Asus 3epc, Have you seen it? Options

[Snappy]

You are right, no one should tolerate such business practices, and no one is advocating that we should.

This is a bit like what Moore mentioned in an interview for Sicko, about how it does not make sense that a basic thing like medical care is linked to profit margins.

To regulate or not regulate. hmmm ....

[ZDevil]

Found a nice preview of this beast:

http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=13177

Very temping indeed...

[adf]

Found a nice preview of this beast:

http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=13177

Very temping indeed... 

Yeah, it is tempting--and the OLPC is nowhere to be had, yet. I guess I'll sit on my hands til some more reviews, distros, etc come out--and maybe the OLPC will show by then too.

[freizugheit]

http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=13366

Two pricings: namely US$200 and US$400.

The prototype looks promising and runs Linux too.

It could be a real Zaurus killer if they are available.

[ZDevil]

It's out! And according to the news it's selling darn fast!

An "open-box" report in a Chinese forum in Taiwan: http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=...=422828&p=1

Another thread with lots of nice pictures: http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=...mp;last=3855560

Prices
7,999.00 TWD (~244.5 USD) = 2GB SSD, 256MB DDR2 Ram
9,999.00 TWD (~305.7 USD) = 4GB SSD, 512MB DDR2 Ram
11,000.00 TWD (~336.3 USD) = 4GB SSD, 512MB DDR2 Ram, builtin camera
13,888.00 TWD (~424.6 USD) = 8GB SSD, 1GB DDR2 Ram, builtin camera

Speed(-y) performance (with the *cheapest* model)
Booting up: 35 seconds
Firefox: ~40 seconds
OpenOffice 2.0: 10 seconds

Edges over the Z: (my little 2 cents )
SSD, builtin Wifi (but not bluetooth, well a usb bt dongle just costs a few bucks now), camera, SDHC support, 3xUSB (on both sides -- nice!), 5,200 mAh battery, Debian-based Xandro (gimme the .deb-z!), Skype (YES!)
... and most importantly,
the top model is even cheaper than a new SL-C3200!

For now only the white casing is available. Once the black one (it's printed on the box) is out I will surely grab one ... while waiting for the news for its 2nd generation.

Running a native toolchain this beast will be a true Z killer!

[RX Shorty]

Looks pretty interesting if you ask me.
Think of buying one too.

But a Zaurus killer?
Hmm Don't think it is the same range.
It is a bigger then the Zaurus (fits in your pocket)
Then again a sweet device!

Anybody knows some shops outside Asia?

Thanks

[Antikx]

Looks like a great device, thanks for the info!
My opinion is that it's a laptop replacement more then a Zaurus replacement.

[speculatrix]

13,888.00 TWD (~424.6 USD) = 8GB SSD, 1GB DDR2 Ram, builtin camera

that's quite expensive when you consider how cheaply you can get a regular laptop now - I think the Kohjinsha/miniVye is a much better ultraportable - the older models are relatively cheap now. 8GB - you can get that in an SDHC card for less than US$70 now!

then there's the via nanobook things, admittedly US$600 but so much more of a real computer!
http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/via-int...raportable-lap/
(-edit- see http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/01/fics-ce...-fcc-treatment/ for followup)

we live in interesting times, so many new things around, so hard to discern their true pros and cons

Reason for edit: added followup

[adf]

13,888.00 TWD (~424.6 USD) = 8GB SSD, 1GB DDR2 Ram, builtin camera

that's quite expensive when you consider how cheaply you can get a regular laptop now - I think the Kohjinsha/miniVye is a much better ultraportable - the older models are relatively cheap now. 8GB - you can get that in an SDHC card for less than US$70 now!

then there's the via nanobook things, admittedly US$600 but so much more of a real computer!
http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/via-int...raportable-lap/
(-edit- see http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/01/fics-ce...-fcc-treatment/ for followup)

we live in interesting times, so many new things around, so hard to discern their true pros and cons

Blech. This was cool for about $200 USD. Not pushing $500 for the minimal config. i bet anyone who makes the nanobook will sell it for twice its recommended price, too. At thes prices, a laptop and a smartphone look like a better bet.

[ZDevil]

13,888.00 TWD (~424.6 USD) = 8GB SSD, 1GB DDR2 Ram, builtin camera

that's quite expensive when you consider how cheaply you can get a regular laptop now - I think the Kohjinsha/miniVye is a much better ultraportable - the older models are relatively cheap now. 8GB - you can get that in an SDHC card for less than US$70 now!
then there's the via nanobook things, admittedly US$600 but so much more of a real computer!
http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/05/via-int...raportable-lap/
(-edit- see http://www.engadget.com/2007/09/01/fics-ce...-fcc-treatment/ for followup)
we live in interesting times, so many new things around, so hard to discern their true pros and cons

I think rather differently.
A laptop at this price would be a piece of crap. Heavy, short battery life, not so portable. Something that I very probably would feel like throwing against a hard solid wall. I also bet it won't launch OOo in 10 secs.
And in what sense is the kohjinsha much better than this? The old model always suffers from short battery power (2 hours). And i am not sure which linux distro now can run on this beast. The new models of Kohjinsha are at least twice the price of the top model of Eee PC.
SSD is surely way better than a mechanical harddrive.
Isn't the nano book planned to sell at $600? That's a lot more expensive and for that price difference, as you say, I can buy one (or two) very big SDHC cards. or an external hard drive plus an external DVD burner.
Perhaps I will hold out until a second generation of Eee PC with a newer processor for umpc and cheaper SSD (by that time) shows up.
The fun part of the Eee PC is you can truly have a decent and cheap "snap'n go" laptop replacement.
I am becoming less and less sure about the idea of a "zaurus replacement". Since my Zaurus is now running full Debian (full OpenBSD earlier on), i think it is now fair to compare (relatively) small gadgets with the same price range as the Z (i mean the C3x00 models; Cxx0 and C1000 are not so up to the job to (although they still can) run full distros, though. I guess I am talking about the real "cost performance ratio" and no religion or aesthetics.

[adf]

I dunno-- for price/performance I'd be happier to spend $500 on a refurb laptop. Here is a result of a 10 second search ($529 usd) from the first site I clicked on:
Compaq Presario C304NR Notebook

* Compaq Presario C304NR notebook meets all your computing needs
* Laptop features the fast 1.6GHz Intel Celeron M420
* Convenient notebook is must have portable computer
* 512MB RAM
* 80GB hard drive
* DVD/CD-RW combo drive
* 15.4 inch TFT flat panel display
* 56K modem
* NIC
* Win XP Home operating system
* Windows Vista capable

This high-quality item has been factory reconditioned. Please click on the icon above for more information on quality factory-reconditioned merchandise.

Shipping: Leaves our warehouse in 1-4 business days.*

Warranty: 90 Day - Manufacturer
Materials: electronics
Model No: rl177ua
Dimensions: 10.2 in. L x 14.1 in. W x 1.38 in. D

I would guess that by looking more closely one could do better.

Not a miracle machine, but it'd open ooo quick enough, and handle on-the-road web stuff (I use nvu and moodle a good bit) pretty well. I'm not buying anything either, but I would have picked up an eeepc at the announced price to display and encourage that sort of highly portable inexpensive technology. At close to the price of the laptop above, the eeepc seems sillly. If it were a more powerfule device, or a more portable one, it'd be different. In my case, anything that doesn't fit in my pocket will see almost the entirety of its use near an ac or a dc (car) outlet. Even my Z, when travelling is mostly near a wall socket or a car socket--how much more true would that be of something that REQUIRES that it be carried in a bag? If we agree (and you are free not to, of course) that even the eeepc will go in a bag and be mostly near external power sources, then what is gained? The light weight is really nice, but the trade off in power and screen real estate seems to me to be problematic, and not offset by simply the weight issue, or better battery life. If there were no Z's, and I thought I'd use the eeepc as a portable media player, or something, that might be different--but phones (aside from the Z) do that stuff as well as cheap tiny dedicated devices--and both can have excellent battery life while remaining pocketable (Same for email, and other traveller's necessities).

I guess I'm disappointed in the eeepc mostly because I thought that maybe there'd be some light, inexpensive, portable gadget that would really suit students in the U.S. and since the OLPC won't be appearing here anytime soon, I'd hoped the nano or the eeepc would fit the bill.

[ZDevil]

Hey, but now you are talking about a different price range (> 500 USD). You may keep adding a bit more then we have the UPMCs, which may not be worth the money because many of them are even more expensive than my macbook (I got it for around 1200 1050 USD)
I would be quite happy with the 2nd top model (4GB SSD, 512MB DDR2 Ram, builtin camera). The speed test of the lowest end model already shows quite impressive result. And the idea of having SSD is not for one to put everything in there. The SDHC port plus 3 USB hosts will suffice for mobile solutions.
This 326 USD (2/3 of the price of my 3200) can actually give me something the 3200 cannot.
To balance my view, what Eee and the like cannot beat the Z at this stage is pocketability and touchscreen.
Then again, I still think of my buddy Z as the best gadget I've ever had (since I haven't got an Eee yet). It is just full of fun and has the most amazing possibilities among all handheld computers.

[Capn_Fish]

Then again, I still think of my buddy Z as the best gadget I've ever had (since I haven't got an Eee yet). It is just full of fun and has the most amazing possibilities among all handheld computers.

Totally agree.

[fpp]

And in what sense is the kohjinsha much better than this? The old model always suffers from short battery power (2 hours).

That is backwards. The original Kohjinsha (the SA1), with the AMD Geode CPU and XP, has a terrific autonomy with the standard battery (4.5 to 5 hours). It's the newer ones (SH6 and SH8), with the same Intel CPU as the EEE and Vista, that have a problem (barely 2 hrs).

As for the comparison between the SA1 and the EEE :

SA1 pros:

- builtin bluetooth
- swiveling screen with joystick & mouse/scroll buttons (sort of tablet mode sans touchscreen)
- fanless
- great battery life
- easily upgradable (disk/RAM)

SA1 cons:

- crappy keyboard
- not sold outside japan

Depends on user :

- not natively Linux
- hard disk instead of flash

[adf]

Hey, but now you are talking about a different price range (> 500 USD). You may keep adding a bit more then we have the UPMCs, which may not be worth the money because many of them are even more expensive than my macbook (I got it for around 1200 1050 USD)
I would be quite happy with the 2nd top model (4GB SSD, 512MB DDR2 Ram, builtin camera). The speed test of the lowest end model already shows quite impressive result. And the idea of having SSD is not for one to put everything in there. The SDHC port plus 3 USB hosts will suffice for mobile solutions.
This 326 USD (2/3 of the price of my 3200) can actually give me something the 3200 cannot.
To balance my view, what Eee and the like cannot beat the Z at this stage is pocketability and touchscreen.
Then again, I still think of my buddy Z as the best gadget I've ever had (since I haven't got an Eee yet). It is just full of fun and has the most amazing possibilities among all handheld computers.

Sorry, I thought it said $464-- In fact, given the price of the n810, I'm inclined to rethink my criticism. Maybe one of these lurks in my future