[SGVLUG] Linux netbook for $150

[Emerson, Tom (*IC)]

> -----Original Message----- Of Dan Borne
> Am Dienstag 30 Juni 2009 14:07:01 schrieb Emerson, Tom (*IC):
> > [...]
> > Interesting to read the customer reviews though...
>
> There were only six reviews. The vast majority, five of them,
> were quite
> positive in their evaluations. The one that was not complained about
> a lack of a cd or dvd drive and, for all intense and
> purposes, how they
> did not know how to use a computer.

What I found interesting of the "positive" reviews was the fact that nobody seemed to "notice" they weren't using windows  (though I suspect they did, it was a fact that was "below the radar" so far as discussing it)

> I found the following question, derived from the woman's silly
> response, interesting: how many of us here actually use cds and dvds
> with any frequency? Since we are not using any proprietary software,
> there does not seem to me to be any incentive short of maybe
> reinstalling an operating system.

Backups, perhaps?  Granted, with the device you get 10gb hosted "somewhere" on the web, but that requires a decent 'net connection whenever you want to create or access a backup.

Yes, a thumb drive can be as effective (especially since they are re-writable, but you can get DVD-RW's...)  but the media cost is still a factor ($10+ for a 4GB thumb drive vs. $0.25 or less for a DVD)