[Arm-netbook] 15in EOMA-68 laptop

Mon Apr 29 15:57:08 BST 2013

Please don't sell it to me, I'm already in! ;)

Is $200 ARM-based laptop technically possible? Sure.

Is $200 Intel-based laptop technically possible? Sure.

Can Linux on ARM satisfy average user needs? Sure.

Will world become better when the laptop discussed here comes to live?
Definitely.

Do I want to have and ARM-based laptop? Yes, and I'm willing to pay more
than $200 for it if required.

Will an average user with $200 budget choose an ARM/Linux laptop, or an
Android tablet? I don't know. Maybe some will, but not a majority.

Will a company with a known laptop brand invest into cheap ARM laptop? I
*believe* not (yes, that's a matter of beliefs, I cannot reasonably prove
it)
*
(N.B. Toshiba AC100 is a good example: it is $200 lap.. ughm, netbook. It's
extremely popular with the few tech-savvy persons who know what it is. And
it's discontinued.)*

Is the ARM laptop project worth investing, at the very least, some time
into? I *believe* yes.

Sincerely,
Mikhail

On Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 1:07 AM, luke.leighton <luke.leighton at gmail.com>wrote:

> On Sun, Apr 28, 2013 at 9:42 PM, darton 9d <darton9d at gmail.com> wrote:
> >> yes, really.  under 1kg.  a 15in laptop.  with floor space around
> >> 14in x 12 in and with an interchangeable upgradeable CPU Card
> >> making it future-proof.  and being able to take a 1920x1080 LCD.
> >>
> >> i'm kinda confused.  why isn't any other manufacturer doing this??
> > what are we missing??
> >
> > I guess the main reason for manufacturers not looking at ARM-based
> laptops
> > is that they care about profit above all else, and the profitability of
> an
> > ARM-based laptop project is questionable. Remember, one has to spend
> quite a
> > lot on engineering to get the thing up and running, and the product
> > absolutely must be well-selling in order to get real benefits from
> > mass-production.
>
>  funny... wasn't there something on slashdot just recently about $200
> android laptops from the CEO of Intel?  he said "it would be possible
> to have $200 windows laptops as well but that's down to microsoft".
>
>  i have a story to tell you, here.  i was speaking with someone a few
> days ago - absolutely inspiring.  he's been working with schools for a
> long time.  the most haunting story he tells is of teachers with *no*
> experience of computers being afraid of them, not so much because
> they're not sure what to do, although that does come into it, but
> because they're afraid of breaking something merely by going online.
>
> it turns out that a contract to keep a windows system running in a
> school in the U.S. is a whopping $1500 *per computer*, *per year*.  if
> they can't afford that then they can always pay $50,000 USD per year
> for an onsite IT sysadmin.
>
> as they can't afford that either, they simply let the computers...
> rot.  so this guy _routinely_ sees 50% of the computers in classrooms
> across america broken for one reason or another.  fifty percent!!  and
> the remaining 50% is ineffective as it's all about "training", not
> interacting.
>
> so what he's doing is putting together a software suite along-side a
> combination of linux and android, and is taking that in with low-cost
> hardware and an internet connection.  the software is interactive:
> it's engaging.  and he takes it along to areas where there are
> eight-year-olds who've been attending "school", can't read, can't
> write, and can't do basic arithmetic.... and WITHIN NINETY DAYS of
> using this software they're able to read, type, write and do algebra
> with confidence.
>
> that's just... awe-inspiring.
>
> so i'm not that concerned.
>
> > The bad part is that the product may not sell that well. First, it has to
> > compete with the existing ARM tablets.
>
>  well, the advantage of EOMA-68, which people such as the person i
> spoke to in the story above absolutely loved, is that the CPU Card is
> shareable across several units.
>
>  if you think in terms of a "single product", and you're only ever
> going to buy one product [ever, in your life], then yes, EOMA-68 is an
> additional cost that has no value.
>
>  ... and how many people do you know will only ever buy one computing
> appliance across their entire lifetime?
>
> > Second, it has to compete with the
> > low-cost low-powered segment of the traditional Intel/AMD-based laptops.
> > Last but not least, there's no OS that is ready to install *and* is
> widely
> > known and accepted by end-users.
>
>  well, the story above i think helps out there.  the right software in
> the right place makes all the difference.
>
>  remember also that the query with intel is still outstanding [and
> progressing].  unfortunately the person i was due to speak with has
> been ill for the past 10 days: i'll contact his colleagues i think,
> instead, but the goal there is to present intel with an opportunity to
> help see an EOMA-68 22nm ValleyView CPU Card brought about.
>
>
> > Personally, I'd be happy to have a 1kg ARM *laptop* (not tablet, not
> > netbook) that runs Linux for several hours, allowing myself to
> comfortably
> > work with documents and maybe hack some code (provided the machine has
> > enough RAM to hold the environment). Unfortunately, most users either
> don't
> > need a physical keyboard (-->tablet) or cannot get rid of the curse of
> the
> > one and only proprietary office suite (-->traditional laptops). Thus, the
> > potential audience of an ARM laptop project is more or less limited to
> geeks
> > willing to spend time porting FOSS tools to ARM.
>
>  i'm happy with that, bearing in mind that those geeks will know that
> by around 2014 they'll have an Intel SoC upgrade CPU Card as an
> option.
>
>
> > Oh, and making low-cost durable future-proof products may be *bad* for a
> > profit-oriented company.
>
>  ahh yer think??? :)    *lol*.
>
>  luckily i don't have experience of running a large corporate
> profit-orientated company, eh?
>
> l.
>
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