[DC LoCo] "Less is more" laptops initiative

[Michael Haney]

On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 10:29 AM, Phil Shapiro <pshapiro at his.com> wrote:
>
> Hi ubuntistas,
>
>   When I saw that Staples is selling this pretty nice HP laptop for $349,
> it made me want to install Linux Mint on it.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/64svqjc
>
>    Then the thought came to mind that it might be fun for our Loco to
> have a little scholarship and sells this laptop, dual-booting to Linux
> Mint, for $300. That means 10 of us would each chip in $5 to bring
> another person into the Linux fold.
>
>    The person receiving (i.e. buying at a discount from us) would apply
> for the scholarship on a web site, listing their skills and interests.
> This might be one way to get Linux into the hands of some local
> college students who otherwise would find it difficult to buy a
> laptop.
>
>     We could load up the Linux side of the computer with tons of great
> programs including GIMP, LibreOffice, Inkscape, Scribus, OpenShot
> etc. -- along with screencasts explaining how to use those programs.
>
>       I could also write up such a project for PCWorld magazine,
> spotlighting the people who have received laptops via the "Less is
> more" initiative.
>
>        If you're interested in participating in such an initiative in any
> way, thanks for sending me an email off-list with the subject:
> Less is more
>
>            phil
>
> Interestingly, this laptop has a DVD burner, so the person receiving it
> from us could help us in copying FOSS DVD's for free distribution here in
> our area. They could also produce their own Blu-Ray DVD's using that DVD
> burner.
>

Hmm, this uses the AMD E-350 APU, their system-on-a-chip design
combining a CPU and GPU on the same die.  Based on benchmarks I've
seen its actually better than the Intel Atom processor performance
wise.  1080p playback is reported as smooth with about 14-17% CPU
utilization.  The GPU isn't great for gaming at all, but its pretty
decent for video playback and likely shouldn't have any issues
powering Compiz.  Its a great little laptop that would be perfect for
a college student.

-- 
Michael "TheZorch" Haney
"The greatest tragedy in mankind's entire history may be the hijacking
of morality by religion." ~ Arthur C. Clarke
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for it in the endeavor of science. " ~ Carl Sagan

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