It wouldn't have taken a gadget guru to see this one coming: the first review of the
Lanyu LY-EB01, the $98 smartbook with a 266MHz (yes, one-quarter of one GHz) ARM processor, is not especially positive, scoring 15 points out of a possible 30 at
Shanzai.com. Build quality is actually reasonably highly rated, with the machine having a solid feel and, impressively, not a single moving part (unless you count electrons). After that everything goes downhill, with the keyboard said to be cramped, that tiny screen too tiny, and its Windows CE 5.0 operating system described as "Win 98 with a hangover." Having spent a few too many nights up late cleaning up after that animal, we're not particularly inclined to show up for this party. CE is apparently the biggest killer here, with minimal support for multimedia content, productivity apps, and even web surfing. An Android install would have made this thing into something of an interesting commodity, but as-is it seems less functional than your average smartphone. See for yourself in the video review after the break.
posted Aug 26th 2009 8:19AM
Sad that it doesn't seem to do any graphic hardware accelerating. The loading of the spreadsheet app (without even loading a file) already looks kinda ugly, shouldn't have to look like that anymore in these times. And the video playback really is a joke, it's basically an underpowered PMP with some browsing capabilities. And then it's running a seemingly untouched (no third party UI or anything) version of WinCE, which is WinMo with even less work on user-friendliness from Microsoft. While I think smartbooks have a future, even smartbooks based on WinCE (nVidia showed some nice stuff with custom UI and hardware accelerated graphics), this is a joke.
It'll be nice if you can install something like GeeXboX in it so it does nothing but watching video. $99 is cheaper than some of the portable dvd players.
Who is the market for this computer? It is poor marketing to produce a Windows CE device when W7 is around the corner and when everyone expects XP
The real irony is that you could slap PuppyLinux on it at 50megabytes, it'd run FireF w/ Flash and still it would be a more compliant and functional web browser and secure OS then that 'other UNoperating system' running IE8
But this is an ARM based machine so require a lot less power than an x86 machine. As Windows XP or Windows 7 don't run on ARM they have Android and WinCE to choose from. Nothing really to do with marketing.
@poke
Debian supports Arm
Angstrom supports Arm
NetBSD
I'm sure there is more.
So you could put a full distro on this little baby.
The idea of running puppylinux on it, and using Google Documents makes sense.
If any does get one and manages to get some Unix/Linux variant working for $100, please write an article with instructions.
Firefox? On a 266 MHz ARM9? HAHAHAHAHAHA.
IIRC, the ARM9 and the StrongARM are in the same performance ballpark, and let's just say that Firefox is uselessly slow on a machine in that performance area.
Here's a video of a RISC OS port of Firefox 2.0, running on my 233 MHz StrongARM-equipped RiscPC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfQTb6MAXD8
Wow, I'm just amazed that it's even possible to have a sub-$100 laptop in the first place! Even the OLPC project couldn't manage this. Even a slow small-screen laptop is infinitely better than no laptop at all, and 10 years ago we'd all be salivating over a bit of kit like this. There are (probably less jaded) people around the world in poorer areas that will love a cheap bit of kit like this that can open up a universe of knowledge and learning to then.
I agree completely. I'm not sure what market this is intended for, but this seems like a perfect piece of kit for undeveloped countries where they don't have any laptops at all. As far as it being less powerful than an average smartphone, it's also a fraction of the price ($549.00 Palm Pre anyone?)*. You get what you pay for.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/19/palm-pre-to-run-549-off-contract/
It was only about 12 years ago that a 266Mhz (that's a quarter of a Ghz) Pentium II made our hearts skip a beat. And at the time, we thought the Pentium II was pretty darn useful. $100 Laptop WIN
Exactly, it's better for the undeveloped countries to learn windows than to learn the OS that is used in OLPC which is not used anywhere.
Learn windows? You must have missed the part were they said WinCE instead of a useful OS like WinXP.
WinCE is essentially the great-grandfather of WinMo, and is typically only found today as the underlying OS with a custom graphics shell on top like in the Magellan GPS.
Learn WinCE? Nobody should be forced to do that, even your worst enemy.
Well, it's running WinCE 5.0, so it's not the great grandfather of WinMo, it's the basis of WinMo. (WinMo 6.x is based on CE 5.2, WinMo 5.0 is based on CE 5.0.)
Think of WinMo as a distro of WinCE, packaged for phones and PDAs. I forget if CE 5.0 still has the H/PC or Clamshell profile, I think it does... if not, this is running the web pad profile. Not much difference, they both use the same GUI. Non-touchscreen phones run the Smartphone profile (marketed as WinMo Smartphone or WinMo Standard depending on version,) PDAs and touchscreen phones run the Pocket PC profile (marketed as WinMo Pocket PC, WinMo Pocket PC Phone Edition, WinMo Professional, or WinMo Classic depending on whether it's a PDA or phone, and version.)
a computer made for hobo's. but I don't even think a hobo would want this.
'not a single moving part'? That must make for a difficult keyboard to use...
that and the screen hinge. must suck to have it in that fixed open position all the time.
Haha- yes, it was phrased poorly- I think what he meant was that ARM chips don't generate enough heat to even need a fan cooling system (hence why a 600+Mhz pocket PC or smartphone doesn't make any whirring noise when on).
Even solid-state storage netbooks still have moving parts under the hood because of cooling... The only moving parts here, as you pointed out, are those for user-interface (hinged screen, keys...) but nothing that moves on its own. So technically, I think what he's trying to say is that if *YOU* don't move something, none of the parts are moving.
Whatever, it sounds like English isn't his first language.
What bothers me is that ARM computing isn't new... I don't know what his hopeful look to the future is all about, because WinCE powered ARM "palmtops" have been around for over a decade, and that last popular one was an HP Jornada that could fit in a large pocket circa 2000. They are nowadays replaced by Smartphones and Netbooks. Aside from emerging countries, I don't see much of a market or future in this...
ya, my Dell mini 9 has no moving parts either (other than the obvious). I could drop it and it would continue chugging along. Not a very good selling point is u ask me. Focusing on the price and the proper demographic (hobos, underprivileged countries, etc) is the way to go with this product.
For a hacking project this may be quite nice. Customizing your own CE build or something like that.
I'd pay $98 for that,
800 x 600 is fine for the 7" screen
7" screen for itty bitty eyes and a teeny keyboard for dainty little fingers?
No thank you.
It's only 142.86 PPI. The standard 1024x600 8.9" netbook is 133.35 PPI, so not too far off.
But, yes, keyboards on 7" devices are freaking tiny.
pointless.... unless maybe you turn it into a GPS. most car gps's run on Windows CE, just need to add a receiver for the GPS signal and it might be worth the asking price
Would Linux Ubuntu work fine with those specs?
Last I knew, Ubuntu hasn't made a release on ARM, though they are working on it. I'd go with Debian, personally, since it's been on ARM for quite a while, but either one should run OK. Of course, there's the whole install thing; not generally hard, but you need to know what you're doing...
But these days, 266MHz is so slow it's not funny -- not saying it's a bad deal, _if_ you only have $100 to spend, but $200-$300 gets you any of an N800, N810, SmartQ5, SmartQ7, or Touch Book, depending on your preferred balance of screen, keyboard, and portability, and they all get at least double the performance with substantially improved portability, and some form of Linux built-in (making the shift to any other flavor a piece of cake.
Or, if you simply must have the same size keyboard, you might go with a low-end x86 netbook at
im pretty sure ubuntu has an arm release, i thought i saw it running on the pandora which is arm based.
they are good BUT!! its a mobile laptop THAT NEED 3g drivers for the varios doggles for various networks around the world it cant just use wifi everywhere
I'm not really looking for a netbook or a smartbook, but if it was available here for 70€ which is about $98 i just might change my mind. It looks like a nice toy.
I think Microsoft should focus more on the ARM platform and create something like Windows 7 for ARM because Windows CE looks really obsolete, they should also add support for more codecs and encourage app development.
You wouldn't want to run XP on this, let alone Win7, even if there were an ARM build.
This thing's got a 266 MHz ARM9. That's not at all fast.
For reference, that's somewhere in the ballpark of a 200 MHz Pentium or so.
Even Windows 2000 would be dog slow. NT 4, that'd be OK.
Thy should use that 600 MHz processor all the new phones have, it would be worth the extra cost.
Also keep in mind that this thing isn't aimed at our market.
In our market, 600-1000 MHz ARM Cortex-A8 machines will be the most common. But, the markets that that thing is aimed at are extremely cost sensitive.
Please guys, this a 98 USD device, you get what you pay for. Don't compare this to a netbook that costs 3, 4 or 5 times more.
What drives me crazy is when these reviewers take such a small device and claim the keyboard is cramped.
REALLY? What were they expecting to have a full sized desktop keyboard attached to that screen. Ridiculous.
I agree despite it's extremely slow arm, the design is done, the price is low, so now as things continue to drop in price and tech continues ot move along they have a decently designed little system and they can upgrade it to be really usable and the price should still be pretty good.
First thing I'd do if I were them is redesign the board use the Cortex A-8 600Mhz SoC (like Pandora handheld and iPhone 3gs) and install Angstrom Linux (Like the Pandora handheld) or Android if you prefer, and they would have a much more useful system and it could still be quite affordable. THEN they may be able to have a useful presence in the market. Blazing fast? No, but capable, small and affordable.
I used an NEC Mobilpro 780 for a long time (until I dropped it). It was even slower and smaller, with an ancient OS, but it was surprisingly useful. It cost FAR more than $98 when I bought it.
I think it is so damn cool, it can office, also can browser ( you can install flash lite in windows ce 5.0 also Opera and Minimo) and play some videos and mp3. Also windows ce 5.0 support the compact framework 3.5 .net
I wish to known how is the battery usage.
Of course, it is not a notebook replacement but it can be fine to take notes, or to use a a calculator.
I think this thing is pretty cool. I would use it to log into my network and do admin work over rdp. not the most ideal set up but i could carry it with me everywhere and at 100 bucks who cares if it breaks? if can get in on the network and take care of user issues while i'm away from the office a few times it's already paid for itself. the media playback is a nice option to have too, although HD is out of the question a 7" screen is quite larger and i would imagine easier on the eyes than an iphone, i think it'd be great for plane trips. since it has no moving parts i bet battery life is pretty good too. yeah it's not a full blown machine but as a travel mate on vacation when you need to connect back to the office or do some quick WP i think it's fine. plus i bet you could flash the rom and install linux on it if you wanted too so that would open all kinds of other doors...
For $100, I'd buy it, if only as a toy. I'd see if I could install Linux on it or something better than CE then give it to my kid when I got bored of it.
Exactly. Debian for Arm would do so much better than CE.
Send that shit to the the flea market with the appropriate shrink wrap packaging.
Absolutely deplorable.
Its the evolution of the Sorny Poop Stations...
They should´ve added a D-Pad and a few buttons and run a funny linux distro on it.
Well... if you can play solitaire on it, that makes it just as useful as any other WinPC out there. :ducks for cover:
How about comparing it to a netbook that costs 2 times as much?
The Dell Mini 9 could be had for $220 with WinXp ($200 with linux) a couple months ago. Atom 1.6 GHz, 1024x600 screen, 1 GB ram, 8 GB SSD. Can actually run modern software.
And it is about the same size as this, also with no moving parts. Also with a cramped keyboard. Without the enormous useless bezel around the screen which gives you a 7" screen on a 9" machine.
$100 more to get a real computer instead of a paperweight? Not too hard of a decision.
I like my Dell Mini 9.
Same here :)
Planning on picking up another from the outlet XD
I hope someone comes out with a similar unit in the US, but with Linux please! I've been using a Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 for the past seven-and-a-half years as my primary gadget and this would be a great replacement, when the time comes. The SL-5500 uses the SA-1110 ARM chip (at around 206 MHz), and it is just fine for most purposes -- I'm not trying to play any 3D action games on it, obviously.
I do use the Zaurus for everything from developing code (Java and Perl) to doing genealogy research in government archives. It is perfect because of the keyboard and the fact that it is pocket sized -- not to mention the wide variety of (free) applications available for it.
You might consider the UMID M1, it is a reasonable replacement for the Zarius; similar in size to the zarius. 6.1 x 3.7 x 0.6 inches. 4.8" 1024x600 screen, 1.3 GHz atom. You can buy one from Dynamism. Check the review at pocketables.net.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/03/29/umid-m1-put-through-numerous-paces-on-video/
Unfortunately, it isn't $98. Or $196. Or $392. Compact=high cost (except for my dell mini 9).
I think it is unfair to criticise this laptop on the cramped keyboard and screen, these are typical features of a 7" laptop. I think even though this is obviously aimed at people who think 'oh wow laptop for $98', i actually think this could have some good potential..
I'm wondering if this would be too underpowered to power a front-end for a car? Something like centrafuse?
im not trying to be funny but a virus would assassinate that thing quickly
Are there even any viruses designed to run on CE?