The Netbook Thread

[Firefox]

I still remember, with horror, the time when "Intel inside" (though I suspect that marketing effort took off later) meant a 8088 at 4.77 MHz. Would business look at an 8MHz machine, with more memory, better memory addressing, better graphics and a lower price? Not a chance, they "weren't compatible" even though in the things that actually mattered, they very easily could be.

Atari ST?

[Kronos]

I still remember, with horror, the time when "Intel inside" (though I suspect that marketing effort took off later) meant a 8088 at 4.77 MHz. Would business look at an 8MHz machine, with more memory, better memory addressing, better graphics and a lower price? Not a chance, they "weren't compatible" even though in the things that actually mattered, they very easily could be.

Atari ST?

Even if they were compatible via emulation there was a huge support and training barrier to break in the corporate environment. I don't think Acorn/Atari/Commodore quite understood the mountain they had to climb whilst fighting between themselves. And the technical difference between a CGA 8086 PC and an Amiga A1000 couldn't have been larger and never has been to this day.

Even IBM themselves couldn't break the DOS based 86 PC/ISA standard with PS/2 and OS/2, says a lot that.

Microsoft Write (v5?) or WordPerfect on DOS in 87 etc wasn't that fantastic, trust me I used it many times, let alone the PC Paint packages which were worse than things available on the A8/C64 let alone Deluxe Paint

[Kronos]

Kemper_Boyd wrote:

"£99" Linux laptop from Elonex.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol ... 374812.ece

Interesting. I think I want something between the current iteration of the eeePC and a laptop, not something with lesser capabilities, but still it does look good for prices.

Will "One vs eeePC" become the new "Spectrum vs C64"?

Could be, I mean one does after have inferior specification and a horrible rubber keyboard compared to the other

There is absolutely no mention of this on the Elonex website. Given their existing laptop range costs more than Medion/Advent and Acer lord only knows what technology they are using to get that price. However as a £99 toy I certainly would have a look. Im sure someone will port Mame or UAE to it

[zip accident]

Firefox wrote:

Atari ST?

Actually, mine was. However, in 1990, it could have been the Archimedes (which was even more powerful), the Mac, or the Amiga equally.

They were compatible in the sense that they could all read and write DOS format floppy disks (the STe did it natively, but the others could do it with progams (not sure about the mac for that one)), they all had Centronics style printer interfaces, they all had RS232 ports.

[Dio]

Well, the PC-XT was infinitely more business friendly than any of those machines. The ST was never marketed significantly outside the games and music markets, the Archimedes was strictly UK only and educationally focused, and both the Amiga and Mac (and the ST) were far too scary and different for busincess markets.

In contrast, the PC-XT could be easily sold as a better CP/M machine, with all the key business software in place from the start - and, of course, nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.

[ElfQrin]

Well, the PC-XT was infinitely more business friendly than any of those machines.

Yes, because business meant green spreadsheet back to then.

[VNVObit]

Well, the PC-XT was infinitely more business friendly than any of those machines.

Yes, because business meant green spreadsheet back to then.

and how those spreadsheets have got so colourful ever since (speaking as one who uses them every day he works)

[VNVObit]

Well I went and saw one in the flesh and have to say was smitten
Spent yesterday traipsing around west London on Public transport with my son in the buggy but to no avail (did have fun in the playground with my son though)
PC World Brentford had one (according to their stock check) but they couldn't find it
after 15 minutes checking they eventually found one but it was the 2G model and not the one they were supposed to have
they (slightly grudgingly - actually to be fair the manager had no hesitation just the sales assistant) rang around
they pointed out that Dixons in Gatwick had 54 and I could get one there (where oh where do they get these people from)
i pointed out I was a) on public transport b) Gatwick was miles away and c) Dixons were beyond the security checks so would need to have an airline ticket

just then another assistant arrived and said oh we have one but its for another customer who has already paid for it (sounded more than a little suspicious to me)

anyway will try Tottenham Court Road tomorrow and see

[galaxis]

Well, the PC-XT was infinitely more business friendly than any of those machines. The ST was never marketed significantly outside the games and music markets, the Archimedes was strictly UK only and educationally focused, and both the Amiga and Mac (and the ST) were far too scary and different for busincess markets.

*siiiiiigggggghhhhhh*

It's (still) so sad that Atari never understood they could have been successful in the business market. I was working for an Atari shop in Germany at the time, and people were ripping Mega STe's, TTs, and SLM laser printers out of our hands. Shure they were especially strong in the music and DTP markets, but there was software for everything - we even had a networked point of sale and stockkeeping system running on the Ataris. And then they went and designed that Falcon shit.

[guythp]

Well, the PC-XT was infinitely more business friendly than any of those machines. The ST was never marketed significantly outside the games and music markets, the Archimedes was strictly UK only and educationally focused, and both the Amiga and Mac (and the ST) were far too scary and different for busincess markets.

*siiiiiigggggghhhhhh*

It's (still) so sad that Atari never understood they could have been successful in the business market. I was working for an Atari shop in Germany at the time, and people were ripping Mega STe's, TTs, and SLM laser printers out of our hands. Shure they were especially strong in the music and DTP markets, but there was software for everything - we even had a networked point of sale and stockkeeping system running on the Ataris. And then they went and designed that Falcon shit.

*hugs* ... It's ok, the lack of understanding Atari showed for it's market around that time saddens me too.

Don't dis the Falcon, mind. Bar the case it came in (and that F*CKING internal speaker! Oh, and the fact they even released a 1Mb version) it was a sexy and powerful machine. Such a shame it never sold.

[benedictw]

There is absolutely no mention of this on the Elonex website. Given their existing laptop range costs more than Medion/Advent and Acer lord only knows what technology they are using to get that price. However as a £99 toy I certainly would have a look. Im sure someone will port Mame or UAE to it

Google 'elonex one'. Its a unreleased piece of hardware so the page is a placeholder, once it launches we may get a better bit of information. Now if it had a touchscreen and ran reasonably ok I would be running, FAST, to get hold of one. Not really sure how practical a seperate keyboard and display is if it aint a touchscreen but we shall see.

Actually, some people think its a rebadged one of these:
http://ec.fontastic.com.tw/clients/show ... 84909.html

[Kemper_Boyd]

If that is it then here is a review.
http://www.ocworkbench.com/2007/aware/A ... 300/g1.htm

Actually that is a slightly different model as the ports are on the back
rather than sides, although the rest matches.

Anyway here is the range.
http://www.aware.com.tw/products.php

[galaxis]

Don't dis the Falcon, mind. Bar the case it came in (and that F*CKING internal speaker! Oh, and the fact they even released a 1Mb version) it was a sexy and powerful machine. Such a shame it never sold.

Doesn't really belong into this thread - but even the Falcon could have been sold, if there had been any supplies. But the Falcon was over half a year late (I still have a copy of one of the "we're just waiting for the ship to arrive, honest" letters Atari Germany sent to their retailers at the time).

More on-topic, I barely can wait for an updated version of the Eee with a slightly better screen resolution

[guythp]

Doesn't really belong into this thread - ....

More on-topic, I barely can wait for an updated version of the Eee with a slightly better screen resolution

indeed. I'll be watching to see what happens when this elonex budget lappy comes out, I wouldn't mind forking out £100 for a portable machine.. (Even) At 300mhz there're bound to be some older emulators that should work on it

[techno12]

And it all runs on an ageing chip that was designed before its target audience of seven-year-olds were even born.

Wonder what that means?

I've been trying to find somewhere with an EEEPc in stock for about a month now, with no luck (except for the occasional 2 gig Surf for mad prices). I think I'll probably leave it for a month or two and see if the v2 with the 8.9" screens appear, or if any interesting competitors come out.

And when you do find stock you'll find that they've gone up in price.

PC World / Dixons have a fair few, but they've slapped £40 on top of the RRP the cheeky sods! Glad I grabbed mine a couple of weeks ago before they did that.

I was holding out for the V2 but that could be 6 months away and I have a 6 hour train journey next week (which is what prompted me to buy one now). Still love the machine, tho I've just experienced my first "DHCP pending" quirk which meant I couldn't connect to any wifi hotspots in town. Most people see this, and there are various workarounds