Sylvania G Netbook

[the_oak]

Looks like the next incarnation of the Cloudbook, it sports a 1.2 Ghz VIA processor, 1 GB of RAM, built-in WIFI, ethernet port, 30 GB hard drive,  7 inch screen, webcam, 2 USB ports, memory card reader, video out (DVI) port, Linux pre-installed (gOS), and up to 4 hours battery life.

 Check it out:

http://www.digitalgadgets.com/products.php?p=g

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYgmowL3yV8

I will post my impressions here when I receive it and use it a day or so. (I hope they don't ship by slow donkey.) I may sell my C1000 to finance this. (I love the size of the C1000, so pocketable, but my eyes don't like the size of the screen.)

[the_oak]

Well, according to tracking info, it was put on the donkey yesterday, and the estimated delivery date is August 12!

(I hate UPS! They are sooooo slow.   )

[Capn_Fish]

I have "fond" memories of UPS. When I ordered my laptop, they took the absolute maximum number of days (3-5 business-day shipping, over a weekend, past holidays, it ended up being something like 8-9 days) they could without breaking the timeframe.

[the_oak]

I had a delivery take 11 days by UPS once. But happily, I just checked my tracking number again, and estimated delivery date has been changed to 08-07-2008. Wow, that's day after tomorrow. I am a happier camper now!

[the_oak]

Well, I've had the G NetBook for about 6 days now. It is a nice device, but disappointing if you want to run Linux. It comes with an Ubuntu-based OS called gOS. Out of the box, it does NOT support the WIFI chipset it comes with. After fooling with this thing for days now, even trying ndiswrapper, WIFI still only works if I am within 10 feet of my router. Tech support is no help at all. Also video acceleration does not work, so the shortcuts to youtube are just an irritating reminder that video acceleration isn't up to par.

The gOS interface is simply gorgeous. It looks and acts much like OSX. It is speedy, and with synaptic, and ubuntu's software repositories, you can get just about any Linux software you want. If only the hardware worked with it!!

On the up-side, Windows XP works great on the NetBook. WIFI, and video as well as all other devices work fine. It is just a little slower than gOS (resource hungry I guess) but everything works as it should. So I am torn between keeping it or sending it back. I really like the hardware, but I wanted Linux to work on it, especially since it came pre-installed. XP needing a virus scanner just adds to it's heaviness and comparative slowness.

Decisions, decisions.......

[the_oak]

I did keep this NetBook.

I replaced the slow 3600 rpm Seagate Lyrion 1.8" hard drive with a ZIF to CF adapter and 16 GB 300X CF card. I am currently running Windows XP until proper Linux drivers for WIFI and video chipset are out. (I still feel resentful that they sold this thing with Linux pre-installed when it did not fully support the hardware it came with!) It is really pretty zippy now. hdtach showed average speed of about 41 MB/s. Not too shabby. XP video drivers allow for 1000 X 600 resolution, which means less sideways scrolling for average webpages. Youtube and hulu videos are perfect.

I am currently working on an attached external base unit to plug into one of the USB ports and add a DVD/CD burner, CF card reader, and another USB port. I am really enjoying this little NetBook so far.

But it is still not a Zaurus!  

[the_oak]

If anyone cares to see my finished NetBook base, with DVD/CD burner combo drive, and CF card reader, it is in this thread:

http://forum.netbookuser.com/viewtopic.php?pid=6387#p6387