• Happy holidays, folks! Thanks to each and every one of you for being part of the Tom's Hardware community!

First Android Netbook Costs Just $100

Status
Not open for further replies.
[citation][nom]Shadow703793[/nom]Ok, good. Now will we be able to run a different Linux distro for it? This would make a great project Netbook that you could hack and make a photoframe,etc.[/citation]

That's what every manufacturer wants to hear, "Man, I would hack this laptop and turn it into a MEAN picture frame!"
 
Hmmm....my Dell Axiom X3i with a 400mhz ARM (XScale) 64MB Ram, 3.5"screen cost >$350...more speed, more memory, added storage, bigger screen and a built in keyboard for $100...I could go for that. I got a ton of work done on my X3i (including taking notes in class with the folding keyboard add-on)...now show me some GPS love for it and I'm sold.
 
Haha, seriously...but for $100 I'd be willing to try a lot of things with this netbook, especially considering that it's a tablet netbook! Wait, I just looked at the website and it doesn't say anything about being a tablet, or having a touch screen besides the fact that it has a rotating screen. Is that enough to assume that it does have a touchscreen? I'd say by the looks of the controls on the front it won't be a touchscreen. Maybe I'm just skeptical of a $100 netbook with a touchscreen though...but you can always hope, right?
 
Well, what fits in 1gb ssd? Is 553mhz and 128mb supposed to be fast? Does 800x480 look good? NO! I think they stopped making these things many, many years ago. Its true that a netbook isn't supposed to be anything impressive, but something like wouldn,t have been impressive at all 10 years ago. For me, it ain't worth $100, not even with a new unseen OS(on pc) like Android.
 
[citation][nom]nerdherd[/nom]Haha, seriously...but for $100 I'd be willing to try a lot of things with this netbook, especially considering that it's a tablet netbook! Wait, I just looked at the website and it doesn't say anything about being a tablet, or having a touch screen besides the fact that it has a rotating screen. Is that enough to assume that it does have a touchscreen? I'd say by the looks of the controls on the front it won't be a touchscreen. Maybe I'm just skeptical of a $100 netbook with a touchscreen though...but you can always hope, right?[/citation]

The specs page (right at the bottom) lists a capacitive TouchPad. :)
 
[citation][nom]JMcEntegart[/nom]The specs page (right at the bottom) lists a capacitive TouchPad.[/citation]

Yes but that refers to the MOUSE TouchPad aka a trackpad, not the screen.

 
I like this one. Who cares if the specs are low end , there are plenty of Linux distros and software that will run just fine on this thing. Check out something like DSL Linux or Puppy Linux.
Besides I'm thinking you can get even full featured Linux distros working on this by using some external storage ( fast 8 GB USB stick is like 10 $ ) and the RAM at 256 MB should do.
It's great that it's Android powered I mean it's cool but other than that I find it pretty useless. Maybe Android is OK for phones but in a laptop I'd rather have a Linux distro with some decent software.
 
[citation][nom]JMcEntegart[/nom]That's what every manufacturer wants to hear, "Man, I would hack this laptop and turn it into a MEAN picture frame!"[/citation]

I love DIY and that just sounds wrong, people do what them want, comments like that only show that you don't know your readers.
 
If it's well marketed I think it will have a bit of impact in the netbook market because if you think what netbooks were born to do this one will do it just fine. I myself wouldn't buy it because my needs are a bit more specific. But i'm with barturtle on the GPS that with a 3G internet connection would be wonderous, it could be marketed as a car nettop XD
 
[citation][nom]nerdherd[/nom]Yes but that refers to the MOUSE TouchPad aka a trackpad, not the screen.[/citation]


It does show a pen on the "zoom in" page...I can totally deal with a tablet netbook with a pen (like a do on my tablet laptop and my Wacom desktop)
 
[citation][nom]JMcEntegart[/nom]The specs page (right at the bottom) lists a capacitive TouchPad.[/citation]
TouchPad =? Touchscreen? Its okay Jane... a lot of us have read into things when we wanted something really bad. Mistakes happen.
 
At $100 bundling becomes a reality. If Windows 7 was ported to ARM and the specs of this device increased a bit, it would be conceivable that in a retail box of Windows 7 you could find a "free netbook".
 
for 100usd i would buy one for sure.
This thing in combination with FreeBSD or DSL could make me an awesome and cheap small radio spectrum analyzer on top of that it would be perfect for war driving and i could do some minor tasks on it.

Basically anything i would consider a netbook for though up till now i think they are to expansive and unbalanced in the value for money scale.
The "alternative" structure (read: anything but x86 compatible) is an added bonus in my opinion.
 
A great start!!
Now pimp up the visual, screensize, disksize,and allow 2GB SoDimm DDR memory to be used, and a price of around $200 and it would sell like hot cakes!

We need a device like this, but that is not super underpowered, having a storage space smaller than a $10 SD card.

Create a black device, without the fancy colors, and a larger resolution, and for sure I'm willing to buy!
I think we understand you can't buy a device decent enough for $100 that will excite you, but perhaps double the price and see what you can make for that!
Even today I thoroughly enjoy my EeePc 701, and it's only flaw is that it wasn't a 9" screen.
An EeePc901 look alike would be great, but for $200 to $250; powered by ARM technology, should give it quite some battery life.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.