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$298 Wal-Mart PC Has OO.org, No Crapware
Posted by
kdawson
on Thu Jul 19, 2007 08:37 AM
from the tell-me-again-why-dell-can't-do-this dept.
from the tell-me-again-why-dell-can't-do-this dept.
cristarol writes "Wal-Mart has begun selling a $298 PC (Everex IMPACT GC3502). It comes with Windows Vista Home Basic and OpenOffice.org 2.2, as well as a complete lack of crapware: 'Users accustomed to being bombarded with trialware offers and seeing their would-be pristine Windows desktops littered with shortcuts to AOL and other applications will likely be pleased at their absence from the GC3502.' The machine is targeted at the back-to-school market. The hardware is nothing to write home about: a 1.5GHz Via C7 with 1GB of RAM and integrated graphics, but as Ars points out, it should be more than capable of performing basic tasks." Dell sells a low-end PC through Wal-Mart for $200 more, and one assumes it is loaded with crapware. Anybody know for sure?
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$298 Wal-Mart PC Has OO.org, No Crapware
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Funny (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Funny (Score:5, Funny)
Wh else looked at it and thought... (Score:3, Funny)
Laptop specs (Score:2)
Anyhoo, Dell also sells some PCs with a 'no trailware' option. It seems that manufacturers are seeing the light. I wonder how much the 'PC Decrapifier' project has to do with this change of heart.
One Question (Score:3, Insightful)
(http://godgab.org/)
"Eco-friendly" computer (Score:4, Insightful)
(http://filer.case.edu/~bct4)
I guess a computer that has little or nothing to it also doesn't use much power either. But then, my Game Boy is more eco-friendly.
It's in the processor (Score:4, Informative)
(http://filer.case.edu/~bct4)
"With a maximum power consumption of just 20 watts (2 watts average), the VIA C7®-D processor sets new standards..."
How much do 1.5GHz processors normally consume?
Re:It's in the processor (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:It's in the processor (Score:4, Informative)
Sam
Has VIA improved? (Score:5, Interesting)
(http://technical-writing.dionysius.com/ | Last Journal: Monday November 05, @03:35PM)
Comparison (Score:5, Informative)
(http://slashdot.org/~eldavojohn/ | Last Journal: Tuesday October 16, @03:26PM)
- # Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition
- # NVIDIA GeForce 6150 integrated graphics
- # Dell USB keyboard and USB 2-button mouse
- # Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
- # Integrated 7.1-channel audio
- # 56k PCI data/fax modem
- # Microsoft Works 8.5
- # Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0
- # Roxio Creator Basic
- # McAfee Security 30-day trial
- # Earthlink application software
- # Windows Vista PC-Restore
- # 1-year limited warranty and at-home service
Having experienced all the above software (with the exception of Earthlink application software whatever that is), I'm going to say that yes, it is loaded with crapware. Scariest one on that list would probably be the earthlink application software because that's the most generic name for a product I can ever think of.The other differences between these two machines is they have comparable memory, DVD burner & GPU, the Dell's hard drive & CPU are a lot better. The ArsTechnica article mentions upgrades at a price, you could probably get the IMPACT up to the Dell range and get it close which is probably pretty important for the average consumer who doesn't want to deal with the ordeal of reinstalling Windows just to get a clean slate.
Minimal crapware.. (Score:5, Informative)
They could have chosen a free AV package, like they chose a free office suite (or even a free operating system). But, they went with the try-now buy-later package.
Re:Minimal crapware.. (Score:4, Insightful)
They could have chosen a free AV package, like they chose a free office suite
Even more, with the Norton stuff installed that 1.5ghz via cpu will feel like a 800mhz one and with constant hdd scratching it will feel like it swaps all the time. There are dozens of - even free - av sw that are at least as good and need much less resources - which is point to consider given there's only 1gb of memory and vista on it. I just made a 750mhz duron machine usable again last week by replacing that norton 2k7 stuff, they just wondered how could that be...
Nice home Linux server box (Score:4, Interesting)
The VIA C7 is a nice low-power CPU, with enough kick for most server tasks. At only 20 Watts power, it's well below any of the Intel/AMD options.
Too bad there isn't a version without the Windows tax.. this box at $250 would be even better.
Wow, a 1.5 VIA (Score:5, Funny)
Inflation of specs for student tasks (Score:5, Insightful)
Not to abuse an old cliche.... (Score:3, Insightful)
(http://goldspider.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Friday March 18 2005, @10:54AM)
Even with the MS tax, can you realistically buy or assemble a full PC with those specs for that kind of price? Sounds like a good entry-level Linux box to me!
It's not a bad deal at all (Score:3, Informative)
(http://www.cydeweys.com/blog/ | Last Journal: Tuesday April 06 2004, @12:42PM)
I'd buy one... (Score:2)
I'll take the crap. (Score:3, Insightful)
Windows Tax Refund? (Score:3, Interesting)
(http://slashdot.org/~Doc%20Ruby/journal | Last Journal: Thursday March 31 2005, @01:48PM)
Does MS just give them away "free" to companies like Everex/Wal-Mart, just to protect their platform marketshare for selling Windows apps (or reporting marketshare)? Isn't all of that anticompetitive, probably explicitly so under the various (though largely unenforced) monopoly verdict decrees?
Or can you get your MS tax refund if you delete it and send it back? Has anyone pulled that off lately? Or maybe, possibly, convince Wal-Mart to save the expense, and sell a cheaper PC with Linux installed - or nothing installed, but with a Linux LiveCD/netinstaller?
It's all good (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://slashdot.org/)
And yeah, Wal-Mart probably isn't doing this out of the goodness of their hearts, nor to boost open source, nor to satisfy the few Linux people. Their motivation is undoubtedly to make money, and they usually do that by giving consumers what they want (a cheap item, that does the job).
Well, we should be proud that OpenOffice is seen as a viable enough too in their delivery of such a product, especially one aimed at students. It really is a big step in the right direction, and validates Open Source to a very large degree.
-dale
Anyone buy this already? (Score:1)
One more piece of crapware to get rid of... (Score:2)
(Last Journal: Thursday May 22 2003, @10:18PM)
What would the same box cost, running $FAVORITE-LINUX-DISTRO instead of Vista? $250?
WalMart knows students will put MS Office on later (Score:2)
(Last Journal: Monday December 12 2005, @11:05AM)
Students can buy an education version of MS Office at a ridiculously low price, and many of them can get it for free from their schools that have already bought district-wides licenses for it.
WalMart knows this, so rather than pay for an MS Office or Works license when they sell the computer, they sell it without an MS office suite thereby increasing their margin. They only put OO.o on it as a filler so it has a good feature set in the newspaper ads. But I'm sure they understand that a lot of students will put MS Office on it once they get it home.
Dell AthlonX2 $382.59 USD @ DELL (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.redflagdeals.com/deals/main.php/alldea
* AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor 4000+
* Windows XP Professional
* 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz - 2 DIMMs
* 160GB SATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
* 16x DVD+/-RW Drive
* Microsoft Works 8
* Integrated 7.1 Audio, Video
* Dell USB Keyboard, Optical USB Mouse
* 1 Year Next Business Day Onsite/In Home Service and Tech Support
I think it's worth it for $100 more... even with possible crapware... XP Pro itself is worth like $150 OEM. (I'd still rather of XP than Vista at the moment)
If only this had been released last year ... (Score:2)
(http://linuxhomepage.com/)
... then it would have XP instead. That would have made it an even better deal.
Again, Wal-Mart not the cheapest (Score:2, Informative)
2GB/200GB $499 laptop Best Buy (after rebate) (Score:2)
However I never trust those rebates.
tell-me-again-why-dell-can't-do-this dept. (Score:1)
Low end for education (Score:2, Insightful)
(http://www.richardmac.com/)
Regarding education, it might be OK for the basic stuff but innovative teachers are going far beyond the basic word processing/web browsing thin client type stuff nowadays. I'm training a group of new teachers right now on iLife. In a fifth grade class, students can write, cast, direct, film, edit, and publish a movie on a topic they're studying to their own website on a school web server using iLife. They can compose their own soundtrack using GarageBand. They can make a podcast about the movie and put it on their website. They can take pictures of the process and make it a slideshow and publish THAT on their site. All easily possible because of iLife and the fact that today's Intel Macs have the CPU power to do all this stuff. You're not doing any of that on a cheapo PC. When kids make stuff, they learn more than just reading dry old textbooks. It's called constructivist learning. At the secondary level, the projects can and do get more in depth.
So if I'm a fifth grade teacher, I don't want one of these crap boxes. You can buy three crap boxes for the price of one iMac, but I'd rather have the iMac.
Too bad (Score:1, Insightful)
(http://www.one-shore.com/~aaron)
Dell low end booster procedure (Score:1)
Great way to get a low power/silent computer (Score:1)
I would buy one, but can't. No one can apparently (Score:2)
(http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Monday October 29, @07:20AM)
Nice price (Score:1)
(http://timcol6.freehostia.com/)
Save Those $300... (Score:2)
(http://www.myspace.com/over_engineered | Last Journal: Tuesday November 28 2006, @11:20AM)
...and get the student a used laptop off Craig's List for about $100 cheaper that has similar specs and such...
This computer is a great deal; an excellent deal for anyone with financial conservation in mind. However, there are so many used PCs (and laptops now) that will not only save you money getting, but will also be getting a computer that is more responsive and trusted (has anyone ever heard of Everex?)
Those are my two cents.
Everex rocks (Score:2)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82 E16834280004 [newegg.com]
And for $5 more, did you even read TFA? (Score:1)
(http://geocities.com/she_died)
In case you miss them, or your friends have been annoying you by bragging about all the preloaded sh*t that they got 'in a bundled package'
And an additional $5 for a recovery CD, when you've regained your sanity.
Has anyone gotten cash back from *mart for MS? (Score:1)
(http://technocrat.net/ | Last Journal: Wednesday November 07, @06:23PM)
Perhaps this fee, if it could be gotten easy, might offset filling up that one open RAM slot. The machine should be perfectly fine then. Spec wise it's better than the one I am using right now for that matter, and this machine is fine with just half a gig of RAM running linux (FC6 right now).
Here's what the "white box" guys sell (Score:2)
Intel Basic Office Workstation $249:
INTEL CELERON 331 2.66GHz 256K LGA775
Mini Case
Asus Main Board
512MB DDR2 Memory
80GB SATA 7200RPM HDD
Onboard Intel Graphics Media
Onboard Audio
Onboard LAN
16x DVD-ROM
Keyboard + Mouse
Upgrades as:
Intel Pentium4 631 3.0Ghz 2M LGA775 $289
Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8GHz 800MHz 2MB LGA775 $350
Want something a little more powerful - try an AMD solution:
AMD Value and Performance 64-bit Solutions $309
AMD Sempron 3000+ 1.6GHz AM2 128K L2 Cache
Asus M2NBP-VM nVidia Quadro NVS 210S & nForce 430B AM2 Motherboard
Mid-Tower ATX Case
1G DDR2 Memory
160GB SATA2 7200RPM HDD
Onboard AMD Graphic support DVI
Onboard High Definition Sound
Onboard Gigabit LAN
16x DVD-ROM
Upgrades as:
AMD Athlon64 3500+ 2.2GHz AM2 512K L2 Cache $350
AMD Athlon64x2 3800+ 2.0GHz AM2 512K L2 Cache $399
Granted you've got to pay extra for the OS - which adds another $100-150 to the price - unless of course you put Linux on it, or already have a Windows OS license you can use. And when you buy Windows from a white box dealer, you get a full OEM install CD - none of this "recovery partition" or "Recovery CD" crap you get from the big retailers.
And Spectrum will put a diskette drive in the box so you can flash your BIOS or flash a RAID BIOS or whatever.
PCs are commodities these days. Buy them that way. Screw the big retailers - whatever you save from their more massive purchasing power and reduced prices will end up costing you later in aggravation and problems when the system fails and you find it harder to recover because of the corners they cut and the customization they did over a white box to "differentiate" themselves.
If it stops them from getting hooked on WOW... (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://www.meden.us/ | Last Journal: Tuesday June 22 2004, @09:22PM)
Where to start. (Score:5, Insightful)
The machine has 1Gb RAM. My laptop has a quarter of that and seems to browse the web and run Office perfectly well.
As for CPU... I'm pretty sure it will cope with the heaviest of messenger sessions.
I've actually convinced myself that this computer is worse for students than I thought in the first place.
You need to climb down back to the real world. Very few people need garanteed sub-millisecond response times (or even knows what they are).
Re:Where to start. (Score:5, Interesting)
(http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/atd7/)
This included:
Word processing
Web browsing
IM
Matlab simulations
Circuit design with Eagle
I did have a 1 GHz Athlon Thunderbird available, but with the exception of the Matlab stuff, I took no productivity hit. In fact, if anything my productivity was higher because I could work while laying on my apartment's nice comfy couch instead of sitting at my desk. (This is why I used the laptop when I had another machine available.) In some ways the slowness of the Matlab stuff actuall increased productivity because it forced me/allowed me to multitask while my simulations ran.
Admittedly, the laptop ran Linux. Running Vista on this machine is likely crippling it so that 1GB RAM might indeed be insufficient.
Re:If it stops them from getting hooked on WOW... (Score:5, Insightful)
All this stuff runs just fine even on 512M of RAM. I use one such machine for work, which includes most of the stuff you listed (word processing, web browsing, matlab, lots of compiling, lots of PDF, image editing, etc.), and it runs just fine even with dual monitors.
Let's not even go into the "uphill both ways" stories of what computing power we used in college to do these exact same things.
I think the GP is right, the kids will whine because they can't play games. Been there, done that
Re:If it stops them from getting hooked on WOW... (Score:5, Insightful)
(Last Journal: Friday November 10 2006, @02:16PM)
Seriously, though, if the choice is between a student having this $300 computer, and a student having no computer, which do you think is better?
Not every parent can afford to spend $1000 or even $500.
Yes they are. Any app designed for business is tweaked to run on a variety of systems, programs are designed to run on systems that were state-of-the-art more than five years prior. The business upgrade cycle used to be around three years, but now it's getting larger every day -- and businesses tend not to buy top-of-the-line systems anyway.
Back to educational use -- very few disciplines of study require apps that really use a lot of cycles. And when they do, typically those apps are run on university computers, not students' PCs. Those apps are also typically used for high-level research, not basic undergrad stuff.
Re:If it stops them from getting hooked on WOW... (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://goldspider.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Friday March 18 2005, @10:54AM)
In fact, while I'm thinking of it, this PC might be a good buy for my parents who badlu need to upgrade their old workhorse. Those specs will run XP just fine!
Re:Don't sell the students short (Score:3, Insightful)
(http://slashdot.org/~The_Fire_Horse/journal | Last Journal: Saturday August 04, @07:13PM)
Sure, if you include MP3's, porn, FPS games and bittorrents it may not run so well, but still $289 isnt a bad price for that.
Re:Don't sell the students short (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Don't sell the students short (Score:5, Insightful)
I've done statistical analysis on a Zenith Data Systems 8088 system and written games for a Commodore 64, so please don't refer to anything with an 80 GB hard drive and 1 GB of RAM as "junk hardware". I know junk hardware, and that, sir, is no TRS-80.
The fact that the OS needs 1 GB of memory to function is what's wrong with the world! Seesh, kids these days...
Re:Don't sell the students short (Score:5, Insightful)
(http://www.vanderlee.com/)
Apart from the fact that, if you're going with Windows on this kind of hardware, a version prior to Vista would've been smarter, everything should suffice for it's intended purpose.
Problem is that Microsoft probably offers OEM's Vista for near free but charges a premium for XP, the system would have probably been more expensive if it included an older version of Windows.
Re:Don't sell the students short (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Slashdot Groupthink is strange (Score:5, Funny)
You are just the kind of dog that likes to pee inside the house I guess.
Re:Don't sell the students short (Score:1)
Some of us do :) (Score:2)
(Last Journal: Tuesday June 06 2006, @01:50PM)
My wife got her Masters in Meteorology and did this. I'm an Aerospace Engineer and basically consumed 100% of my computers' resources (dual core AMD x5200) for a month and a half doing runs for my thesis. (and yes, the simulation was multi-threaded)
I agree with your premise. While this machine will work for people just interested in social networking, anything beyond that will leave the user lacking.
Re:Don't sell the students short (Score:1)
On the other hand, I'm not sure about the quality of the hardware. I've never heard of either the manufacturer of the system or what I'm guessing is the motherboard.
Also, I have mixed feelings about OO.o being bundled with these systems. I'm glad to see that it's getting some face-time, but I worry that it'll get associated with Wal*Mart and therefore be considered just as crappy as everything else they sell.
Re:Slashdot Groupthink is strange (Score:5, Insightful)
(Last Journal: Monday January 08 2007, @02:45PM)
Interestingly, they usually describe this as "Groupthink"
The fact is that Slashdot users have a variety of backgrounds and opinions. On every issue, there is a distribution of opinions. On some subjects we all seem to agree (e.g. "technology is good"), on others we mostly agree (e.g. "Linux is cool") and on others still there is so much disagreement that you will see completely contradictory and opposing opinions both modded up to +5 (e.g. "global warming is a myth").
Your example, of disliking MS but supporting Wal-Mart, is a total strawman. The general impression I get is that there is a consistent but not universal dislike of Microsoft's business tactics, and that there is solid division of opinion on the Wal-Mart issue. I've seen insightful comments both supporting the good that Wal-Mart does as part of a thriving free market, and insightful comments about the harm that Wal-Mart does as a megacorp that only cares about money. Both sides make good points and the most reasonable stance is probably a nuanced view that takes into account all of these factors. To suggest that Slashdot has a single opinion on these subjects betrays a serious lack of perspective on your part.
Your closing sentence, "I wish I lived in the fantasy world of most Slashdotters", again is deeply rooted in the fantasy that Slashdot is a single entity with a single mind, and that any self-contradictory statements it makes represent its own insanity, rather than diversity of opinion among its constituents.
Re:Don't sell the students short (Score:5, Informative)
(http://www.gemstate.net/friends | Last Journal: Tuesday September 11, @10:32AM)
1. It has Vista Home Basic so no Aero. It probably will not be stressing the harware.
2. It has a gig of Ram. I have NO problem running XP media Center and OpenSuse on a system with a Gig of ram as a duel boot. Open Office runs just fine.
3. It is under $300.
4. I has a DVD drive so yes you can watch DVDs on it.
5. It has IE on it. The sad truth is some sites require IE to work correctly. This is changing but having IE to fall back on does make life easy.
6. It has Open Office. Which gives you a lot of good tools.
7. Did I mention it is under $300. Less than a PS/3 or 360?
8. It only has an 80 gig drive. So it has 6 USB ports. Think Geek was selling 80 Gig external drives for under $50! Those are much better to put your music and videos on anyway. When the RIAA and Montag come knocking at your door they my not find your external drive with your MP3s or your collection of books.
9. It uses SATA for the HD. I bet you could put in another or a Larger drive if you really wanted it.
10. So it only has one gig of ram. It has an open memory slot. Go buy an extra gig.
For a High school kid or even a college student this would be a good machine. Frankly a lot of businesses could work just fine off one of these. It also doesn't use a lot of power thanks to the C7 CPU.
As to just building your own. Not everyone wants to build their own PC or even knows how. This machine with an LCD monitor would be a handy little system for many people.
I don't know if it has any open slots but even without them you could add WiFi with USB. You could also add a TV tuner so it could be you kids TV as well.
In other words it seems like a good deal for some people. The fact that it will not play the latest and greatest games I can only see as a plus.
Re:Don't sell the students short (Score:2)
(http://mysite.verizon.net/tkrotchko/)
It looks perfectly fine for web/office work. I can't see where it lacks for it's primary market. And if the only lack is RAM, then, presumably, you can bump it up to 2G for under $100.
Now, I'm not commenting on the PC, but even if it's crap, for $300 you can't lose. An $800 PC will depreciate by $300 as soon as you open the box. This PC almost makes sense to buy and throw away once a year and keep getting $300 PC's. But I doubt you need to do that.
Re:Slashdot Groupthink is strange (Score:2)
(http://frogfarm.org/dj/)
Re:Don't sell the students short (Score:2)
Disappointed compared to the 'antique' Pentium II 300 with 32MB RAM and windows 98 they were using before?
For a lot of people especially students this is a huge upgrade.
A 250 watt power supply is more than adequate for a nominal cpu without a power sucking video card. Sure the CPU is behind the curve, but then, so is a P-II 350. The hard drive is more than adequate, and the RAM is where it needs to be... and adding more is inexpensive.
I'm not saying its a great computer, or that there aren't better deals around but this, all things considered, isn't bad.
Re:Don't sell the students short (Score:1)
Re:Slashdot Groupthink is strange (Score:2)
(http://www.gemstate.net/friends | Last Journal: Tuesday September 11, @10:32AM)
But the difference between Walmart and Target has more to do with choice. I have a lot of Choice in where I shop. I have little choice in what OS I have to deal with. WalMart Lawn mowers don't require Walmart oil and gas to work.
Frankly this hate thing for Microsoft and or Walmart is all pretty silly. They are not the KKK or American Nazi party after all.
The real truth about Bill Gates is this.
If the Gates foundation cures Malaria then nothing that Microsoft has done in the past will matter at all. He will be remembered as a great humanitarian. I personally will still stick pins my Bill Gates voodoo doll for MFC but the rest of the world will love him for generations.
Re:Don't sell the students short (Score:2)
(http://www.bergo.eng.br/eboard)
If only Microsoft released Word 6 (hell, even Word 2) and the Windows 3.1 True Type fonts in a freeware package guaranteed to run under a stock version of Wine, OO would die within a month.
Re:but.. (Score:1)
we are going to abandon them.
Re:Don't sell the students short (Score:1)
Re:No Crapware? (Score:2)
Re:Don't sell the students short (Score:2)
(http://www.livejournal.com/users/gilmoure/ | Last Journal: Saturday November 16 2002, @05:41PM)
Re:Slashdot Groupthink is strange (Score:1)
Microsoft, on the other hand, is destroying the computer world! Off with their heads! Off with their heads!
Re:Don't sell the students short (Score:1)
(http://www.brokersys.com/~jguthrie/)
To me, it appears that WalMart understands the student market vastly better than Steve Jobs did. The price is what's important to the college student market. Capability comes in no higher than a distant second.
Re:Slashdot Groupthink is strange (Score:2)
(Last Journal: Thursday April 19 2007, @10:15PM)
They have been in trouble for not allowing sufficient breaks, and they have been know to cut people's ours just short of getting full-time status to avoid paying benefits. I'm not sure that in the retail job market, though, that they pay all that dismally.
Now, their environmental impact, their habit of buying Chinese goods, refusing to allow any union workers to help build their stores, and other things are all worth yelling about to various people. I'm not sure their pay ranks up there.