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Wal-Mart's $498 Linux laptop

Wal-Mart says that its new notebook, called Balance, is the cheapest on the market among those that come preloaded with an operating system and an office suite.

Credit: Wal-Mart

Commodore 64 joysticks

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looks ugly
by obry2000 December 20, 2004 12:38 PM PST
at least they could've made it look a little more modern than a 1996-ish laptop...
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Ugly but courageous...
by December 21, 2004 1:09 AM PST
... That sounds like a description for Quasimodo, right? Anyway, I think Walmart is on the right track: to propose its (most probably computer-illiterate) customers a computer bundled with a Linux suite is certainly not going to please MS (Microsoft, I mean, not Multiple Sclerosis... Or is it?), but they say open source IS the future, so what?! Other retailers will probably do the same pretty soon...
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A nice start...
by EmbSysPro December 21, 2004 7:01 AM PST
While I will agree that this machine is not at the forefront of technology it does offer up a world of possibilities, even if it is only used in dedicated functions such as word processing, general accounting or music creation it would be worth it.

But it could also be a perfect fit for a VAR or an ISV to use to sell custom software/systems into vertical markets.
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Need $10 Software, Not a $100 Computer
by tlshillam December 21, 2004 8:50 AM PST
Linspire is a great competing OS for the micro-computer market. However regarding computers, its not the hardware that costs any substantial money--that's just the start. Its the software that really costs money. What we need is cheap software.

Project Management Software - $500
Diagram Program - $500
Picture Editing - $100
Office Suite - $500

That's great that I can purchase a $100 computer, but what about that software? Try 'rolling back the price' on a major office suite Walmart--now that would impress me.
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Mouse over the pic...
by December 21, 2004 11:48 AM PST
...Comadore 64 joysticks

!!!HAHAHAHA!!!!1111
ROTFLMAO
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LINUX RULES
by December 21, 2004 12:02 PM PST
WINDOWS XP HOME OEM $75.00
MICROSOFT OFFICE STANDARD $100.00

THATS HOW MUCH MONEY GOES TO MICROSOFT WHEN YOU USUALLY BUY A COMPUTER THAT COMES WITH AN OFFICE SUITE.

WAY TO GO WALMART!
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If I weren't in Japan ...
by Trane Francks December 21, 2004 5:06 PM PST
... I'd pick up one of these just to have one. I think it's great to see a cheap Linux notebook arrive on the scene. Rather than fret endlessly over whether Linux is supported, pick up one of these and drop in your distro of choice, all the while safe in the knowledge that you'll have few problems getting it up and running.

This is a big step forward, whether you buy it and drop in a Windows installation, run Linspire or any other Linux distro. It's a bloody brand new notebook for under five bills. Hard to beat that.

trane
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Over 1,900 software titles FREE Walmart? Hmmm...
by December 22, 2004 4:00 PM PST
Go to the website & see the ad and I quote:
"FREE 3-month CNR Service for 1-click install of over 1,900 software titles and automatic updates". 1,900 titles of what?
Sounds more like a bad late night TV ad to me, but hey they are Walmart. Any thoughts?
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Pay $50 more and get Windows XP
by lingsun December 29, 2004 4:11 PM PST
The laptop has a great price but for $50 more you can get a different laptop that has Windows XP and an Athlon processor. Linux is useless anyway.
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i want more pics of this laptop
by January 2, 2005 4:15 AM PST
If anyone has pics of this laptop plz send them to my email jorgehdez28@yahoo.com. I mean pictures from all the sides like the right side, left side, bottom, and well you guys know the rest thanx.
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At $498 still too much for the majority of Wal-Mart employees...
by January 4, 2005 5:25 AM PST
Go by a Dell over at Costco at least their employees make slightly more $
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Excellent computer for most users
by johnzoet January 4, 2005 2:39 PM PST
The majority of responses are from heavy
computer users.
However most users have very simple demands.
- Surf the internet
- Simple document processing

For these users this is an excellent laptop.

Just look what users actually use in for example
MS Word. Probably the most complicated stuff is
a table of contents and a header. Exactly the
same stuff as was already present in a word
processors on my Commodore 64.
Why do people need more and more processor
power ?
Because M$ crams each year more stuff in their
desktop applications that nobody uses anyway.
Wallmart proves with this laptop that people
simply do not use and do not need all this
complicated stuff.
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not a cheap computer:
by loumont October 1, 2006 6:26 PM PDT
The operating software now called Linspire is it 5.0 not sure what is the latest version. I downloaded the trial version from the Linspire website. And it run good on my old computer 500mhz cpu pentium III. Linspire used to be named Lindows. microsoft jumped on the case forcing the company to change the operating system name to Linspire Yes it is linux base and it runs windows base programs like a charm. It is power hungry like windows xp. It needs at least 128MB memory. Uses 4GB of your hard drive. I do not have any software for apple or so but I bet it will run it as well. As far as 1.3Mhz proccesor It must be a pentium III on the high end. So I think that a company as large as or shall I say Corporation of Walmart and todays technology and a software I found at CompUSA for the value of $50.00 Walmart can come up with a lower price than $500.00 and one more thing. You can get software for that system I believe from Linspire and no one ellse.
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Need Pictures of New Walmart Linux Laptop also
by ryan one November 20, 2006 6:03 PM PST
please send pics to manager_ryan@hotmail.com
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