The £250 PC hasn’t been part of the British computing landscape since the days of the eight-bit micro. Evesham Technology has changed that, with the launch of the E-scape Li — no monitor or speakers, but everything else you need for a working computer. It includes, for the first time in the UK market, a version of Linux aimed at the consumer, Lindows. Read the review of the machine and OS at ZDNet.
Lindows Arrives in UK on a £250 PC
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The latest print edition of PC Pro magazine (December 2002) also has a review of the E-scape Li. They awarded it 3 out of 6 stars. Their verdict: it offers reasonable value for money as an everyday PC or a cheap networked box.
The PC Pro reviewer adds that you can even add Windows XP for an extra £60 from Evesham (in you’d rather have Windows than Lindows!).
I think it will be interesting to see how other PC vendors in the UK respond to this low-cost model. But given that XP doesn’t seem to add a great deal more to the cost of the PC, can Lindows or Linux compete favourably in the desktop sphere?
“I think it will be interesting to see how other PC vendors in the UK respond to this low-cost model. But given that XP doesn’t seem to add a great deal more to the cost of the PC, can Lindows or Linux compete favourably in the desktop sphere?”
If Linux is preinstalled, I don’t see why not. Linux actually has a slight edge here since it costs little to nothing for the manufacturer to install, but a user would have to shell out another £60. More work on the users part to get Windows. This is why OEM deals are so crucial. Just imagine what could have happend if Be, Inc. had been able to get BeOS preinstalled on a few Dells or Compaqs. (Yes, I know about Microsoft’s bootloader practices and the lawsuit.)
All in all this doesn’t sound like a bad deal. In the article, they say it even runs Office 2000!
“I think it will be interesting to see how other PC vendors in the UK respond to this low-cost model. But given that XP doesn’t seem to add a great deal more to the cost of the PC, can Lindows or Linux compete favourably in the desktop sphere?”
As various HW components move directly onto the chip the price of the box will continue to drop. MS faces the issue of why the consumer has to pay 24% (in the case of this box) more for Windows. It is becoming more common knowledge that MSFT has enormous profit margins and billions in the bank. If the real cost of MSFT products becomes more visible I think folks will wonder why it adds such a large percentage to have an MSFT operating system. My original IBM PC came with a MSFT operating system and it added 4% to the cost of the system.
Over the last 20 years the cost of the OS has increased even as HW has signifcantly outdistanced SW in capital investment, technological complexity and innovation. This makes it more difficult for MSFT to pass the smell test and puts pressure on them to reduce the cost of their OS to a more reasonable 4% or so. As products like Lindows move ahead they will have to respond or face a more skeptical consumer reception.
“If Linux is preinstalled, I don’t see why not. Linux actually has a slight edge here since it costs little to nothing for the manufacturer to install, but a user would have to shell out another £60.”
This would be true of another Linux distro, but we’re talking about Lindows, which comes with a couple apps installed, otherwise the user is pushed towards the click-n-run service (we’re talking average customers not the usual Linux geeks), which is $99 a year (for free software, just get the pleasure of simple install). So, that savings over Win XP disappears when you add the price of click-n-run into the mix. The free apps you get for Lindows are free also on Windows so you’re not saving money. Plus, Windows and Microsoft are here to stay, there’s not as much certainty in Lindows, still too new to the marketplace.
That Lindows also supplies commercial software through click ‘n’ run, not just free software.
Assuming the deal is comparable to the Walmart $200 unit, (both use the Via C3 chip IIRC), then it looks like poor old UK is continuing the usual trend of charging UK punters 2x the US prices. #250 is about $400.
I just wish more of the vendors that use the tiny integrated ITX mobos would stop putting them in oversized ugly cases (coz they are basically free). I fondly remember the Beeb, QL with similar size mobo in very slim KB style cases. On the mini ITX web sites, various users of this Via board have put them into all sorts of strange cases (gas can, old Nintendo, Sun case etc). I could live with one of these Via boards inside KB unit, I could move it around much easier!
Okay, two, three or four commercial apps (StarOffice, Netscape 7.0) along with Free Software advertise to work like Office :o)
About $400US without a monitor isn’t anything new! Running Lindows is, but It doesn’t much cheaper. If you were to use ClickNRun one would be paying $100 for free software I understand.(I will believe there is commercial software when I see it) That’s no deal. The markup for windows for OEM’s isn’t 24% though. Virtually everyone knows that OEM discounts make the price of windows fall below $20!
$400 is a good deal in the UK, it is very rare to see a PC for less than 499 GBP i.e. nearly $850.
The actual cost of XP is difficult to ascertain given that it’s always bundled with the PC, a local outlet here charges 60 GBP for an OEM copy of XP so I would guess the cost price is about 42 GBP.