So, you wanted a cheap notebook?

[Martin Griffith]

Can't watch it. What are you guys using for viewing that is safe (no
malware etc.)? Tried VLC but that won't work with Youtube. Got to get
some speakers for this office PC, too.

I use riva flv player, or VLC. Both seem free of problems. VLC has a
nice feature of allowing you to see the decoding functions as messages
when you can't figure out what the hell is wrong with a video

1337 player is very good for avi files, very user friendly, but hogs
the system if it tries to decode a faulty file


martin

 

[Joerg]

I use riva flv player, or VLC. Both seem free of problems. VLC has a
nice feature of allowing you to see the decoding functions as messages
when you can't figure out what the hell is wrong with a video

Hmm, in my case it did not work. Neither with nor without the matching
Firefox plug-in. I try to avoid Adobe products because some like the
Acrobat reader are crashing way too often and too violently.

1337 player is very good for avi files, very user friendly, but hogs
the system if it tries to decode a faulty file

That would not be so good.

 

[[email protected]]

Can't watch it. What are you guys using for viewing that is safe (no
malware etc.)?

My EeePC?

I think it's using an mplayer plugin for firefox to do the job, but
I'm not really sure because it just worked out of the box ;-)

 

[[email protected]]

As long as they slurp up a battery in under 5hrs those ain't worth $2k+
for me.

However, in the early 90's we had exactly that. The Compaq Contura Aero
was ultraportable, could do the usual EE software back then, had an
incredible battery runtime and was lower in cost than a full laptop.

I bet you could run most of what ran on that using one of the dos-box
emulators on a non-x86 platform such as a GPX portable video game,
PDA, or even _phone_.

Well, you said you didn't mind CAD on a small screen ;-)

 

[Joerg]

My EeePC?

I think it's using an mplayer plugin for firefox to do the job, but
I'm not really sure because it just worked out of the box ;-)

Most consumer grade PCs do that as well but this is a biz version and
didn't come with the usual "gizmo" software ;-)

 

[[email protected]]

Most consumer grade PCs do that as well but this is a biz version and
didn't come with the usual "gizmo" software ;-)

What's noteworthy in this case is that the "just works" is achieved
out of the box with the kinds of open-source alternatives being
proposed here - mplayer plugin to firefox. all running under linux.

As for safety, booting a live linux CD with comparable out-of-the-box
capability in a virtual machine and doing your browsing in that should
do pretty well.

 

[Don McKenzie]

My EeePC?

I think it's using an mplayer plugin for firefox to do the job, but
I'm not really sure because it just worked out of the box ;-)

same here, my EEE PC's run it via Firefox.

Two schools with EEE PC.
1) You love them.
2) You hate them.

Me, I got 4 initially, currently have 3.
1 x 4G, 2 x 8G.

Have run my business from the beach front with one, using a Vodafone USB
Modem.

My sales dept. PC broke down recently, and we did all sales on an EEE PC
for a week and a half, while we configured a new PC box. We have other
spares I could have used, but I wanted to see how it performed.

And if you want, you can plug in a large monitor, keyboard, and mouse,
and close the lid.

I used to travel with a back pack and notebook, now I carry a DVD player
case over my shoulder, with the EEE PC inside.

For power, I have an EDV002SA battery backup (is really a DVD player
backup), that gives me another 3 hours or so. This fits inside the
player case along with the EEE PC.


Don...


--
Don McKenzie

Site Map: http://www.dontronics.com/sitemap
E-Mail Contact Page: http://www.dontronics.com/email

Intelligent 2.83" AMOLED with touch screen for micros:
http://www.dontronics-shop.com/product.php?productid=16699

 

[The Real Andy]

But does not fit in a large pocket, which is the point of the Eee.
They're not in the same marketplace as a basic laptop - they are
ultraportable.

If I want portable I can buy a PDA for the same cash, if not cheaper.

 

[[email protected]]

If I want portable I can buy a PDA for the same cash, if not cheaper.

And can your PDA run standard linux or windows executables without
recompiling?

Does you PDA have a full keyboard?

A C compiler that runs on it?

The EeePC is not the world's best laptop, but it's 90% of what a
laptop computer is supposed to be, in a the form factor of a large PDA.

 

[Joerg]

And can your PDA run standard linux or windows executables without
recompiling?

That's exactly the problem. And the reason why i do not have one.

Does you PDA have a full keyboard?

AFAIK you can buy one.

A C compiler that runs on it?

The EeePC is not the world's best laptop, but it's 90% of what a
laptop computer is supposed to be, in a the form factor of a large PDA.

So, can EeePC run stuff like DesignCAD-3D or other such Windows apps?

 

[John Devereux]

That's exactly the problem. And the reason why i do not have one.



AFAIK you can buy one.




So, can EeePC run stuff like DesignCAD-3D or other such Windows apps?

You do know that you can get Windows ones, right?

 

[Joerg]

You do know that you can get Windows ones, right?

Yes, but cs_posting wrote that it isn't really suited to run those apps.
Well, in that case it ain't too useful for me. The other two reasons are
that the battery lifetime is not significantly better than on a Dell
laptop and that CostCo charges $549 for the Eee while I can get a basic
Dell for around $400. Which does run DesignCAD and all that.

 

[John Devereux]

Yes, but cs_posting wrote that it isn't really suited to run those
apps. Well, in that case it ain't too useful for me.

I don't know anything about DesignCad 3D, but I got the impression
that you use a lot of "legacy" software? It should run all the older
stuff I would think. Apart from dongle issues perhaps.

The other two reasons are that the battery lifetime is not
significantly better than on a Dell laptop and that CostCo charges
$549 for the Eee while I can get a basic Dell for around $400. Which
does run DesignCAD and all that.

Sure, the whole point is the compact size and light weight. If this is
not important to you, no point in paying for it.

I just bought a couple of laptops for a customer. The original spec
was they had to be lightweight. Then they decided the screens were too
small - we saved $300 each by going to *larger* screen models.

 

[The Real Andy]

And can your PDA run standard linux or windows executables without
recompiling?

Can the Eee run standard linux or windows executables with out
recompiling?

Does you PDA have a full keyboard?

The one I have does.

A C compiler that runs on it?

Why would I want that on a personal device. Dont you have better
things to do with your life?

The EeePC is not the world's best laptop, but it's 90% of what a
laptop computer is supposed to be, in a the form factor of a large PDA.

My point is, that if you are not a computer geek, what use does the
EeePC really have?

 

[larwe]

Can the Eee run standard linux or windows executables with out
recompiling?

Yes. It is just a tiny PC.

Why would I want that on a personal device. Dont you have better
things to do with your life?

In summary: You don't have any use for an Eee. Other people do. There
is no point of contact between these two viewpoints, so there is no
perceptible reason for conflict and hence no purpose to your argument.

 

[John Devereux]

Can the Eee run standard linux or windows executables with out
recompiling?



The one I have does.


Why would I want that on a personal device. Dont you have better
things to do with your life?


My point is, that if you are not a computer geek, what use does the
EeePC really have?

It's a small, light, low cost, portable media player / web browser /
email client.

You can work with Excel spreadsheets and Word documents. There are
many free linux applications preinstalled, including OpenOffice. You
can download others. Also it can run Windows and standard Windows
applications.

 

[[email protected]]

It's a small, light, low cost, portable media player / web browser /
email client.

Yes, but unlike specialized devices that do those things, it's
fundamentally a general purpose computer. If you don't like the
default for anything you can change it, either by installing different
programs or by modifying the installed programs. And you don't even
need a cross-compile environment if you want to do that (I do tend to
use an external drive when compiling, though that's not strictly
necessary)

Most of the time mine is just a web client. Occasionally I use it to
play videos. Even more occasionally, I go in and modify mplayer to
add extra features.

Or to put it another way, it's the first laptop that was worth
spending personal funds on. It's all the computer I really need 90%
of the time, and it's small enough that I have it with me 90% of the
time.

 

[[email protected]]

It would be, _if_ the battery runtime up to par. But it ain't.

The degree to which this is an issue really depends on your usage
pattern.

Myself, when away from home I tend to turn the thing on for 15-20
minutes max of checking things online.

If I'm going to be using it for hours, I'm somewhere comfortable
already, so I plug it in.

If I were a frequent flier, had regular long train trips that weren't
on a city subway, etc then I might be using it for longer periods on
battery, and the battery endurance might be an issue.

 

[Andrew Smallshaw]

And can your PDA run standard linux or windows executables without
recompiling?

Apples and oranges. I have a laptop for that kind of stuff but
still carry a Newton MP2000 with me on a daily basis. Small enough
to be pocketable and still big enough to be useful. The extended
battery life (30 hours) makes it truly portable in that you can
use it heavily all week on a single set of AAs, which are no trouble
to replace if you do happen to run low.

90% of the time the principal use is to makes notes. The ability
to sketch quick diagrams etc make the Newt much less distracting
in use than a regular PC. Standard office type stuff, email, telnet
and basic web browing are all perfectly doable too, although the
platform is showing its age a little now.