4 ms·

This is actually a very good idea. I already have one of those $100 Android netbooks[1] you can get from Alibaba.com, but it's Android[2]. I would pay $200 for

by smtddr 13y ago

This is actually a very good idea. I already have one of those $100 Android netbooks[1] you can get from Alibaba.com, but it's Android[2]. I would pay $200 for an ultra-lightweight Raspberry Pi netbook that was in the same netbook shell as my android netbook. In fact, I've been looking everywhere for some steps to installing RaspberryPi(or any linux) onto my Android netbook. 1. http://dx.com/p/v712-10-lcd-android-4-0-netbook-w-wi-fi-rj45-camera-hdmi-sd-slot-black-189164 http://dx.com/p/v712-10-lcd-android-4-0-netbook-w-wi-fi-rj45... 2.Not that I don't like Android, I have 2 legit android devices that I use daily; Kindlefire with SimpleCM9 and the Samsung GalaxyPlayer50(not the phone). Just that, a hacked-together Android netbook isn't the best experience... but it's very lightweight and battery-life is like an iPad or better. After installing Chrome/Firefox and Google Keep(or evernote), it's at least good enough to take into meetings... and netflix works on it. But beware! It's headphone jack isn't stereo; you only get sound in the left-ear! Go buy mono-headphones.

fsiefken 13y ago
As mentioned by Nursie, the Samsung Chromebook XE303 is much faster, look better and has a better battery life while still having the same form factor. It's also a bit more expensive (still cheap). The Android netbook has a bit faster cpu then the Raspberry Pi netbook, although I don't know about battery life, does anyone know? The keyboard seems a tad to small, can you type on it more or less comfortably? My Acer atom netbook (similar size) gets 3-4 hours with Linux and ssd.
Nursie 13y ago
>> I would pay $200 for an ultra-lightweight Raspberry Pi netbook ARM Chromebook. Much more powerful than Pi. Can run Ubuntu and other linuxes. Much sleeker than the thing in your link.
- Pxtl 13y ago
  Honestly, I think Google should be looking at ditching Chrome and making it into a skin on Android. They've over-fragmented their own market by having so many different platforms.
  - Nursie 13y ago
    I guess - I do wonder what the performance of the chrome browser, rendering 'full' sites, might be like on Android compared to ChromeOS. Not that it should be that bad, the processor is a pretty decent dual-core exynos thing, and it has a couple of GB of RAM. I actually really like ChromeOS. I bought the xe303 to run ubuntu on, but most of the time I end up booting ChromeOS because it turns out that 99% of my casual computing can be achieved in a browser or using the dev shell and ssh.
  - derekp7 13y ago
    I always thought that they had the two platforms reversed. Chrome OS would make a better phone platform, since the always-online nature of phones is a better fit for an OS that needs to be always online (with the exception of the limited offline-mode of some apps). Whereas a laptop device usage pattern (sometimes-online, sometimes-offline) would fit Android better.
  - bduerst 13y ago
    Google doesn't control Android anymore, plus Chrome has always been a more web and media based OS. I'm honestly surprised that Google hasn't partnered with a TV manufacturer to have the chrome OS installed out of the box.
    - Pxtl 13y ago
      They bet on GoogleTV for that (and have apparently quietly abandoned that).
  - Lerc 13y ago
    I'd settle for a Wayland driver running on SurfaceFlinger. run a chroot Linux distro and you can run Android apps and have an 'app' which behaves like a real computer. I do wonder if the thing that is deterring Google from this path is that ChromeOs is designed to be Cloud and rather than give people what they want they are trying to give people something that would help their business model.
DanBC 13y ago
Via source files (http://github.com/wondermedia/wm8850 http://github.com/wondermedia/wm8850) That's, I think, an Arm Cortex A9. Which uses, I think, v7? (http://archlinuxarm.org/ http://archlinuxarm.org/) They give a few examples of different devices using the A9, but it'll require some hacking around. You've seen this? (http://kernelhacks.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/arch-linux-on-wm8650-netbook.html http://kernelhacks.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/arch-linux-on-wm86...) And read the post by Nautilus on this page (http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-2065008.html http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-2065008.html)
- smtddr 13y ago
  Whoa, I have not seen this! Thanks! I will try it out!

by smtddr 13y ago

fsiefken 13y ago

As mentioned by Nursie, the Samsung Chromebook XE303 is much faster, look better and has a better battery life while still having the same form factor. It's also a bit more expensive (still cheap). The Android netbook has a bit faster cpu then the Raspberry Pi netbook, although I don't know about battery life, does anyone know? The keyboard seems a tad to small, can you type on it more or less comfortably? My Acer atom netbook (similar size) gets 3-4 hours with Linux and ssd.

Nursie 13y ago

>> I would pay $200 for an ultra-lightweight Raspberry Pi netbook ARM Chromebook. Much more powerful than Pi. Can run Ubuntu and other linuxes. Much sleeker than the thing in your link.

Pxtl 13y ago
Honestly, I think Google should be looking at ditching Chrome and making it into a skin on Android. They've over-fragmented their own market by having so many different platforms.
- Nursie 13y ago
  I guess - I do wonder what the performance of the chrome browser, rendering 'full' sites, might be like on Android compared to ChromeOS. Not that it should be that bad, the processor is a pretty decent dual-core exynos thing, and it has a couple of GB of RAM. I actually really like ChromeOS. I bought the xe303 to run ubuntu on, but most of the time I end up booting ChromeOS because it turns out that 99% of my casual computing can be achieved in a browser or using the dev shell and ssh.
- derekp7 13y ago
  I always thought that they had the two platforms reversed. Chrome OS would make a better phone platform, since the always-online nature of phones is a better fit for an OS that needs to be always online (with the exception of the limited offline-mode of some apps). Whereas a laptop device usage pattern (sometimes-online, sometimes-offline) would fit Android better.
- bduerst 13y ago
  Google doesn't control Android anymore, plus Chrome has always been a more web and media based OS. I'm honestly surprised that Google hasn't partnered with a TV manufacturer to have the chrome OS installed out of the box.
  - Pxtl 13y ago
    They bet on GoogleTV for that (and have apparently quietly abandoned that).
- Lerc 13y ago
  I'd settle for a Wayland driver running on SurfaceFlinger. run a chroot Linux distro and you can run Android apps and have an 'app' which behaves like a real computer. I do wonder if the thing that is deterring Google from this path is that ChromeOs is designed to be Cloud and rather than give people what they want they are trying to give people something that would help their business model.

DanBC 13y ago

Via source files (http://github.com/wondermedia/wm8850 http://github.com/wondermedia/wm8850) That's, I think, an Arm Cortex A9. Which uses, I think, v7? (http://archlinuxarm.org/ http://archlinuxarm.org/) They give a few examples of different devices using the A9, but it'll require some hacking around. You've seen this? (http://kernelhacks.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/arch-linux-on-wm8650-netbook.html http://kernelhacks.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/arch-linux-on-wm86...) And read the post by Nautilus on this page (http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-2065008.html http://ubuntuforums.org/archive/index.php/t-2065008.html)

smtddr 13y ago
Whoa, I have not seen this! Thanks! I will try it out!