Zonbu Unveils a $99 PC July 9, 2008
Posted by mjkimmel in Articles.Tags: Frugality, Linux, Zonbu
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I realize that the $99 pricetag on the Zonbu Linux PC comes with a required subscription service. But I also know that mini-PCs like it are going to be appearing at a slightly higher price (and without a subscription service) sometime in the very near future. I am excited about that. Here’s why:
At present, I have three student computers in my classroom. These are relatively new Dell computers that probably cost around $1,000 each. With mini-PCs like the Zonbu Linux PC, I could have 30 computers for the same amount of money (not counting the monitors, of course). If parents, teachers and administrators are so concerned about how funds are spent, what are we waiting for?
Read the following hands-on review for more information:
22 Things to Know About the $99 Zonbu Linux PC
I got time with the Zonbu, a $99 Linux PC that is amazingly as simple to use as a Mac. That’s because it’s preloaded with best-of-breed open source software for almost anything you’d need, all managed via the other cool thing the Zonbu has: A 4GB CF card that acts as a cache for the 25-100GB of personal storage on Amazon’s S3 servers. In other words, this machine syncs, swaps, and backs up your data automatically, over the wire. I love it.
Here’s a list of sweet surprises I discovered after a few days with the Zonbu:
1. Zonbu’s App list is extensive, including browser, email, cal, full office doc tools, finance, music library (with ipod syncing) video playback, skype, P2P/Torrent, IM, publishing, and a few games including Tron and Civilization.
2. The install is efficient. Apps open slowly, but when they’re going, I had no problem using multiple apps at once. The machine only bogs down when handling real- world tests. I ripped the soundtrack to The Life Aquatic to 128kbps MP3 files, and it took 30 minutes on the Zonbu, versus 7 minutes with other programs working on my 2.33 GHz Macbook Pro with 2GB of RAM. That’s 4x slower, but at 1/25th the price. I can accept that.
3. The PC isn’t $99 unless you get a two-year Amazon S3 service plan. For $13-$20 bucks, you get 25-100GB of synched data. There’s a one-year service plan, too. The plans include next day hardware swaps (a warranty), tech support, managed care.
4. You can’t install your own stuff on the Tweaked Gentu linux install. But Gregoire at Zonbu is a big Open Source geek, so he’s made their data-synching version of Gentu available for free. Just download it, install it on your own hardware and get your own S3 account.
5. Working with large files over a slow network could be a problem. But this machine is completely capable of anything up to that point, and considering the price, you’d have to be a real ass to complain about it. The connection is 128-bit encrypted.
6. Zonbu’s OS and local cache is stored on a 4GB CF card that is a 150x speed unit with a custom controller. It reads and writes at a respectable 30MB/s and 15MB/s. They’ll sell an 8GB unit, and you can also expand the local storage by adding a USB drive. They also sell an optional $50 CD burner/DVD reader. A DVD writer is in the future.
7. Windows are transparent when dragged, and the window close and minimize buttons are similar to Vista’s. The GUI is extremely lightweight, despite the transparencies.
Part of a review by Brian Lam [edited]
Click here to read entire article
Video Demonstration of the Zonbu PC
More Zonbu Links:
- Live Zonbu Linux PC Demo
- Zonbu: Good things come in small boxes
- Zonbu to Roll Out $99 Linux-Based Computer This Summer
- Sneak Peek at the Zonbu PC
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