Forget OLPC... Remember RM

[MYstIC G]

I'm sure loads of the older nerds amongst us remember back in the day your school either had a RM Nimbus or it didn't (though either way your school was still shit).

Well, much to my own surprise, it turns out that RM aren't dead. Moreover it seems that RM are going to launch a ridiculously cheap and tiny sub-laptop at the beginning of next month.

Looks quite nifty to me, what do you lot reckon?

 

[GReaper]

As nice as a £199 laptop with 512MB and 4GB flash is, I don't think it's quite as cheap as it could be.

For an extra £100 you can get a laptop like this. Better processor, a real hard drive, larger screen, and a copy of Vista Home Basic. Now if this Toshiba laptop went with Linux, just how cheap would it be? It might shave another £40-50 off the price bringing it closer to the Eee PC.

 

[Yaka]

they are just competing wiht the olpc project which is self powered almost. preety much an attempt to cash in on a movement the big manufacturers wanted to see dead and buried.

 

[GReaper]

The prices exclude VAT, which raises the better model to £234. At that price point you may as well go for a real laptop.

Shame.

 

[Tilda]

I've preordered one.

I can justify getting a mini-laptop for 200 ish quid.
I want something tiny.
When i'm trying to fit it in my bag, that size would be perfect rather than the rather larger normal laptops.

 

[mank!]

i just finished a contract at RM. don't know anything about the mini-laptop but they do shitloads for schools around london, lambeth especially...

for the size, portability and price it's ideal for their market.

 

[Tilda]

Aye, its an Asus made PC, and the first batch RM are selling will just be the Asus ones. However they said they might put their own stuff on it for the 2nd batch nextyear + rebrand it.

 

[Sharma]

That, in all honesty, is one of the most fucking awesome things ever.

Something like this will help IMMENSELY for my job and part time course!

Jesus, I won't have to lug around a bloody massive book and crap to take notes, YAY!

Mind it will mean i'll end up with a keychain of memory sticks but that will help me so much!

 

[dysfunction]

I think my school had an Apple Mac...I remember a turtle or something...may have been something to do with learning Basic

 

[WPKenny]

I think my school had an Apple Mac...I remember a turtle or something...may have been something to do with learning Basic

I think that's a programming language called Logo which used a turtle to draw stuff on the screen.

 

[dysfunction]

Ah yes that sounds familiar!!

 

[Tilda]

Sounds pretty good, review here:

Asus Eee PC 701 Review by LAPTOP Magazine

 

[Tilda]

Getting mine today! Veh excited!

 

[MYstIC G]

Pics tbfh

 

[Tilda]

Very cool, very tiny!
I like.

 

[MYstIC G]

Looks excellent. What's it like to use Tilds?

 

[Tilda]

Posting this from it. I'm hooked, i love it, its easy to use, simle but not stupidly so, and if i wanted to i could customise it with advanced mode or pop windows on it. For now though it just rocks, because everthing just *works*

 

[DocWolfe]

I'm gonna get one in a couple of months - first thing I'm gonna do is install ubuntu on it

 

[Yaka]

hmm

wots this like for hiooking upto your tv and playing xvids? could you also output a higer res?

 

[Tilda]

I haven't tried, but it has a VGA output, as I understand it, it can output a high rez picture fine so it should be perfect.
While I haven't tried the built in media player i've installed VLC which should do them.

Today I enabled advanced mode, pinned my system and added debian repositories! I feel like a linux geek!

 

[gunner440]

Why did you buy it?

You're not an African kid.

 

[MYstIC G]

Tone it down gunner, that's out of line.

 

[Tilda]

Its not an OLPC just for africa PC, its a decent mini-laptop being sold globally, therefore, anybody can buy it.

 

[Clown]

Tone it down gunner, that's out of line.

Fuck you!

 

[Yaka]

olpc is gonna have to be sold comercially as well, only venezula have signed up for it. personaly id rather pay half price and get just one for me self.

 

[MYstIC G]

Fuck you!

No.

 

[Clown]

Yes.

 

[MYstIC G]

No.

 

[Clown]

Why?

 

[GReaper]

A full review of the laptop can be found at Ars Technica if anyone is interested in it.