OTA and Linux

[D. Hugh Redelmeier]

| From: phiscock-g851W1bGYuGnS0EtXVNi6w at public.gmane.org

| The March product flyer from OTA on College Street shows a 'feature item'
| which is an Acer laptop AS3623NWXMI loaded with...Linux. No mention of
| Windows.

Interesting.  I have wondered if this is a way to sell a laptop
without the MS Windows tax, fully expecting that the buyer would load
up MS Windows after purchasing.  Perhaps Legitimately: many businesses
have a site license anyway (I think).

OTA's page for notebooks does not mention this model
  http://www.otapc.com/systems.php
but using google I found that the main page does have it (duh), in two
variants http://www.otapc.com/

    AS3623NWXMI Celeron-M370
    256MB,40GB,DVDRW14"
    LINUX$660

    AS3623WXMI CELEREON-M
    1.5GHz,512MB,40GB,DVDRWM
    14.1"WXGA,XP$790

acer.ca does not describe this model.  The name seems to imply "No
Windows" rather than "with Linux".

I wonder what distro?  This link mentions "Linpus Linux LE" (in
Thailand): http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=22967

This seems like a fairly weak notebook.  But getting a mainstream
notebook running 100% under Linux is a real crap shoot.  This one
ought to be better supported.

On the other hand, look at this model no longer sold by NCIX
(Vancouver mail order):
  http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=15092&vpn=LX.A500C.022&manufacture=Acer
It says "No OS" and "LINUX BOOT-UP OS", so who knows.  It list this:

    Included Software

    Installed:

	* Acer? Arcade
	* Acer? eManager
	* Acer? Launch Manager
	* Adobe? Acrobat? Reader
	* CyberLink? PowerProducer,*
	* Norton AntiVirus?*
	* NTI CD-Maker*

    On CD shipped with system:

	* Acer? System Recovery

    *OEM, not full-featured, version.

Notice no Linux.  But what do Acer Arcade etc. run under?

Canada computers has this model, maybe.  Description is sparse; it
includes "wo/Windows".
  http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=007086&cid=896&PHPSESSID=a4fd180d4aa60b10c5bab4e1b1966aa1
A bunch of other local stores carry this model, or carried it (as
discovered by a google search).

It sure looks as if Acer is trying to travel below someone's radar.
Microsoft's?  Consumers'?

| (I like the Acer laptop AS3613WLCI that I got at Canada Computers, but the
| battery life is pathetic, something like 20 minutes when operating a
| wireless connection.)

That sounds defective.  This notebook has a Celeron M, which is a
reasonable CPU for notebooks (not like my notebook -- it has a
non-Mobile first generation AMD 64).