We already discussed David Finch, Dell's senior product marketing manager for Linux clients, last week. We missed, however, some more interesting statements by Finch; Dell is looking into the 
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Member since:2006-07-06
Just having a look (on the UK website), it seems like it is now possible to choose the 10v with Ubuntu, and choose a 160GB hard drive in the personnalisation options. It then comes at £238.99, whereas the XP machine with the same hard drive is £249. So there you have it: XP is worth a grand total of £10.01 a pop.
I still think anyone wanting such a large hard drive is missing the point of a netbook, and is likely to be disappointed. If you have the need for 160GB of storage, you'll probably find very quickly that the screen is not high enough, and the keyboard is too small...
Member since:2006-12-01
Member since:2008-07-15
Member since:2007-04-18
I got a Dell Mini 9 with a 4GB SSD drive which I am regretting, the OS as it comes takes up well over 2GB. Add a couple of extra applications to it and you soon start filling it up. First time I tried updating I ran out of disk space while downloading the updates. 8GB probably would be fine, 4GB is just too small however.
For my files and stuff, I don't use the SSD, instead I make use of the SDHC slot and have an 8GB card in there with movies and music on, and for more stuff I have a 160GB USB mini harddrive that I take if I need to.
Member since:2009-04-17
The Windows licensing for Dell's Netbooks are minimal.
The difference between raw costs associated with Linux and Windows is actually pretty pointless.
With Windows there is a licensing, but with Linux Dell bundles codecs (WMV/WMA/MP3/etc) which has patent licensing. (Don't worry. Out of the MS license MS pays some patent fees for codecs also)
The reason you use Linux on a Netbook is that the UI for Linux is more easily taylored and the hardware costs to get Linux to perform on par with other netbooks is less.
The Windows system gets a mechanical drive becuase you need a mechanical drive for Windows. For Linux you don't need that so it gets a SSD, since that is superior for the task. (more robust, immune to drops and other things)
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Anyways in terms of Dell's upgrades it's going to be always more expensive.
If you want a big drive then it's much more cost effective to purchase the base model and upgrade the drive yourself. The same goes for memory.
Member since:2005-12-02
Why on earth do you need a mechanical drive for Windows? Windows runs on SSD's just fine.
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it."I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)"."The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight.""And so it is with Dell's Alienware X51 R2, a small form factor gaming PC in console digs. It's shaped similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Slim, and though it's slightly larger than either a 360 or PlayStation 3, the X51 R2 would be right at home in a living room setting nestled next to a large screen TV. Indeed, it's adept at running Steam's Big Picture mode, and if your primary objective is to play games in the living room, go ahead and consider the X51 R2 a hybrid game console." This is obviously not the only machine like this - still, these are very valid console alternatives even for those that don't like being hunched over with a cramped WASD-claw. Also, PC gamers among us: could you get away with the $699 model for gaming?
From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.
Member since:
2006-12-01
I really have some issues understanding the Dell's strategy on Linux.
First they say they support Linux, but on their web site (at least for dell.it) the inspiron Mini 10v (linux and 8 gb SSD) costs 249 euros.
If I want a decent hard disk you need to pay 279 euros, with 160 gb, but only Windows... uhm..
Basically even if I want to buy a Dell with Linux I need to buy the smaller capacity. Or buy the Windows version and install linux.
This 30 euros of difference what are they? License or Harddisk?
Does not make any sense.
I think is not just dell, Also other manufactures do this.
I still need to find someone that does a proper offer.. Same specs, different operating system. . .