so righteous, why don't you send your children?" -- Mother of dead GI Susan Niederer to First Lady Laura Bush (Bush didn't answer) ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Walmart-Xandors
Karl Hergenrother wrote: Has anyone have any experience with, or comment about the Microtel Xandros Linux computers offered by Walmart. These computers aren't very powerful by today's standards, but for a straight vanilla desktop with Linux and OpenOffice perloaded, I haven't seen a better bargain. I need to replace my 200 MHz Pentium II. I haven't seen any experience commentary here on the list, but have seen interest like yours. I too would like to hear any actual experience. I'm thinking of getting the notebook they are selling for ~$500. For my wife to have email, word processing and a 'modern' notebook for only $500 seems like a nice idea. ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
Re: Walmart-Xandors
On Mon, 2005-04-18 at 17:06 -0400, Karl Hergenrother wrote: > Has anyone have any experience with, or comment about the Microtel > Xandros Linux computers offered by Walmart. These computers aren't very > powerful by today's standards, but for a straight vanilla desktop with > Linux and OpenOffice perloaded, I haven't seen a better bargain. I need > to replace my 200 MHz Pentium II. > > http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=3380786 We got 2 Microtel's from Walmart last year. The ones on that web page appear to be this year's model. They're both still running. We had a problem with the memory on one after about 6 months, but I just replaced the DIMM, and its running fine. Its has fairly constant office-type use. The other one appears to have some graphics problems (every once in a while, the screen will become all washed out), but its in a "tougher" environment - it frequently reaches 90 degrees (F) in the "office", and might have an occasional insect (ant, roach, spider, ...) run through it but is otherwise reliable. --Bruce signature.asc Description: This is a digitally signed message part
Walmart-Xandors
Has anyone have any experience with, or comment about the Microtel Xandros Linux computers offered by Walmart. These computers aren't very powerful by today's standards, but for a straight vanilla desktop with Linux and OpenOffice perloaded, I haven't seen a better bargain. I need to replace my 200 MHz Pentium II. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.gsp?product_id=3380786 Karl ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss
