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Be fair to Linux, Consumer-Reports I am Mad
Author: HumanX | Sunday August 24, 2003
I just read an unfair article in the latest consumer reports in the July 2003 isssue. The title of the article is Wal-Marts $300 Computer on page 7.
To the Consumer Reports author, guess what, your are right, it is not Windows or a Macintosh. Something else, let me see you run Windows XP on a $300 pc. And to sum it all up, you say spend another $200 for a PC with a Windows Operating system. I say spend another $200 on Linux PC and see what you get. Your comparison would be a $300 PC with a $200 operating system compared to a $500 PC with a Linux OS. Which do you think will run better?
The article in consumer reports as I am sure you can tell is in regards to the Wal-Mart cheap Linux PC's with the Lindows variant of Linux. From what I gathered from the article, this author knows little about computers and it appears the author spent a grand total of 5 minutes investigating this particular one.
The authors conclusion as to why the cheap PC was not a good buy:
1. Could not install a memory stick so the author surmises that "attaching a scanner, digital camera or pda will be difficult or impossible". That is a huge assumption. I never had a problem installing any of those devices. (To be fair, I never tried PDA)
2. The system was "ok for Web Browsing, e-mail and letter writing".
I think most people at home who need just this (web browsing, email, letter writing) would be happy spending $300 on a cheap PC. Btw, what do you expect for $300 anyway. Run any operating system on a configuration like this and I tend to believe the performance will be about the same if not worse.
To be fair, I think the author needed to do an apple to apple comparison of all operating systems in this price range (Oh that is right, it probably could not be done because you have to purchase the other operating systems). Also, the article is slanted and recommends purchasing a PC with windows for more money. Stop and think, maybe the people are buying the $300 pc because that is what they can afford and this is what Wal-Mart is catering too. (It is Wal-Mat ya know)
The author also speaks of running Windows programs on this PC and states that not all Windows Programs run in Linux (Guess what, it is not Windows that’s why). Guess what, most Linux programs do not run in Windows. So the end user who purchases this computer gets TONS of free software + the ability to run most popular Windows programs.
I think the people seeking a $300 PC cannot afford something better and are probably not going to be connecting memory sticks, high end peripherals and so on. That is why they are spending $300 in the first place. If they wanted higher end, I think they would have gone that route in the first place and visited the local or online computer store.
Unfortunately, the authors name was not included in the article but I do intend on sharing with Consumer Reports my feelings on this unfair article.
HumanX
LinuxDig.Com
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