$200 Notebooks on the way

Intel CEO Paul Otellini recently said that touchscreen PCs could start selling for as little as $200 sometime in the next few months, though it's tough to imagine a Windows 8-based machine carrying such a low price tag.

$200-300 is going to be hot. Where have I said that before, Cokie?

Ubuntu Unity would be good for that kind of thing. Get in there Mark.


Intel Atom-based Android Notebooks to Cost $200 | Maximum PC

 

[mdmd]

There is a limit to how cheap production computers can be. The OS is irrelevant. A lot depends on where they are made. In the US, if a Union was involved, forget it. A lot depends on internal storage. Phone memory is different than a solid state drive. Given the current prices of ssds, any notebook price would reflect the amount of internal storage.

There is an ad for a chromebook. $249, it only has a 16 gb internal ssd, the rest is in the cloud?

Yeah, I love my chromebook. Light, small, great keyboard, solid battery life, memory card slot, usb 3, full HDMI. No malware or virus issues. Nothing to backup. Restores to factory defaults in seconds. It can be opened and repaired quite easily. It supports multiple login accounts. And at 249, there is less concern kids could break it.

I am always ready to change my view. Perhaps the OS is relevant. Depends on the need. Linux based systems certainly have a smaller footprint and need less resources to produce results. Comparing Linux to MS, well, MS is a loser, being that it is such a hog on drive space and needed hardware. If notebooks can be made to function as you describe, MS is not competitive in many areas. If MS continues with the NT kernel and current designs, it will continue to play catch up. MS systems have a major flaw - they always need to be repaired.

Guess it depends on compatibility and if the device can do what one wants it to do.
I know that recently a backup computer I put together asus E45M1-M PRO AMD E-450 AMD Hudson M1,
motherboard cpu combo, ... it works quite well, but is quite slow. An i7 is much faster.
I guess you get what you pay for. I know nothing about Android, IOS, or other portables. Given that an i7 costs more than $250 to start and that even higher end Intel cpus can get very pricey, the $200 ballpark will have limited capabilities.

 

[startas]

I wouldnt say so - yeah, windows takes more space, but its because it has sooooo much more inside, but thats it, in other areas windows rulez - windows doesnt really need a good hardware, with 1 gb ram and simple old core 2 duo cpu everything just flies, plus it is much more faster not only because it is faster, but big part of that speed is perfect user interface + drivers, whereas linux lacks professionaly made components as user inteface, drivers(like intel), it never finishes components to stable and usable level, and other stuff. Sorry, but my experience with windows always was very good, its wasnt perfect, but it wasnt even comparable to other os, but all linux distributions always had big problems, as it all is the same in general, because it uses the sames components, just different name. Its not just a coincidence, that this world is full of ms haters, but ms is still number 1 in pc/notebook market.

 

[SIW2]

$200 ballpark will have limited capabilities

It doesn't matter. If it does what people want, there is no need for them to get anything that can do more - they don't want/need that capability.

I expect your car doesn't go as fast as a Veyron. So what?

 

[mdmd]

I wouldnt say so ...

That what, notebooks and portables are not limited?

the $200 ballpark will have limited capabilities.

How can I plug my Revo 3 X2 into a notebook?

 

[SIW2]

Who cares? Only those who have a Revo 3 X2.

I haven't got one and neither have most people.

 

[mdmd]

It doesn't matter. If it does what people want, there is no need for them to get anything that can do more - they don't want/need that capability.

:thumb:

 

[SIW2]

You get what you pay for.

That's a myth.

The ad men saw you coming.

 

[startas]

Its more like "You can pay even million - but you will get only as much as your knowledge in IT is".

 

[mdmd]

"You get what you pay for" That's a myth. The ad men saw you coming.

Who cares?

I care. The advertisers have seen me coming, and have made no sale. None of the portable products currently offered are of any use to me. Others can do as they please. I don't need portable devices or touch tablets. Price may be irrelevant to some, but to others, a difference of a few hundred dollars is a big deal.
A $200 notebook is a wonderful thing.

 

[startas]

It doesn't matter. If it does what people want, there is no need for them to get anything that can do more - they don't want/need that capability.

:thumb:

That is complete lie - humans nature is to get as much as they can, usability or needs doesnt even matter. Just like some animals are saving food.

 

[SIW2]

A $200 notebook is a wonderful thing.

Yes it is.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Bottom line is that I want to get the more bang for my buck.

I have had a cell phone since the bag phone era. 1998? Gave the land line up six months later. No need for it.

No need for a "less costly" consumption device. I have a smart phone that does that of which I need to carry anyway. These devices get more sophisticated by the year. More bang for my buck.

Then some here complain about the "alluring cloud" when in fact that's what you're using with these devices. I simply don't get that.

 

[fourthofjuly]

In my mind, a $200 notebook is like an android tablet with built-in physical keyboard. Something that we should not expect a lot from. These kind of computers are designed for Facebook addicts.

But that's me.

 

[pparks1]

I don't complain about using the cloud at all. I don't want it for absolutely everything, but for many things I'm pretty sold at this point.

Here are just some of the things that I use the cloud for

• Google Chrome bookmarks: it's a beautiful thing, my bookmarks are the same across my machines at home and at work. I never have to back them up, I don't have to worry about them being there.
• Gmail: Don't have to worry about having backup's of my personal email any more. It's stored all in the cloud and I can access from any computer, smartphone, tablet, etc.
• Amazon MP3: My music is stored in the Amazon cloud when I purchase it. I always download copies to my home network so that I don't consume bandwidth streaming them, but no need to backup the files at home as I can always download them again if needed.
• Amazon Kindle books: I rarely buy physical books anymore. My books are all stored in my Amazon account these days and on my kindle devices.
• Evernote: I use this app on my PC and my smartphone to keep notes. Grocery lists, where the car is parked, etc.
• Dropbox and SkyDrive: I keep secondary copies of things like documents and pictures in these cloud locations. Therefore, if anything happens to my PC, I have no concerns of loosing these files.
• Password database, stored in Dropbox, Encrypted via BoxCryptor. Passwords that my wife and I need to know and share. This one requires lots of special handling to ensure it's safe and protected, but with encryption with BoxCryptor, and a long complex password with encryption on the database itself, I think I'm pretty well covered.

I don't mind purchasing these lower cost devices at all. Since I have multiple family members, and kids...I'd much rather give them and risk breaking a $200 device, then a more expensive fully functional device.

As they say, "courses for horses".

 

[startas]

Well, thats a big big mess of online sh** I actually dont like anything that has to do something with clouds or anything similar. I like everything keep for myself, in my hdd, cause its the best way to keep everything safe, because i know, that keeping files in clouds is like buying new simcity game, and i know that clouds takes 0 responsibility for what will happen with your files, plus they take over ownership rights to your files, and the best place for passwords is my head. And for kids, you better buy this - http://www.ugnies-spalvos.lt/images/minkstas_large.jpg I dont say, that you cant buy some land on mars, but its not very practical or useful, and its not really gonna be yours

 

[fourthofjuly]

Well, thats a big big mess of online sh** I actually dont like anything that has to do something with clouds or anything similar. I like everything keep for myself, in my hdd, cause its the best way to keep everything safe, because i know, that keeping files in clouds is like buying new simcity game, and i know that clouds takes 0 responsibility for what will happen with your files, plus they take over ownership rights to your files, and the best place for passwords is my head. And for kids, you better buy this - http://www.ugnies-spalvos.lt/images/minkstas_large.jpg I dont say, that you cant buy some land on mars, but its not very practical or useful, and its not really gonna be yours

Cloud is very practical and useful for people with multiple devices- inside and outside your home. If you have only one device, then you don't need it. You just need a little bit of common sense when you are using public domain for your files. But basically, I just use cloud for disposable files.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Not saying these devices aren't desired or needed by some. Personally I wouldn't buy one because my phone takes up that slack.

Yes, I find the cloud a wonderful thing as long as I have the choice of what's being stored and how it's being stored.

Thanks, Patrick, for your informative tactics on that. A lot of what MS is attempting to accomplish in 8 is all about that. I find it useful and convenient.

I hear you on devices and children. Trusting them and teaching them responsibility with them is a necessary chore these modern days. We had a ten-years-after child later in life of which her mother and I are divorced. When she was ten I gave her a cell phone on my plan. Insured of course. I taught her how to use and take care of it. I also taught her that no matter what happens, to hide the phone on her and immediately press a 911 dialing shortcut I made. I also explained to her the best I could how GPS tracking works. As a father I'm sure you know of the dangers that could come to our children these days. It gave me some peace of mind no matter what it cost me.

I think any kind of GPS chip on a child should be an absolute necessity. Not too keen on implants, but necklace, bracelet, tag, or some other concealed method. I feel parents should consider this greatly.

She's now 17 and quite the daughter anyone could ever ask for.

 

[startas]

Well, maybe, but i'm more like "one of parents always has to be with children" guy, letting the kid to travel through the jungle alone is not a good way. But nonetheless, there is not much safe places in this world for human to grow and live, human is an enemy for human, living in wild africa would be much more safe than living in a big city. I mean, just about 13 years ago, when there was no real humans in this world, people got paid for killing other people, and now they cant even kill really bad guys, who in real world doesnt even wanna to be good guys, they just wanna to do bad things. I mean, police was created not for catching aliens or "helping" old woman to get her cat out of tree Yeah, and i really think, that religions is no more than Santa Claus for children, its just more for adults.

Well, things might be different in every country, but i'm not very proud of whats happening in mine .

 

[pparks1]

I like everything keep for myself, in my hdd, cause its the best way to keep everything safe,

So, I assume then you must make very regular backups and you always keep those backups offsite, in the event your house is broken into or burns to the ground.

and i know that clouds takes 0 responsibility for what will happen with your files, plus they take over ownership rights to your files,

With things like Skydrive and Dropbox, you have a second copy usually on your PC, so your risk of losing data should be small. As far as file ownership rights go, they vary by service. You do have to decide if it's going to be a problem for your data. For my data, no issues.

and the best place for passwords is my head.

Well, that is all fine and dandy if you have 3 passwords.

I'm ballparking that I have nearly 100 passwords between social sites, web forums, email, banking information, credit cards, logons to various utility sites, software registrations, gamer accounts, etc. All of these passwords are unique...because it's not safe to use the same password on a variety of sites.

Also, my wife has accounts. A while back a coworker of mine lost his spouse (totally unexpected as they are only in their 30's). They didn't have a master record of all of the websites that she was registered on, bills that were paid automatically, school loans, etc. This turned out to be a huge hassle for him to try and gain access to all of these things after her death. Its stuff like this which opens your eyes into making sure that you have a record of these types of things in the event that you ever have to gain access.

In addition, having these things written down makes it much easier to change all of your passwords in the event that your account or password gets compromised. Without written records, you might not even remember that you have an account somewhere.