On Tue, 18 Mar 2014, Alexandre wrote: > >> On Tue, 18 Mar 2014, Thierry de Coulon wrote: >> >>> On Monday 17 March 2014 18.30:07 Felmon Davis wrote: >>> >>>> the trick will be, I think, getting the touchpad to work. I abhor >>>> touchpads but still want it to work. also there are only two usb >>>> ports. >>> >>> >>> I hate touchpads too, which is why almost all my laptops are/where Thinkpads. >>> I've taken a look at the c720 (they say 1.25 kg) and Lenovo's x131e (1.8 kg!) >> >> I seem to be on a binge since I just got a Thinkpad x131e too! it's ok >> and is meant to replace my trusty netbook but there are some things I >> dislike about it and I find it hard to abandon this netbook. >> >>> and I must say I'm more and more surprized at the Chromebook trend. >>> >>> They are cheap ok. However, I just purchased a second hand Thinkad X200 for >>> less than $250, it weights 1.4 kg and runs Debain perfectly (with TDE of >>> course) on a 64 GB SSD. The X201 is just a little more expensive for >>> Touchpad friends. >> >> of course the Chromebook is cheaper new than the second-hand Thinkpad >> you cite but not so much if one buys a nice big ssd card. >> >>> I understand it is fun to see if these netbooks can run with Linux, but I >>> doubt it is really usefull. >> >> oh, I have no doubt it is really useful depending on your purposes. in >> fact, the more I look at it, it would be more likely to replace my >> netbook (my steady helpmate) than the fancy new Thinkpad! (I wanted >> the Thinkpad for the power, however.) >> >> 'would' be more likely because there are some drawbacks so I'm >> undecided if I'll even keep it. >> >> it doesn't have a proper BIOS, a fact I very much dislike; a lot of >> 'open software' research went into this but Google is playing >> lock-down; even opening it voids the warranty - basically no >> 'user-serviceable parts'. the keyboard is weird, lacks function keys. >> no ethernet but a usb ethernet dongle works fine but only two usb >> ports, which is also a problem for me since I like to use a >> usb-connected trackball. >> >> less than a week to go then keep or return. but if I keep it, it will >> be more than a 'toy'. >> >> F. > > Hi, > > I'm glad you've been able to install a complete Linux on your > Chromebook. It means that Linux support for it has improved in the > last few months! technically I have not installed it; I'm booting off a live usb. I will probably install though for better testing. > I have 2 netbooks: The original first-generation Asus EEE 2G surf > and the one I bought last summer: Asus EEE X101CH. I'm using a Samsung N150 Plus. I also have an Acer Aspire One but I used it only occasionally and have given it to my partner. > At the time I looked to replace my underpowered first-gen EEE, I saw > for sale an used Acer Chromebook, but I wasn't too interested by it > because of the fact that while its a x86 machine, it is not IBM PC > compatible (BIOS and friends). Sadly, I also need Windows for > industrial Windows-only software, so this Chromebook was not > interesting. > > I bought the Acer netbook (standard netbook) at Wal-Mart and I > returned it 2 days later because I didn't liked the overall quality > of the product, being used to Asus and big bros like IBM. Right > after, I bought my new Asus EEE X101CH. It has a few issue with > Linux, such as supporting only 2d graphics, and the Wifi is not as > rock-solid (more than wired connection) as it was on my old EEE, but > it is very powerful, at least for my needs. I'm miffed that you cannot replace the wifi card in the Thinkpad X131e without a lot of messing around; they've built some stupid limitation in the BIOS, 'whitelisting' only some Broadcom and some Intel cards. > It also needed to run bleeding-edge distros like Ubuntu, because it > didn't booted at all on PCLinuxOS, which as an older 3.2-series > kernel. Overall, it is a great machine and I like its 3.5hrs+ > battery life. well, you can always install a kernel you desire. > It is sad that netbooks aren't made anymore (now a rare exception), > because they were good small machines, at an affordable price and in > a very useful size. indeed!!! I liked the 10 inch form-factor. I refuse to buy anything wider than 11 inches. F. -- Felmon Davis Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.