CLUMPC

Windows Vista. Just the thought of it running on a Via processor is enough to make some head screaming for the hills. There was one major reason why I bought my HP 2133 with WIndows Vista pre-installed though: I wanted it to work right out of the box.

I know that that sounds like an oxymoron, but the truth is that I had planned on using the HP 2133 as a full laptop replacement and I wanted to do it quickly. One of the problems I had with the EeePC was that the Xandros OS it came with was not robust enough for everyday use (in my opinion, your millage may vary), but putting another OS on it was a huge pain and often times not fully supported.

I knew that HP would be devoting most of their attention to the Vista version of the 2133 and that the OpenSUSE would more than likely be an after thought to get it out there cheaply.

I’ve been dying to get Ubuntu onto my system, but without restore disks I’ve been very afraid to mess with the partitioning of my HD. Enter Wubi and Ubuntu 8.04, released this week.

Simply download Wubi and run it from Vista. It will download and install Ubuntu Hardy Heron for you inside Windows without messing with partitions or anything like that. It really couldn’t be easier.

The graphics were a little bit glitchy initially but by the time the desktop loads all is well. Now I just need to figure out how to get the WiFi working correctly.

Any one else having any luck getting Ubuntu to see it? Leave your tips in the comments.

written by admin \\ tags: 2133, HP, hp 2133, News, ubuntu

After a little bit of a run around from HP the past couple of days I awoke this morning to find that my HP 2133 had made the long trip from Ankorage, Alaska to NY overnight and was sitting at the FedEx depot down the road. I quickly called FedEx to find out if there was a chance I could just come pick up the package there rather than wait until Monday for it to be delivered. The FedEx rep sounded even more excited than I was when she told me they had actually already loaded it onto a truck and sent it on its way.

An hour later it was here. The internet in my apartment is having some serious issues right now so I’m unable to give a complete review yet, but I definitely have some first impressions, as well as some pics of the HP 2133 next to the Asus EeePC 701 after the jump…

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written by admin \\ tags: 2133, 8.9", cpu, gos, HP, hp 2133, review

The news hit yesterday that all indications were pointing to HP missing its shipping date for their new HP 2133 Mini-Note. However as some commentators on Engadget attest, that may not be the case. I can now confirm that despite some conflicting information, I have received a shipping notification as well.

A call placed to HP yesterday gave confirmation that my order would no longer ship on 4/16 as planned (I had ordered 4/9, the first day) and would instead go out 4/28. No further information was available from HP about the delay, or any way it could be avoided, such as ordering a different configuration.

At 8:03am this morning I received an e-mail from HP stating the same I had heard over the phone, that my order was delayed for unknown reasons and that they would be in touch if anything changed. Mind you this entire time my status on their website still reflected 4/16.

38 minutes later I received a shipping notification e-mail, complete with UPS tracking number. While the tracking number is not live in UPS’ system yet, the invoice from HP lists a serial number for my HP 2133 which gives me some confidence that my new machine is actually ready to ship and the e-mail is not simply an accident.

Sounds like HP is really running its customers through the entire range of emotions with their notification system, with many buyers having already canceled orders due to delays that may not actually exist. For the curious the configuration I ordered was the $599 Vista Basic model (more on why later) and it was purchased through the Small Business portal on HP.com as that was all that was available early on 4/9.

Anyone else having the same experience? Leave the configuration and whether you bought from Small Business or Home to see if we can figure this out…

UPDATE: I just received an email follow-up from my reply back to HP’s initial “Your order’s been delayed” e-mail which also states that my order has now shipped.

written by admin \\ tags: 2133, HP, hp 2133, News

For the past 5 months I’ve been a fairly happy EeePC 701 user. However with the incoming crop of newer CLUMPC/ULCPCs its already time for an upgrade. Most can agree that the two brightest stars in the near future are the HP 2133 and the EeePC 900. This week I pre-ordered a HP 2133 Mini-Note PC and here’s why:1. 8.9″ 1280 x 768 WXGA Display - While almost all of the next wave of ULCPCs have 8.9″ displays, the HP 2133 will have one of the highest resolution of the bunch (the EeePC 900 will have a 1080 x 600 resolution 8.9″ display). That means the HP 2133 will have roughly 50% more pixels making up the same 8.9″. The 2133 also appears to have a glossy screen, which is a matter of preference for most but generally more attractive, although less truer color… Continue reading »

written by admin \\ tags: 2133, 8.9", competition, HP, opinion

Ending some spectulation on our part of exactly how newer EeePCs and their competitors would continue offering Windows past this summer comes news of Microsoft giving Windows XP a stay of execution until 2010 for what they call “ultra-low-cost PCs”.

Windows Vista only officially supports 1 Ghz processors and up, as well as 20GB of HD space. Would make it kinda hard to cram that onto a 4GB SSD wouldn’t it?

There is some speculation trailing from this announcement that Microsoft may actually be planning on releasing Windows 7 sooner rather than later due to the statement that they would support Windows XP until 2010 or 1 year after the release of Windows 7, whichever is later. Here at CLUMPC we think that this sounds more like Microsoft covering their tail in case Windows 7 comes out even later than expected, not the opposite. Remember, Windows XP came out in 2001 and its still around. We may even see it being sold with certain machines a full 10 years after its release. We wish we could say that that was a testament to how good it was, but unfortunately it speaks to how poorly received Vista has been thus far.

Linux distros have their work cut out for them for at least the next 2 years on the UMPC front it sounds like. Microsoft axing XP in favor of Vista certainly would have provided a huge head start for OSes like Ubuntu Mobile. Hopefully we will continue to see newer UMPC-targeted distros that help move the industry away from a 7 year old OS.

[Via CNET News.com]

written by admin \\ tags: linux, News, windows

Engadget has just dropped a load of info about the new HP 2133 that everyone has been getting excited about. The best news? Its only 2 weeks away.

As rumored the HP 2133 will feature VIA processors coming in at a respectable 1.2 GHz and 1.6 GHz, along with 120GB HDs, 1GB RAM and a 1280 x 768 8.9″ display. The prices range from $549 to $849 depending on the specs. All models feature Windows Vista in a somewhat surprising move considering the specs, except for the $549 model which features SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop.

This is certainly exciting news for those sitting on the fence about whether to but the new 8.9″ EeePC coming in the new few months but it does present a new question. Is having a licensed copy of Windows Vista worth $50? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

UPDATE: There seems to be a lot of confusion over the weight being listed at 5.26 lbs. If you notice, the dimensions are also pretty large (5.281″ thick?). This, along with the previously heard 2.5 lbs spec leads us to believe that the dimensions and weight listed here refer to the box the HP 2133 ships in, not the unit itself.

written by admin \\ tags: 2133, 8.9", clumpc, competition, HP, hp 2133, Rumors, windows

Kevin Lin, vice president of Asustek’s sales department, confirmed to Digitimes this morning that the 2nd generation EeePC will in fact include an 8.9″ touchscreen. This is contrary to statements made by the company in the past which suggested that users were not interested in touch for the EeePC at the moment.

The new EeePC is also reported to “possibly” have GPS support. Whether this means a built-in GPS unit or simply support for a GPS add-on is not clear at this time.

The company is aiming to ship 5 million of the little guys in 2008 through retail as well as contract orders. The 8.9″ EeePC is expected to ship in May or June.

[via Engadget]

written by admin \\ tags: 8.9", EeePC, News, touch

French website Blogeee.net is reporting that after more than 4 months of being on the market in the US, the EeePC is finally beginning to see some software updates for the default Xandros distro beginning to appear. This is good news for all the hundreds of thousands of EeePC owners who have chosen to keep it real with the default OS without having to worry about those nasty exploit concerns.

Additionally updates to support to newly announced EeeAP WiFi router is present. Other updates available target webcam, PDF, messenger, Skype, Firefox Internet radio, OpenOffice, and photo management software.

For those out there who haven’t switched over to Windows or a different Linux variant this update seems to be long awaited and recommended for everyone. It is also a great show of good faith that despite Asus’ recent Windows-related EeePC announcements, they haven’t given up on Linux.

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written by admin \\ tags: asus, EeePC, firefox, Tweaks, update

The 11-inch G10IL from ECS looks like it could give the Linux UMPC world quite a run for its money, especially if it comes in under $500, but we’re a little skeptical.

The machine was announced today at the Mobile World Congress where it won an award for “Best Pre-Production Mobile Broadband Notebook”. The poorly named G10IL certainly looks very sleek, especially compared to the current competition, however the only real specs that were given out were that it would feature built-in 3G wireless technology and that it would retail below $500.

While its ECS has stated that the machine is still in production, they were unable to give any time table for launch. Considering the lack of photos showing the unit powered on, along with the lack of CPU or HD specs it can be safe to assume that these details are still a being hammered out.

Here’s to hoping this machine does see the light of day sooner rather than later and at a price point that would allow it to compete with the EeePC, Cloudbook, HP 2133 and countless others that we don’t even know about yet. For right now though, we’re not holding our breath.

More photos of the G10IL kinda in action after the break…

[Pocket-lint via Engadget]

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written by admin \\ tags: 11", clumpc, competition, G10IL, News

While its not quite up to the same level of modding we’ve seen on the EeePC yet, its still pretty impressive. Cloudbooker forum member Azazel has taken on the task of modding the Everex Cloudbook to add on some needed features like GPS and some flash-based storage.

What is interesting about this mod is the use of the Cloudbook’s somewhat wasted space to the right side of the screen as a location to store components. It will be interesting to see what other modders use this space for down the line.

More pictures of this cool mod after the break..

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written by admin \\ tags: Cloudbook, Everex, Mod