First Android Netbook Actually Costs $250

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If the Tablet was $250 dollars, then I would buy one. I believe that is the cheapest tablet out there, and my tablet is not very portable.
 
I have no need for such device but that does not mean someone else won't. in my case, i'm after computing power and high resolution displays. i am quite disappointed that common machines are using only 1280x800 pixels. one has to fork some serious dough for 1920x1200 - or at least settle for 17" or greater "mobile" computer.
 
I'd buy it for $100, but IMHO, it'd be way better to get a real notebook used, or a TurionX2/ATI-780g based notebook in the $500-600 range if possible. That thing makes no sense at $250.
 
If I can get the all day battery life promised? Sure, I'd buy one in a heartbeat and install Debian Arm on it. All I need is a cheap, long lasting Internet device to get on the web and ssh to my home machine.
 
Depends on the battery. If it fulfils the potential of 5+ hours on a charge, then it would fit my needs for a decent price point.
 
[citation][nom]Jane :)[/nom]All things considered, would you pay $250 for this piece of shit?[/citation]

Edited for accuracy... and, no way.
 
I think the most expensive part of that notebook isn't its component set.

It's the platform. Hello, guys! ARM notebook! It's no Intel, no Via, no AMD, no Nvidia! It's all new! It had to be drawn from scratch! Let's say, each unit is worth $90 in hardware, and first shipment is considered to be 50 000 units, would it be impossible to consider development costs to be around $8M?

Now, if there is much demand, and 500 000 units ship? Those $8M won't increase any more - they'll be split among all those units. That will make $40/unit, so it would mean a sales tag of $130. Maybe not $100 - and even then, one may wonder about the economies of scales in ordering 500 000 ARM ships and screens and such, and manufacturing costs (less units shipping dead).

So, no, $100 isn't impossible.
 
[citation][nom]xpyrofuryx[/nom]No.I'd much rather pay an extra $100 and get the mini-powerhouse Eee PC 1000HE[/citation]

Sorry but "Eee PC 1000HE" (Intel Atom 1.66 GHz) and "mini-powerhouse" do not belong in the same sentence

 
With several players already in the netbook market offering lots of features, I find the $250 price point underwhelming. Two major things they have wrong... No Atom CPU and Android. I'm not saying Android is "bad" but even with the ho-hum XP and Linux available on the other competing Netbooks... I don't see it compelling especially considering LINUX is free and XP is only $15 for the license.
 
Just to clarify for those of you wondering about the battery: According to Wu, the Alpha 680's 2-cell battery will last between two and four hours while surfing the web using its built-in WiFi or optional 3G antenna.
 
An EeePc 701 has higher specs, has XP, and costs about the same.
So, no.
Linux is a good idea, but underspeccing those laptops only makes them more expensive!
Meaning, as a manufacturer's costs it doesn't cost much more to plug in a 256MB sodimm RAM chip, as it would to plug in a 2GB stick.
The only thing more expensive is the hardware.

So the same with building in a flash SSD of 1GB versus 4/8/16/32/64GB, and with the mounting of a 6" 800x480 or 9" 1280x768 screen; or equipping the laptop with a single or dual core CPU.
I'd advise the company to do exactly what they are doing right now, and focus for some good specs,like:
ARM Dual Core 900Mhz processor, 2GB RAM, HD video decoder chip, Linux, 8, 12 or 16GB SSD, and they might end up with a mininotebook costing perhaps $50 more to the current one.
Especially if they make contracts to do large batches, and can get the hardware cheaper as in retail stores.

The only thing I wish to push is a 720P screen, to be at least be able to watch 720P HD video on a mininotebook without downscaling! It's almost seen as a standard!
 
[citation][nom]JMcEntegart[/nom]Just to clarify for those of you wondering about the battery: According to Wu, the Alpha 680's 2-cell battery will last between two and four hours while surfing the web using its built-in WiFi or optional 3G antenna.[/citation]
If this is true, with those specs I'd give it a $120 pricetag.
Previously (with the $100 android article) I mentioned a $200 laptop, but that was only when the specs are boosted. I'm not willing to pay more than 120 for a device like this.
 
The $100 was most likely the price from manufacturer to reseller. The $150 is probably the markup from reseller to consumer... (those sleazy resellers...)
 
No, I don't see any future in this. The only reason I would get any netbook without Windows is to install Windows (XP or 7) on it without having to pay extra for the OS, but since this is an ARM processor Windows won't work. I think this will be a major failure just as Linux has been on netbooks.
 
Isn't bad if it fills your needs. Of course I don't know alot of people who really need something smaller and lighter than a mini notebook where they can do their word processing and basic tasks on and whom are willing to pay $250 for it. I wouldn't pay more than $175 for this myself. If you're writing apps for android that could make a useful test bed.
 
No way! Is the $250 CAN or USD? NCIX had one of those cheap netbooks (new) for $200 CAN, probably like $150 USD or something. Why would I get this? Worse in every single way I could think of, especially price.
 
No way, It's simply not worth it...the ahrdware is too weak at this price point...jeez louise, how did they scew this one up? I could understand maybe $125, but $250, no way for get it.
 
i paid about that for my nokia n800 and it has about the same specs and is MUCH smaller and came out years earlier, i give this product a thumbs down for price vs. hardware. n800 fits in pocket, runs on maemo (debian based linux). has touchscreen, web cam, the works. and up to 16 gigs of flash mem at a time 1 hot pluggable slot. with 800 rez. I love the thing, but it does need some more apps for it.
 
sorry for the double post... but i have to say this.

obviously the public has spoken. hackers, the people here. is it not obvious what we all want? for stupid crap like this to be thrown out? so why do we let it happen?
 
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