Review: $200 Ubuntu Linux PC Now Available at Wal-Mart
Everex`s TC2502 gPC is the first mass-market $200 desktop computer, featuring a custom distribution of Ubuntu Linux and headed for selected Wal-Mart stores.
"It`s $200, with no gimmicks or subsidies," Everex spokesman David Liu said.
The gPC aims to joins a popular gang of low-end economy computers leading into the holiday season, such as Asus` $300 EeePC Laptop and VIA`s $600 Nanobook. Unlike these machines, however, Everex`s latest model is a full-size desktop, and $100 cheaper than even the slightest models from Dell or HP.
Touted as a "green" machine, it has a 1.5 Ghz VIA C7 CPU embedded in a Mini-ITX motherboard, 512MB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive. Normally, this would simply mark it as unacceptably low-end for use with modern software. By using the fast Enlightenment desktop manager (instead of heavier-duty alternatives like Gnome or KDE), the makers say it`s more responsive than Vista is, even on more powerful computers.
"It`s almost like a Google PC," Liu says, pointing to the desktop`s rack of pre-configured links to all of Google`s online applications. It is, he says, the mass-market Linux PC we`ve all been waiting for. "That`s our dream. ... we go the final step to make it work out the box, to go the whole nine yards."
The gPC also has a DVD burner and, for those not drinking the web-app cool-aid, OpenOffice and lots more local software. There`s free phone support and a regularly updated app called "Faqly" that contains the latest tech support info for folks stuck offline.
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