Liliputing

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2008-07-20T19:15:00.000-04:00

I'm working on the site this evening. Liliputing may be unavailable for a while, and when it's back there may be some issues with comments and other parts of the site. Please let me know if you experience any problems.

Register to win a hand-painted, sci fi themed Eee PC

2008-07-19T10:01:00.000-04:00

Science fiction and fantasy publisher Tor Books is preparing to launch a new web site. And to build buzz, the company is giving away an Eee PC hand-painted by artist Donato Giancola. The artwork is pretty slick, but even more impressive is this short video showing the painting process.

It's not clear from the contest page what model this is, but judging by the placement of the power button, it looks like an Eee PC 701. No word on whether it's a 2G or 4G model.

[via Boing Boing]

Upcoming Emtec GDium ultraportable will run Mandriva Linux

2008-07-18T21:11:00.000-04:00

Mandriva has announced that the Emtec GDium netbook will ship with Mandriva Linux. I kind of forgot about the GDium, what with all the excitement around the MSI Wind, Asus Eee PC 901/1000/1000H, and Acer Aspire One. But the Emtec GDium looks like an interesting machine with a 10 inch 1024 x 600 pixel display and a price tag around $430.

Probably the most interesting feature of the GDium is that it will ship without any internal storage. Instead, the operating system will be loaded onto a USB flash drive called a G-Key. That way you can save your entire work environment to a tiny stick that you can pop in your pocket. If you happen to work in an office with dozens of GDium computers, you can easily load up your workspace on any machine. This doesn't seem like a situation that will arise very often, but you never know.

The XO Laptop and the Asus Eee PC have shown that it's possible to create and market a low cost PC running Linux instead of Windows or OS X. But the thing about Linux is that there are hundreds of different varieties, if not more. So while Asus chose Xandros for the Eee PC, Acer went with Linpus Linux Lite for the Aspire One. Everex chose gOS for the Cloudbook, and the OLPC developers came up with their own custom Sugar OS for the XO Laptop.

But just because your computer comes with an operating system doesn't mean it's the only one you can use. The developers of the Mandriva Linux distribution have officially supported the Asus Eee PC for months. And Eee PC user have unofficially managed to get a whole slew of other operating systems to work on their hardware.

It's nice to see the Mandriva team has managed to partner with Emtec to preload the OS onto the GDium's G-Key drives. But I can't help but wonder whether this cornucopia of Linux flavors is a good thing or a bad thing. Back when Linux was an operating system designed for hackers who were both capable and willing to spend time tweaking it to their own liking, it made sense to have a bunch of different distributions to choose from. But as computer makers start to ship products with Linux preloaded, will it just confuse customers if the OS on the Eee PC doesn't look or work like the one on the Acer Aspire One or Emtec GDium?

Obviously Ubuntu has a huge share of the desktop Linux market, and Canonical is working on Ubuntu Netbook Remix, a custom version of the operating systm designed for low cost laptops. I don't know if I'd really want to see the computer industry rally around one distro like Ubuntu as a way to push for some sort of standards. But it might make life a little eaiser for the general consumer. I'm fairly certain that Debian, Fedora, PCLinuxOS, Gentoo, and other enthusiasts will still figure out how to cram their distros of choice onto any hardware.

What do you think? Do we need a standard Linux distro for netbooks? Or is variety truly the spice of life?

[via OSNews]

Eee PC 1000H price drop: $550 from Newegg

2008-07-18T18:51:00.000-04:00

It looks like Asus may be knocking $100 off the price of the Eee PC 1000H. While Amazon is still taking preorders for $650, Newegg is charging just $550. Newegg is also offering 3 day shipping and says the computer is in stock.

I'd say this was just a case of one retailer offering a deal, but Mwave has the Eee PC 1000H listed for $560. Unfortunately, Mwave says the computer isn't currently in stock yet. But hey, two makes a trend. Or something.

The Eee PC 1000H has a 10 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive. It comes with Windows XP and a 6 cell battery. In other words, you get everything you'd find in an MSI Wind notebook, plus a higher capacity battery. Currently the MSI Wind ships with a 3 cell battery.

At $479, the MSI Wind is still cheaper than the Asus Eee PC 1000H. But if you have your heart set on an Asus product (or a higher capacity battery), this price cut certainly looks like good news.

[via bdogg64]

MSI Wind and Advent 4211: Separated at birth, together at last

2008-07-18T14:07:00.000-04:00

Sure, you already knew that the Advent 4211 notebook is virtually identical to the MSI Wind. The only major difference is that the Advent PC is only available in the UK and it has Advent branding instead of MSI. But sometimes seeing is believing. Lucky for us, Pocket Lint has access to one of each, and snapped some side by side photos.

One thing I hadn't realized up until now is that the MSI Wind has a glossy top cover while the Advent 4211 looks like it has more of a matte finish. While this gives the MSI Wind that shiny, happy look, it also means that the Wind is more likely to show fingerprints and other smudges.

For the most part, the two computers look the same. But if you've ever wondered what two tiny laptops do when hanging out in a park (or draped across the back of a car), head on over to Pocket Lint for a few more photos.

MSI Wind runs faster, longer with Vista than XP?

2008-07-18T11:01:00.000-04:00

We already knew that it was possible to install Windows Vista on an MSI Wind. But why would anyone choose to load an operating system that takes up significantly more system resources on a tiny laptop with a relatively low powered CPU? Because you might just get more battery life and a more responsive PC, that's why.

While Trusted Reviews found a MSI Wind running Vista to be a bit on the sluggish side, Notebook Review discovered that the notebook can handle Windows Vista quite well.

The trick is to find working LAN, WLAN, card reader, and Intel GMA 950 drivers. For the most part, it looks like the XP drivers MSI supplies will work. You also have to disable Vista features like Windows Update, System Restore, UAC, and scheduled hard drive defragmenting tasks in order to get a speed boost. But the upshot is that the reviewer found that the Wind scored higher on every benchmark when running Windows Vista than it had when running Windows XP.

The battery also lasted 2.5 hours instead of the 2 hours he was getting with Windows XP. This doesn't surprise me. Windows Vista has significantly better power management than Windows XP, and the power settings are far more customizable. With CPU-intensive features disabled, I'd be surprised of the battery didn't last longer under Vista.

So what do you think? Should MSI offer the option to order a Wind notebook running Windows Vista? Or should the brave few souls who want to install the OS just do it themselves?

[via Electric Pig]

AMD to compete with Intel, VIA for netbook love

2008-07-18T08:14:00.001-04:00

There've been rumors that AMD would be getting into the low-cost ultraportable chip-making business. And now it looks like AMD's new CEO Dirk Meyer has pretty much confirmed it. Meyer says the company has no plans to start making chips for cellphones or mobile internet devices. But low-cost laptops are another story.

The announcement (if you can call it that, no actual products have been announced) makes sense. After all, AMD is still a much smaller company than Intel, and it doesn't make sense to stray too far from the company's core business model: making chips for desktop and laptop computers.

While there's no real information on AMD's planned netbook chip, I'm going to make a wild prediction that AMD is working on a cheap, energy saving processor. I wouldn't say no to a multi-core chip, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Update: Register Hardware reports that AMD is using the codename "Bobcat" for its upcoming low-power chip. Here are some of the specs, according to Register Hardware:

1GHz clock speed
128KB of L1 cache
256KB of L2 cache
800MHz HyperTransport link
Support for 400MHz DDR2
Will consume 8W of power or less
Will be placed in an 812 pin, 27 square millimeter BGA package

Eee Box coming to America next month

2008-07-17T23:20:00.000-04:00

Laptop Magazine is confirming that the Asus Eee Box is headed to the US. The Eee Box is the first desktop PC in the Eee PC lineup. It's basically a tiny computer with no optical drive, an 80GB hard drive, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM, and a $349 price tag. In other words, it's a lot like the Eee PC notebook, but a bit cheaper and a bit less portable.

Laptop's Joanna Stern also shot a little video demonstrating the Express Gate software that comes preloaded on the Eee Box. ExpressGate is the Asus version of Splashtop, a super light-weight, Linux-based operating system that can be installed on a motherboard. You can launch Express Gate within seconds of hitting the power button, which means you can access a handful of programs like a web browser, chat application, photo editor, or Skype without waiting for Windows XP to load fully.

Stern points out that while it takes just a few seconds for the Express Gate interface to pop up, it takes a little longer to actually get your applications up and running. But using Express Gate, you can load a web browser and connect to the internet in just over 30 seconds, while it takes almost a minute just to load a working desktop in Windows XP.

Keep in mind, Express Gate and Splashtop software performance will vary from machine to machine. The Eee PC is running a low-power CPU that's designed more for efficiency than speed. A faster machine will probably load applications more quickly.

Touchscreen kits for the Eee PC 900 now available on eBay

2008-07-17T18:48:00.002-04:00

Want a touchscreen in your Eee PC, but don't feel like installing one yourself or turning your computer into a tablet? eBay user Fido Dido is selling a touchscreen kit designed for the Eee PC 900.

The Fido Dido kit features an 8.9 inch display that's practically identical to the one that comes with the Eee PC -- except it is touch sensitive. That means you can fit it in the computer case without any modifications. Installation looks pretty simple, and you can even download the drivers and spec sheet from the eBay listing page.

The kit costs about $69, but it ships from ~~Australia~~ Taiwan, so you might have to pay a few bucks extra to order a kit if you're in another country.

[via jkkmobile]

Asus intros 30GB Eee PC 900

2008-07-17T09:46:00.001-04:00

Asus has introduced yet another Eee PC model. This time, the company is offering an Eee PC 900 with a 30GB hard drive. Older Eee PC 900 models come with 12GB or 20GB solid state disks. The new units are only showing up on the Asus China page at the moment. It looks like you can get a 30GB model with Linux or Windows XP, for the equivalent of about $499 or $513 respectively.

Now, I'm all for giving customers more choices. But I'm starting to get tired of the way Asus is introducing new models.When most computer makers introduce a new machine, they take one of two routes. They might offer a computer with one or two sets of specs and let you place your order in peace. Or they offer you the ability to customize your order by choosing from a list of hard drive, RAM, processor, and accessory options. And then there's Asus.

Asus has been releasing Eee PC models like there's no tomorrow. Sometimes the changes are big, and the new model gets a whole new name. The Eee PC 901 has a different processor and memory configuration than the Eee PC 900, but the same screen size. The Eee PC 1000 has a larger screen. And so on.

But the company also keeps releasing different versions of existing models. So you can order an Eee PC 900 with 12GB of storage and Windows XP, or 20GB of storage and Linux. But you can't mix and match. There's no way to order a 20GB model with Windows XP, because Asus doesn't offer that. If Asus is going to keep introducing a new model every week, I wish the company would just let you customize the computer of your dreams online the way that Dell, HP, and other manufacturers do.

[via jkkmobile]

Ubuntu Netbook Remix on the Acer Aspire One

2008-07-16T12:15:00.000-04:00

Want to know how Ubuntu Netbook Remix runs on the Acer Aspire One?

Spanish language blog Asus E3 apparently took the plunge and installed Ubuntu Netbook Remix on an Aspire One. As you can see, it runs pretty smoothly although it takes a fairly long time to boot.

Ubuntu Netbook Remix is currently available as an add-on for Ubuntu 8.04. In other words, you first need to install Ubuntu, then you can install the Netbook Remix packages which include optimizations for the Intel Atom CPU and for devices with small screens. Eventually Canonical hopes to partner with PC makers to preload the operating system on low cost ultraportable computers like the Asus Eee PC and Acer Aspire One.

[via Eee PC News.de]

MSI Wind update: J&R gets a product page, Brazil gets a clone

2008-07-16T10:06:00.001-04:00

I have two bits of MSI Wind-related news to share today. First, Wilson Azevedo wrote in to let me know that an MSI Wind clone will be hitting Brazil soon. The computer will be released by a company called Mirax and will be known as the Mirax Freedom.The specs are pretty much identical to the US version. For $999 Brazilian (about $627 US), you get a 10 inch display, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive.

Closer to home, J&R has posted a product page for the MSI Wind. Although the US retailer says the computer isn't shipping yet, it's worth noting that J&R is listing a unit with a 6-cell battery and a $549 price tag.

Originally MSI had promised to release the computer with a 6-cell battery for $499. But the global battery shortage made it hard to supply 6-cell batteries, and MSI knocked $20 off the price and 3 cells off the battery before releasing the PC this month. It's not clear at the moment whether J&R's price reflects the actual price of a 6-cell MSI Wind notebook. But it wouldn't be a huge suprise if MSI decided to jack up the price for the higher capacity battery. Notebook batteries are notoriously expensive.

[via Mike Cane]

Eee PC 901 running Windows Vista

2008-07-15T15:02:00.000-04:00

We've already seen the MSI Wind and the Eee PC 1000H running Windows Vista. So it should come as no surprise that the Eee PC 901 is capable of running Microsoft's latest and most resource-intensive consumer operating system. But it's still nice to see it in action.

Jkkmobile installed Vista on his Eee PC 901, using the drivers available at the Asus support web site. He did find better drivers for the graphics and touchpad which helped enable the Vista Aero interface.

The Eee PC 901 got an overall Vista performance score of 2.7, which isn't bad for a computer with 1GB of RAM and integrated graphics. Overall, Vista seems a bit zippier than I would expect.

Acer Aspire One available at Newegg, Amazon drops MSI Wind price

2008-07-15T13:14:00.001-04:00

Good news for anyone looking for a cheap subnotebook. The Acer Aspire One, which is officially the cheapest Intel Atom-based computer you can buy right now, just showed up at Newegg for $380. And as of this morning, it was actually in stock.

In other news, the MSI Wind, which is the second-cheapest Intel Atom-based computer, got a small price cut at Amazon. A few weeks ago, when MSI announced it would be replacing the promised 6-cell battery with a 3-cell battery due to the global battery shortage, MSI promised to drop the price for the Windows XP version of the Wind notebook from $499 to $479. But for some reason up until this week, Amazon was showing a $499 price for the Wind. Now the shopping site is showing the same $479 price as the MSI Shop. I'd still rather have a 6 cell battery.

Of course, if the MSI Wind and Acer Aspire One are both too expensive for your tastes, you can always wait until next month when Dell will reportedly begin offering a $299 subnotebook. Dell's base model will most likely sport just 4GB of storage and 512MB of RAM though, so if you want a bit more power, you'll have to pay a few bucks more, which will likely bring the cost in line with the Acer Aspire One.

[via Small-Laptops]

How to add a hard drive to an Eee PC 901

2008-07-15T11:01:00.000-04:00

Eee PC hacker extraordinaire jkkmobile has posted a video showing how to add a hard drive or a CF card adapter to an Eee PC 901. The whole process is made extraordinarily easy by the fact that Asus included a little shelf in the computer that's almost exactly the right size for resting a 1.8 inch hard drive.

Because the Eee PC 901 includes two SSD modules, you can actually add a hard drive or extra flash drive without removing the module that holds your operating system. It's almost like Asus wanted people to hack this device.

The one problem jkkmobile ran into was that it was a bit hard to connect the hard drive without cutting away at some of the plastic. So if you're willing to void your warranty, you might want to use some wire cutters or a sharp knife.

Almost confirmed: Dell E mini-notebook coming in August

2008-07-15T08:32:00.000-04:00

While we already had some evidence suggesting that Dell would be getting ready to unleash a low cost ultraportable in August, DigiTimes has found some industry sources who are confirming that Dell should be ready to ship the computer next month.

As expected, it looks like the cheapest Dell mini-notebook (which may or may not be called the Dell E) will cost just $299, making it one of the cheapest subnotebooks around. Unless Dell's gotten all crazy with the specs, we can expect a laptop with an 8.9 inch, 1024 x 600 pixel display, a 1.6GHz Intel Atcom CPU, 802.11g, 512MB of RAM, a 0.3 MP webcam and a 4GB SSD. For a few bucks more you'll be able to get more RAM, more storage, and even a larger notebook model with a 12 inch screen.

MSI Wind unboxed: Now shipping in the US

2008-07-14T19:48:00.001-04:00

In case you had any doubts that the MSI Wind U100 laptop was actually shipping in the US, Adam Smith managed to find one at a Fry's store near San Diego, California.

Not a lot of surprises in the box. You get a computer, battery, power cable, and a case. There are also 3 CDs, including a Windows XP SP3 recovery disc, a driver disc, and a CD-R which contains... something. Adam's guessing it's a last minute update. I'd guess it was something that the folks at Fry's slipped into the box, but the disc says Office Depot on it, so maybe not.

[via Engadget]

How to install Windows Vista on an MSI Wind

2008-07-14T17:04:00.000-04:00

Trusted Reviews has a handy tutorial for any masochists looking to install Windows Vista on an MSI Wind. The laptop is designed to run Windows XP or Linux, but with 1GB of RAM and a 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU it's (just barely) capable of running Vista.

The easiest way to install Vista is with a USB DVD drive, since the MSI Wind, Eee PC, and most other netbooks lack built in optical disc drives. But Trusted Reviews provides instructions for transfering your installation files to USB flash drive instead. The tutorial also recommends using vLite to customize your Windows Vista installater by stripping programs, services, and other components you don't need.

In the end, what you get is a tiny laptop running a resource-intensive operating system. Trusted Reviews found that it took a relatively long time to perform basic tasks like opening folders or launching program. But hey, at least you get nifty transparency effects.

Acer Aspire One laptop could get 3G support

2008-07-14T16:09:00.002-04:00

Acer is reportedly discussing the possibility of bundling 3G wireless modems with the company's Aspire One mini-laptop in Europe. Network World says Acer is talking with T-Mobile, Vodafone, and Orange in Europe and Chunghwa Telecom and Taiwan mobile in Taiwan.

The move isn't particularly surprising. The Aspire One has a slot for a 3G card, even if that slot has gone unused so far. And other subnotebook makers including Asus have already announced plans to partner with wireless carriers.

There's no word on how much a 3G Acer Aspire One would cost. It's possible that a wireless provider could choose to subsidize the price for customers who are willing to sign up for 1 or 2 year contracts.

How to access advanced Acer Aspire One features

2008-07-14T14:31:00.000-04:00

Sure, Acer went through a lot of trouble to create a custom user interface for the Acer Aspire One computer, but I'm willing to bet that you'll want to figure out how to circumvent it within a few minutes of unboxing the computer.

The goal was to provide users with quick access to the applications they'd use the most. The custom version of Linpux Linux Lite looks and feels much like the custom version of Xandros that Asus uses for the Eee PC. But power users are going to want to know how to add their own applications or access advanced features like the disk manager or firewall settings.

It turns out that underneath the custom interface, the Acer Aspire One is running the Xfce desktop environment. Members of the AspireOneUser forum have uncovered two different methods for enabling advanced features.

The first thing you need to do is open a terminal window by going to files -> my documents and then clicking the file menu and selecting terminal.

If you like the Acer interface, but want to add the ability to bring the Xfce system menu by right-clicking on the screen, these instructions can help. If you'd prefer to replace the Acer interface with a more generic Xfce interface, follow these steps.

Windows drivers for the Acer Aspire One

2008-07-14T12:49:00.000-04:00

While Asus, HP, and MSI have all done a pretty decent job of posting Windows drivers for their computers online, Acer has yet to make the Windows drivers for the Aspire One mini-notebook available. You can find a security patch for Windows XP, a disk formatter, and "eNet management" software at Acer's support site, but no audio, LAN, WLAN, chipset, or card reader or graphics drivers.

Fortunately AspireOneUser has stepped up and uploaded the drivers you'll need to install Windows XP or Vista on an Acer Aspire One laptop.

Acer is currently only selling the Aspire One with Linux preloaded. Eventually the company will make a Windows version available. At that point, I'm sure the company will make Windows drivers available. But if you happen to have a copy of Windows lying around that you want to install on a system today, these drivers could help.

Two views: Linux is/is not key to Eee PC success

2008-07-14T08:49:00.001-04:00

In the past two days, I've read two different articles about the role of Linux in the success of the Eee PC and other low-cost laptops. In one corner, APC Magazine reports that while Linux helped Asus and others drive down the cost of ultraportables, there's a huge demand for the more familiar Windows operating system, which is what most manufacturers will now focus on. In the other corner, we have The Register, which reports that the reason you can't find any Linux-based Eee PC 901 units at the moment is because of the Intel Atom CPU shortage.

Wait, what?

Basically, according to The Register, there aren't enough Intel Atom processors to go around. And so while Asus has been producing an equal number of Linux and Windows machines, they haven't been able to produce as many overall computers as planned. In other words, the reason you're not seeing Linux models on the shelves is because they're already sold out, leaving just the XP versions available.

This doesn't seem particularly likely though, considering the fact that Asus predicted earlier this year that 60% of its Eee PC units would eventually be running Windows.

APC has a much more detailed article exploring the relationship between Linux and today's low cost ultraportables. Asus, Acer, and other computer makers have definitely helped demonstrate that it's possible to build a custom version of Linux that won't scare away new Linux users. But when it comes time do something as simple as adding or removing software from an Eee PC, Windows users will find themselves in unfamiliar territory. Ultimately, the biggest accomplishment we may eventually be able to chalk up to Linux is that it gave laptop makers a bargaining chip and forced Microsoft to think about ways to extend the life of Windows XP and offer it for a low price to OEMs.

The APC Magazine doens't offer any good explanation for why the Linux version of the Eee PC 901 is unavailable at the moment though.

SD cards loaded with Ubuntu Eee available for pre-order

2008-07-13T10:23:00.000-04:00

Want to install Ubuntu on an Eee PC, but don't want to go through the trouble of downloading and installing the operating system all by your lonesome? The folks behind the Ubuntu Eee project will soon be offering up a 4GB SD card with the operating system preloaded. This isn't a memory stick that you can use to install the operating system -- it will already be installed. All you have to do is pop it into your Eee PC, choose the SD card from the boot menu, and you'll be running a custom version of Ubuntu designed for the Eee PC.

The cards are currently available for "pre-order." All you have to do is donate $50 or more to the open source project. In return you'll get a shiny new 4GB Class 6 SD card with Ubuntu Eee and a cute little Ubuntu Eee logo. While you could certainly pick up a cheaper 4GB card and install Ubuntu Eee PC yourself, the idea is to make the process as simple and painless as possible.

Right now it looks like there will only be a limited supply of Ubuntu Eee SD cards. Developer Jon Ramvi says he's only purchased 10 blank cards. But if they sell out quickly, I'm sure we can convince him to produce a few more.

Keep in mind, Ubuntu Eee is designed specifically for the Eee PC. It will probably not work as well on other devices due to hardware differences.

[via Linux Loop]

Fujitsu Siemens jumps into the netbook game

2008-07-12T19:15:00.002-04:00

Fujitsu Siemens has been making ultraportable laptops for years. But they're not exactly cheap. Now it looks like the company is getting ready to join Asus, Acer, HP, Dell, MSI and others in launching a laptop that's both cheap and tiny. Fujitsu Siemens hasn't released many details about its upcoming device, but Netbux.de did manage to score a picture of the laptop.

The computer will reportedly sell for between 300 and 400 Euros, or $475 to $633 US. And judging by the fact that there's a Windows key on the keyboard, it's a safe bet that it will be Windows XP and/or Vista compatible. That doesn't mean there won't be a Linux version though.

Update: Heise reports that this notebook will have an 8.9 inch display and will be part of the company's Amilo lineup.

Liliputing is now featured on Alltop

2008-07-11T19:00:00.000-04:00

This site is now featured in the gadget section of Alltop, a popular news aggregator. We're all the way down toward the bottom of the page, but we're there!

In order to celebrate this achievement, I'd like to place an Alltop badge on this site. But it's just too tough to choose the right badge. The options range from "Alltop: confirmation that I kick ass" to "Alltop: I don't know how I got there either."

If you have a moment, check out the page of badges and let me know which you think would be most appropriate for this site.