December 22, 2004

Wal-Mart: Brand New Laptops less than $500!!! ooooh yeah. Methinks if this actually flies, they will do to computer manufacturers what they did to every other chain retailer. Crush them.
posted by Warrior 20 years ago
  • Do they ship to the UK?
  • dng, I was about to ask the same question. Also, do they ship to Singapore?
  • With Wal-Mart distributing Linux based OS's with hardware @ that price, they're def. poising themselves to be the only company in the world capable of giving Microsoft a run for it's money. This will be fun.
  • 500 dollars is the magic mark I use to buy a high tech product. I will buy a flat screen HDTV when it is under 500. I will buy a plasma TV if it is ever less than 500. I will buy a laptop when it is under 500. I will buy a Jaguar when it is under 500. I will spend a weekend with moneyjane when it is under five hundred. The list goes on and on.
  • I'm not sure, but I'll ship it for you guys!
  • I sincerely doubt this will take off. Many laptop/computer owners are tech geeks, and I assume that the Wal-Mart laptop will quickly be thought of as a ghetto computer. It's like admitting you found your couch in the dumpster. I, for one, would never buy a computer from fuckin' Wal-Mart of all places. That's just so low rent.
  • /snob
  • I recentlyy bought a computer from Tescos (the British version of Wal Mart). Why? Because it was cheap as fuck.
  • I personally like Linux, I'm not sure what's the deal with this spin-off OS is, but if's anywhere near as customizable, with reliable hardware, expansion possibilites, a good OS and mozilla? HELL YAH.
  • Cheap laptops made in China running linux used by toothless inbred trailer-dwelling rednecks. Oh. Fucking. Boy. Customer: "Hey I downloaded this NASCAR screensaver and now it keeps popping up boxes asking me if my penis is big enough so I smashed it against the floor of my trailer a little to teach it a lesson. Now it doesn't work." Walmart Customer Service Rep: "Hoo boy, a NASCAR screensaver? Where can I get me some of that?"
  • I especially like the 1.5 hour battery life, and the fact that you need to subscribe to Linspire to get OS updates... fuckin punks... this is totally aimed at screwing the poor.
  • That was fucking HI-LARIOUS, Smallish...
  • debaser, while I sympathize with your snobbiness, you think that this will not take off? It will be perceived as a ghetto computer, sure. But not take off? Like other ghetto products like McDonald's, Wal-Mart itself, pleather, and mobile homes? If by "doubt this will take off" you mean "believe will make billions of dollars," then I agree with you.
  • Let us not count the billions until it makes at least one, OK? It's still too early to tell. For all we know these laptops could die within a week because of shoddy design, dooming the brand.
  • Hatching chickens aside, if I knew how the fucking stock market worked, I would probably drop what I have on Linspire.
  • Laptops and desktops with monitors typically run less than $500 as is. From the article "...to include a complete operating system and office suite." Its the added on software that increases the price to ~$1000. Micro$oft Windows typically doubles the price of the computer system. The "computer manufacturers" stand to make the billions if non-Micosoft loaded machines are routinely sold at popular commercial outifts (Walmart, Target, CVS, 7-11, et al)
  • add: It is Microsoft that stands to be crushed.
  • if I knew how the fucking stock market worked, I would probably drop what I have on Linspire It works by you giving all your money to an expert like me and then you won't have to worry your pretty little head about anything!
  • Laptops ... with monitors typically run less than $500 as is I really doubt that's true. There are places like PowerNotebooks that will sell you decent bare laptops, and none of their systems are in that price range.
  • *arranges whores, coke, holiday in bahamas*
  • Sweet. Just give me an address to send to or an account number to deposit into! It's selfless monkeys like the quidnunc kid that keep me coming back here.
  • I'm waiting for the Wal-Mart line of cars.
  • My guess is the success of these cheap-o laptops lies primarily with the useability of the OS. Any monkeys out there have any experience with this particular flavor of Linux? While I personally wouldn't buy one, (thank you, oh great and generous corporate overlords,) I can think of a LOT of people who would. *goes off to investigate Linspire stock*
  • Sorry monkeys - Linspire does not appear to be a publicly traded company. So much for that get-rich-quick scheme.
  • 1.0 ghz. Wow...I haven't seen a number that low since...since...(scratches head).
  • Sorry monkeys - Linspire does not appear to be a publicly traded company. So much for that get-rich-quick scheme. *realizes he should have read the whole thread before dashing over to Ameritrade.*
  • 1.0 ghz. Wow Gah, clock speed is no indication of actual speed! The Pentium M chips are clocked at around 1.5GHz, yet they give Pentium IVs at 3GHz a run for their money. Remember kids,
    execution time = no. of instructions × (clock cycles/instruction) × (seconds/clock cycle)
    In heavily pipelined systems like the Pentium line, the second factor is nearly impossible to predict. (And the first factor varies a lot from processor to processor.)
  • 1.0 ghz. Wow...I haven't seen a number that low since...since...(scratches head). I wish I had a 1.0ghz machine, but instead, I'm stuck with a 500mhz laptop and a 500mhz desktop. Well, at least I have a good monitor (21" flatscreen) to make up for it. Kinda. /done whining
  • I will spend a weekend with moneyjane when it is under five hundred. Oh, snap!
  • If you can easily install something else on it like any version of Linux besides Linspire or Win 2000, it might be a decent cheapo laptop. But since I hate Wal-Mart I won't buy one. Last December I made the mistake of buying a desktop from them online and they shipped me a Razor scooter instead. Asshats.
  • Linspire is a Linux flavor... it's based on Debian, I think, and was founded by the guy who started (and subsequently sold) mp3.com. They were formerly known as Lindows, but had to change their name after a MS lawsuit, which was settled out of court. I would avoid using the OS, since you do have to pay to receive OS updates or software through their Clink-N-Run library (although, since it's based on Debian, you can still run 'apt-get' to get new packages). My only problem is that the system is a little underpowered for that price. It's running a Transmeta chip, rated at 1 Ghz. It would be fine for surfing the web and general applications (word processing, etc), but is woefully underpowered for anything more than that. If you save another $200, you could get the base model of the Dell Inspiron 1100, which comes with a 2.2 Ghx Celeron processor, twice the RAM, and a CD-RW drive. If you don't like Dell, then Gateway offers a base model laptop starting at $650, which has a 2.66 Ghz Celeron CPU, 256MB of RAM, and a CD-RW/DVD combo drive. Bottom line, there are better systems out there for not much more money. I'm all in favor of dropping the Microsoft Tax, but this system won't satisfy many people.
  • Lin(dows|spire) is 'Linux' only technically. It adopts the Windows policy of having everything run as root, negating nearly all the benefits of privilege separation in Unix-like systems. It is in fact worse than Windows from a security standpoint because it never tells the user to set up a normal account during the installation process.
  • [insert gratuitous comment about the evil nature of the Wal*Mart empire and how buying anything from them only furthers the evil] NOTE: That statement works better if you hum the Darth Vader theme while reading it.  
  • There's too many nice versions of Linux out there to waste time with Linspire.
  • I imagine a lot of geeks out there would love a cheap laptop they could screw around with. I think if we were still in the US (and if WalMart didn't suck in general), #2 would buy one and turn it into a FreeVo unit or something - we've already got one that he built, but it's in a mini-ITX and sort of a pain, so I'm trying to talk him into putting it in an old DVD player instead.
  • Fuck Wal-mart.
  • If you can easily install something else on it like any version of Linux besides Linspire or Win 2000, it might be a decent cheapo laptop. I wonder the same thing. It would be interesting to take a Knoppix CD to walmart and see if it boots on one of these. It'd give you a good idea if true-blue Debian or one of its derivatives would work.
  • I could buy a lot of shit for $500 at Wal-Mart.
  • Shit being the operative word.
  • Say what you will about Walmart, but I have a feeling that Michael Dell shit himself just a teeny bit when he read this story.
  • it's funny though, walmart probably could squeeze MS for windows licences for about $20 or so. You would think that would make the machines more appealing.
  • Say what you will about Walmart, but I have a feeling that Michael Dell shit himself just a teeny bit when he read this story. So... hard... to figure out... who... to root for... anti-consumerist impulses... conflicting! stagger! fall.
  • fwiw, walmart has been selling computers w/ lindows for a few years now. though, for $500, rabid consumers can now fill the hollow void in their souls with apple's newest iComputer. also, walmart fucking sucks shit.