Comments on: Alpha 400 MIPS 400MHz 128MB 1GB 7″ Linux Ultralite Notebook

By: Electronic Cigarette

Electronic Cigarette — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 05:50:00 +0000

Thats pretty good for a netbook that small.

By: rudhas

rudhas — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 18:33:11 +0000

How to install via USB? PLS

By: Ricardo Monroy

Ricardo Monroy — Mon, 03 May 2010 18:47:26 +0000

Nice for Puppy or DSL Linux.

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:40:09 +0000

I’ve got one, and you can install programs on to it. It’s that thing called ‘Software Installer’ on the fifth page! And to clear things up for people, you can install windows, but only CE version with a .rec or .img install file. And CE is no good to anyone. Not unless you live on windows media player 5. Also, you can get VNC viewer for it, so you can just use it to connect to another computer if you want. And software sites include: http://www.littlelinuxlaptops.info, http://www.littlelinuxlaptop.com.

By: Rick Hohensee

Rick Hohensee — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:44:26 +0000

I’ve had mine what, a year? It’s always had this weird thing of only finding the wifi HARDWARE once in a while, and it’s getting now to where it can’t find it at all, but mine lives in a backpack that gets lots of bumps. Maybe an external wifi dealie will prolong the use of mine.

Several hours on the thing gives me a headache, particularly if I’m playing the tile-removal game a lot.

The factory Linux distro sucks. All the bletchery of e.g. Mozilla, but with the GUI dysfunctionalized so you can only have one window doing anything at a time. Somebody DID figure out how to get around the stock stuff though. I didn’t install a whole new distro, but I do have Xterm, 5 vts and so on. The ABIword thing completely doesn’t work.

All the shell stuff like ed, wc, telnet and so on is busybox crap, which isn’t surprising since you need to install Xterm or vts for that to even be a problem. There’s just enough real unix to install the GUI stuff. I happen to know how to use the stuff that made unix great, however, and had to go fetch a real grep and so on from Debian. Debian packages of the right era MIPS version all work.

Batteries seem to fade even when not in use.

I’ve gotten some stuff done on the thing that was very important to me. It’s been well, well worth $170.

My perfect machine would be a low-power all-flash dealie but with a bigger screen and a no-BS Linux like Slackware.

Mine’s v-77 I think. They probably fixed ABiword since then.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:06:11 +0000

Try installing Windows 2000 on it, it should run well (if it has a BIOS)
I could get a new Eeepc 701 4GB version here in Taiwan for around the same price.
I think that should be better, with Wireless G, 900MHZ Intel and 512MB of DDR2 ram.

By: DKJAB

DKJAB — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:26:51 +0000

I managed to get hold of an 1GHz Xcore86 powererd Edubook with 512MB RAM for 110 GBP.
This is quite a nice machine – if you recognise what it is for.
3rd world education is the destination for this machine, and running Puppy Linux it runs VERY well indeed. I have run XP on it and it does work, very usable in fact for basic surfing, mail and word processing. It is OK for playing MP3s and streaming webradio. It is no good for video. The video playback performance is a slideshow, and to be honest, I knew it would be.
The build quality is very good, and the screen is awesome (1024×600 8.9″ LED backlit). The keyboard is identical to the EEE 701/900 series, and the trackpad is, well a trackpad. Mine was a pre-production model with a fan that sounds like a Harrier jumpjet taking off (the production model does not have one as it has a different baseplate), so I modified mine by adding copper plate and heatsinks inside, removing the fan and now its silent and cool.

By: Quantumleap

Quantumleap — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 06:48:06 +0000

i found this site which has ALL software available for this little linux laptop and a user forum. http://www.littlelinuxlaptop.com

U can’t change the OS to Windows XP, but you can change it to the powerful 3MX OS. Also, there’s a lot of software available for the original OS, just check it out on http://www.littlelinuxlaptop.com

By: Gilles

Gilles — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:54:12 +0000

How change the opereting system in windows xp?

By: Arthur Buse

Arthur Buse — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:18:39 +0000

Edgardo: The Alpha 400 does not have Windows.

By: be.ez LArobe 8.9 "Netbook Case

be.ez LArobe 8.9 "Netbook Case — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:45:26 +0000

[...] can use up to an 8.9″ netbook or mini notebooks with the LArobe, I tried it out with both my Alpha 400 Mips netbook and my Asus EEEPC 900A, the Alpha 400 is only a 7″ netbook, while the Asus EEEPC is an [...]

By: EDGARDO

EDGARDO — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 02:05:32 +0000

I WANT TO KNOW WINDOWS THIS HAVE

By: DKJAB

DKJAB — Tue, 12 May 2009 08:30:18 +0000

Just an update about the Edubook:

Norhtec say the laptop will ship in July 2009 for 195 USD. This will be 512MB, 1GHz, WiFi, NiMh Batteries, 8GB SD, Ubuntu OS. A “barebones” version with no WiFi, no OS, no SD, no Batteries will ship for 150USD. Shipping is about 75USD to most parts of the world. These are single unit prices.

Personally, I would go for the “Barebones” option as I would like to source my own SD, WiFi and batteries. OS isnt a problem either, as I intend to try many ….

I presume the unit will have a VortexMX chip, not the DX/Z9S combo on the preproduction device, but either way it doesnt matter to me.

I am still looking for the Alpha400-sized RDC or VortexDX x86 CPU powered unit too. If anyone finds a source, please let me know.

By: Anonymous Coward

Anonymous Coward — Tue, 05 May 2009 13:35:30 +0000

Agreed with the embedded Z9S; they’re all based on former SiS tech. I’ll have a look at the Chinese auctions; usually if they’re on there availability on eBay shouldn’t be too far off.

By: DKJAB

DKJAB — Mon, 04 May 2009 10:09:13 +0000

I have had a few emails with Norhtec, and I believe it will be the MX as its all supposed to be on one chip. It most likely will be a Z9S, but embedded in the chip, which makes sense as it will not need any special drivers or the like, and as such will retain its dedicated 32MB RAM too hopefully. DM&P have the MX slated for Q2 delivery and that gels with the June delivery times quoted for the Edubook. I feel certain that the performance wont set the world on fire, but the concept is just too interesting to ignore.

On another note, the 800Mhz RDC x86 SOC laptops are starting to appear on chinese auction sites (taobao) but as I cant read/write Mandarin or Cantonese I am pretty much out of luck. No sign of the 1GHz units yet though. RDC list the chip on their site as the IAD 100BC, and some basic specs are there, and look similar to the VortexDX but not quite the same (different cache sizes etc.).

However, Belco (www.bestlinkeshop.com) are selling their 450R laptop which has the 800MHz RDC processor for 209USD. I will probably wait for the Edubook though as its more modular, 1GHz and will be under 200USD ….