If DVD burners are practically free, why isn't it included. Also: BYOD

I'm actually thinking of buying one of these and taking all the parts out and putting it in a smaller form factor to use as a mediaPC/shell.

We have a better shot with the EEE. Linux + cheap + huge ugly desktop, or Linux + cheap + small stylish laptop? I lean twoards #2

I am starting to run the website for my church, and this would do okay for what it's serving (mostly text, some pictures, and pdfs). The fact that it's low power makes it all the better. While I find it dumb that they deliberately made the box big to impress the potential buyer, I won't care if it's just a closet box.

Pretty tempting I think for a small hosted site I think.

Can't beat the price and how about a first computer for people or kids to learn on. My daughter loves playing education games on a low end pc I got from Dell last Christmas. This fits that same niche.

TFA actually states that they (walmart) did studies and the majority of customers actually equate computer size with power.

Scary? Hell Yes.

Wow, a review that manages to be amazingly condescending yet dead wrong.

"It turns out, 5% of people buying a PC at Wal-Mart are buying one for the first time, yes, in 2007. That means that for them, there's no brand allegiance, there's no OS that they are already comfortable with, there's nothing but functionality ... and price..."
Just because someone's buying a PC for the first time doesn't mean they've never used/touched one. A lot of adults are computer users at work, that may've not seen the need to buy a PC for home use until now. A lot of college kids with tons of PC experience are "first time buyers" since this might be the first one they've paid for out of pocket. Those consumers already have an interface they're familiar with.

And almost no one except power users buys a PC without some form of advice/support, whether it be the computer guy at work, their buddy who's good with computers, the neighbor kid. Almost none of those people, with two working brain cells, will recommend a machine with no power and marginal compatibility, if for no other reason than the fact that that guy will be bugging you with questions 25 times a day, in definitely. It would be insane to recommend this machine.

this machine will be bought by people like fuzzycuffs, to be wiped and turned into something else; second, third PC, media server, whatever. The preinstalled OS is the cheapest thing Walmart could find that keeps MS off their back for encouraging piracy by selling lowend barebones PCs.

I think the red necks deserve a little more credit than your giving them. They know big numbers and they do understands things like gigs and RAM; so when they see the crapy specs they won't buy it. You sould need to see the amount of tralier parks in AR full with HD Tv's and the newest computers. We won't spend money on houses but we do like the shiny, newest, and best technology that Wal-Mart has to offer and this new box with something called Linux isen't it.

everex is crap. worse than e-machines ever was.

@firesign:

as hard as it is to believe that something could be worse than e-machines, i believe it... i've never even heard of them... *cringe*

"There are apps for working with iPods, but I am worried that people who want to use an iPod will be frustrated with the lack of iTunes."

i don't know about you guys but i hate itunes. i'm using yamipod

But again, the question is, will the Wal-Mart crowd bite the bait?

And the answer is ... no. Not until there is software on the shelves at Wal-Mart that will actually run on this machine.

While they might not have brand preferences, they do have an innate Windows preference since that's what most of their friends and family use and since that's what is required to run the software two aisles over.

Oh, I can see how this is going to turn out.

"So I can git on the innernet with this? For only 2 hunnert dollars? Gimmie one!"

Two Days Later...

"Take this piece uh shit back! I can't look at any microsoft on this piece of junk and my innernet don't work either! Piece of junk!"

There may be positive side effects, however. Supposedly the Wal-Mart near my aunt will be one of the first in the nation to go out of business. Perhaps with this and other terrible ideas we can see the beginning of a trend.

@junyo: I appreciate your critical view of my piece, but I must say, I left my mother-in-law with nothing but a Zonbu for a week, and she never once called asking for tech help or extra apps. Her entire computer universe revolves around the Web, so she had it all. She doesn't care about horsepower either. And as far as a more experienced relative to help her along, frankly, I think it might be easier for me to help her with a Linux switch than it would be to help her with the inevitable—or not so inevitable—Vista upgrade.

@WilCon: No it doesn't, unless you run WINE. it's more for just surfing on the internet mabye.

IT says DVD included! In two places non-the-less. Not shown in the picture though.

Oh those poor, pitiful fools. I suppose Wal-Mart shoppers get what they deserve, but how many will blow their whole welfare check just to find out they can't even connect to the Internet because no ISP will support the "gOS" to help get the thing set-up? These folks won't return the machine, because they'll have been crowing to their friends about how they are going to learn computers and make something of themselves. Derned shame, i'tis.

so whats wrong with a dell vostro 200 w/ vista basic priced at a sweet $400 WITH a monitor?

i pity the rednecks

spend the extra hundred dollars and get one from dell, at least you get OEM windows liscence, and support, if you would call it that.

@junyo: Actually, you've touched here on the last thing that keeps Linux distros (most notably Ubuntu) from the mainstream: lack of unofficial support from family/friends/neighbors. Most people don't want to search on forums for a solution to their problem, they want someone they know to come and help them, they want someone to call.

Windows is much worse to use than Linux. Sorry to those that believe otherwise, but it's true. And I know, I'm a professional tech support. Actually, Windows is pure hell for people to work with. There are tons of issues that happen that have no explanations, and no way of understanding. The black box approach also makes troubleshooting very hard.

But people got used to it. And they know people that got used to it, or have someone on speed-dial that got used to it.

Until we have more technical people offering unofficial support to their friends and family, Linux won't be mainstream.

Personally, I'd have no problem suggesting it to a family member. I can actually fix a lot more of their Linux issues than of their Windows ones.

@Wilson Rothman:
So, just for the record, you're calling your mother in law a member of the " pickup truck set, who believe a Chevy S10 is a sure sign of sexual inadequacy", or the functional equivalent thereof? Hurrah for your Mum-in-law then.

Now repeat that experiment a couple hundred times (as I have, equipping friends, family, and co-workers for the last decade) and see how typical that is. Gizmodo/Lifehacker run 3.2 articles on an average day about VNC/Hamachi/remote desktop solutions, predicated almost entirely on the near universal need to support your parent's PC. With little to no software available at the point of purchase, spotty hardware compatibility (Would you care to place a wager on her ability to hook up a $49 Wallyworld special/Lexmark multifunction to this PC, for printing pics of the grandkids, without assistance?) and no support from Walmart or the factory, nobody's buying this as their main PC, except by accident. Just because they watch Nascar doesn't make them stupid.

so wait, they bill the thing as "green" AND go for the pickup truck crowd all at once? aren't those two pretty much mutually exclusive 90% of the time?

this is the worst review of anything i've ever read on gizmodo, seriously, step it up a notch.

not a lot of people like GIMP? so basically YOU don't like GIMP and feel you can generalize yourself to the whole population? back that statement up with something or don't say it.

why can't power users use FOSS? honestly FOSS is BETTER for power users because power users are the ones who are capable of actually tinkering with the source code... having a ipod and a crackberry does not a power user make, get a clue.

productivity will be almost solely from google apps? it would be forgivable but immediately afterward you mention open office. then later you discuss all the other software. the list sounds pretty similar to what i have on my machine (sorry gizmodo, i don't own an ipod, *GASP*) and i don't use google apps except gmail.

linux "freeware" faves? this is nitpicking maybe but if you're going to write about something do some research, open source is different from freeware.

you guys trip over yourselves reporting on anything apple related (which really is fine with me, i like reading about fun apple toys) and that proves that you are capable of good reporting. so how about you put like 1/100th of that effort into the articles you guys write on linux/open source products?

please? for me? :)

@Guizzy:
"Windows is much worse to use than Linux...And I know, I'm a professional tech support."
But I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

Compatibility and install base are such a PITA, aren't they? Get real. Windows has tons of issues; most every system does. But thanks to the millions of people and companies using it, those issues are found and resolved, darn near instantly. Windows is hell? As far as the average non-power user is concerned Windows/Gnome/Mac are all variations of the same GUI analog; mouse/pointer for main navigation of an interface consisting of mostly rectangular boxes, with a keyboard for text entry. how is it "hell"? Most of my Windows machines/networks (esp. W2k and up) have run without a hitch; weeks or months without an issue. The last serious problem I had was a Dell that came from the factory with a bad batch of hard drives. Their support blamed it on OS compatibility, and Ubuntu ran fine on the machine. But turns out the reason why Ubuntu ran fine was because it ignored the PIO errors the drive controller was generating every few minutes and just thrashed the RAM, whereas XP logged them, and actually attemptted to correct the errors. And when did Linux get native WPA support? So don't tell me about how great Linux is. You configure half of the OS at the command line for Jeebus sake, that's not a consumer OS.

That 5% of Wal-Mart buyers are buying their first computer is not surprising. There are over four million babies born in the U.S. every year, meaning that there will always be a large number of people buying their first computer. In fact, over 7% of the U.S. population is under the age of 10, and I wouldn't be surprised if most of those kids haven't bought their first computer yet.

it sort of looks like a mac classic with an Atari 1080 GUI
from the 1980s.

I don't know of anyone in my personal circle of friends who pays for the additional tech support. WalMart is not just for RedNecks btw. It is for people who need things and don't want to spend alot of money on them.

For all these generalizations that Walmart shoppers are a bunch of poor rednecks you'd wonder how Walmart makes any money. The Walmart customer base covers a lot of ground. A lot of people hear about Linux and are intrigued. I could see these things selling to a variety of people for reasons ranging from wanting to try out the 'alternative OS' to wanting something cheap and quick after their Mac or PC crapped out on them. Would I think it's a good idea? Hell no. But I've seen ideas there were a lot worse.

These will sell terribly. I can see people at Wal Mart asking if any of the computer games they sell will work for it. Linux is not compatible with nearly enough stuff to replace a windows machine for a new user.

I was suspicious, so I looked at the specs for the wal-mart PC. $199?

I went to newegg and built a PC from components with a better processor (AMD Sempron 1.9ghz vs. VIA C7-D 1.5ghz) and most likely a much better motherboard (NVIDIA GeForce 6100) with the same features (case, power supply, 80GB hard drive, 512MB DDR2 RAM, CDRW/DVD combo drive, onboard LAN) for $202.95. Minus keyboard/mouse.

item numbers N82E16856167009, N82E16827131014, N82E16822210003, N82E16820159113, N82E16819103197

This kind of machine still expensive and hard to maintain. What we need normally is just a web-browser which can help us login google and other web 3.0 web-application website. Do we need Linux? Do we need XP or vista? Do we need Leopard? Definitely NO!

My ideal PC is a 14 inch slim monitor with touchscreen and has the WiFi functionality, A firefox like app interface me and internet, that will be good and cheap enough. Remember, Internet is computer!

@aydiosmio: Thanks man. Can you build mine with Ultimate Ubuntu 1.6 Gamers, and add a Wi-fi card with working drivers. I will pick it up Tuesday at 10:00. Thanks

The PC has become the new boob tube. Parents will buy this cheap babysitter to their kids so they can spend endless hours exposing themselves to sex predators in MySpace.

@SinistarX said in response to "will the Wal-Mart crowd bite the bait?":

And the answer is ... no. Not until there is software on the shelves at Wal-Mart that will actually run on this machine.

You do know that most Linux distributions have a package manager that gives easy FREE access to thousands of software programs (a few dozen of which are pretty good)? Apart from "The Sims 2 Unleashed Vacation" do people buy ANY software at the store these days? By the time I've driven to Best Buy to find nothing good in stock, someone has come up with a Web 2.0 site for editing video or creating recipes or whatever.

The OS comes with media management, the key program is a browser and its free, documents work BETTER on the Web... packaged software is on life support.

No lie i saw 1.5GHz and i started laughing my ass off.
Then i thought wait 1.5GHz on a Linux is like 2.8GHz on a Windows computer.
THis thing shouldn't be running as many processes as a windows computer runs, we all know mac's run almost silently (process wise)
C'mon you'll probably never get angry on this computer cuz your screen froze while downloading the porn your wife doesnt know about.
Seriously its a smart move, they already sell dell's @ walmart.
I would buy it if it was goin2 be an experimental computer. I would crack it open to see what i runs on and i'd upgrade the processor and ram to see what it feels like to be on a super computer.
(It'll run like a super computer cuz of the fact linux isnt bloated with processes or programs)

@skierpage: Oh yeah, I know all about package managers, but gimme a break. First you have to research which package does what you want to accomplish, then you have to figure out which package format it is actually deployed in, then you get to figure out which formats your installed package manager supports.

Or... You walk over and grab the $9.99 disc off the shelf, take it home, and put it in the CD/DVD tray.

Also, package managers are useless if you don't have broadband. I know we like to think that everybody in the world can easily afford $40/month for cable or live close enough to a drop to get good DSL service, but that's just not always the case for people who would be enticed by a $200 computer.

@junyo: You don't need to use the command line for much in Linux. And for the few things that you absolutely need to (I can't think of an example of that yet), there would likely be a much more complicated solution on Windows. Frankly, the whining I see on the 'net because "you need to open the command line" is just ridiculous. HOW HARD IS IT TO COPY-PASTE COMMANDS? Much less than having icons described to you in a vague manner. The command line is GREAT for support. Just ask them to copy-paste the result of a command, tell them to copy-paste the solution. Solved, next! It's also much more informative than anything I've seen with GUI. And the command line in Windows is not worth much.

Windows is hell because when something crashes, the vast majority of it crashes without so much as a hint why. I can't count how many times I needed to explain to a user that there's no good understandable reason why Word crashed, that they just need to save more often. It's also hell because, as you said, millions of buisness depend on it and there is only a single company that can definitively solve issues on it, and they release fixes only when they damn well please.

If Ubuntu "ignored" your PIO errors, did you check dmesg? That's where kernel error messages are logged.

As for WPA, it's been possible to install for a while (wpa_supplicant), but it's now standard on Ubuntu Gutsy. Worked flawlessly for me, no need to open the command-line at all.

As starters, the linux PC will attract the geeks more than the novice users (buyers). The users, who live Linux, if they were to buy a new PC, will purchase the Linux based PC. Earlier, the only option was to purchase online. I am sure they can beef up the box with functionalities they need.

However, the 'g' in the name (gOS) makes the deal all the more interesting :) Quite a tease for the Redmond folks ...

.
ASUS Eee PC. That's all I is got ta say.
.

@SinistarX: Have you even used a package managers in the last 5 years?
Seriously, from the sounds of it you don't have a clue what you're talking about. Keyword, check mark, download. Done.

As for the "grab the CD from the shelf and pay 10 bucks", why would I? It takes less time and effort to just download the FREE software, and get millions of FREE support pages on the net.
If something doesn't run for once, you're much better off just researching the conclusive error code most Linux programs give you instead of the cryptic error messages Windows throws at you.
Get the hint: Even support staff can't tell you what just happened on your Windows machine 60% of the time.

And the claim that one *needs* broadband is just as overinflated as your other claims. Simply put, except for office packages like Open Office, which comes already installed on this machine by the way, most packages are in the .5 to 5 MB range.
Not everybody may have broadband, but close to everybody has a 500MB (or bigger) flashdrive. Which means, they can either download what they need on dial-up, or just use an internet cafe or a friend's connection.

This computer seems like a nice alternative to some of the Windows OEM deals in the same price category.
My choice would more likely than not fall on a self-built machine, but if I had to recommend a low-end machine to family and friends, this would probably be on one of the top ranks.

Installed Ubuntu on a "Dead computer" the other day for my friend's kids. AMD 800! Runs like a champ and you couldn't belive how excited EVERYONE in the room was that i brought that dinosaur back. It is in a kid's room. They loved the games and even more they were happy about OpenOffice? "Now, I can finish my homework at home." It is installed on a partition on the media center XP in the other room now too.

Yes, they do shop at Wal- Mart (more than daily, ugh.), but realistically i don't think that they'd buy that on purpose. And they are not NASCAR fans, actually quite the opposite- it's Star Wars and Warcraft for them (hopefully less Warcaft, that is unhealthy.)

@junyo: OK, you don't have any damn clue what you're talking about.

I service about 300 desktops and 5 servers for a living. All of them run some variant of Windows. Issues get discovered right away, but they sure as hell don't get fixed right away (of course they don't; the installed base doesn't matter for the speed of a fix, because they can't hack away at the source).

I'll give you an example:

Earlier this year, our desktop machines started having issues with various vital Windows services suddenly stopping (including the all-important-for-a-networked-environment Computer Browser). Within a week, I managed to trace this back to the Automatic Updates service; it was basically grabbing 100% of the CPU time and the memory for no discernible reason. So I checked Microsoft's site; no fix. I contacted Microsoft; no fix, but they'd email me when there was one.

That email took THREE MONTHS to get there. Three whole months of having to deal with this crap, since I couldn't simply disable Automatic Updates as Microsoft pushes out 5-10 "vital security updates" a month.

Windows fixed in a timely manner? Yeah fucking right.

I have to sit here on my everex $200 computer and lmao at these reveiws...... although I really didn't know what to think of a $200 computer when I first seen it, I bought it figuring if I didn't like it, I would throw it away (yes a POOR WALMART REDNECK, as ya'll would say). First, I didn't like the OS so I replaced it with windows XP and used a driver program to download the right drivers for it. Then I connected it to my cable modem and I'll be damned if it doesn't out perform my $1500 1 year old dell..... want to guess which one is on the basement shelf now??? You clowns are funny shit...... maybe you shouldn't "reveiw" something you don't have, or better yet, don't be putting down the WALMART shopper for some dumb-ass welfare receiving idiot. You all proved to me that you don't know what your talking about so go back to your trailer and put your mask on so no one sees you shopping at walmart!