Get J720 w/linux or wait for Asus?

Well, as the legality of them is questionable...

I knew that one post would set you off.

Face it: getting good at installing software on CE, modifying programs to get them to work, and simply becoming apt with the system itself takes just as much forum searching and hair pulling as installing Linux on the 720. I've done both, and remember (unfortunately) both experiences well. True, Linux has a slightly higher learning curve as it does not work like windows, but that does not mean it is more difficult to use.

umm, ok this could be subjective. when i started using it, CE never caused me to tear my hair out, linux did.

(both on PDA's)

sooo, maybe it depends on the particular person?!

Edited by cmonex 2007-08-15 7:34 PM

Well, you are the one with the psychology major.

ProgramSynthesiser: Where have you been? I've had abiword and abiword-embedded built and in the feed for months now.

As for document viewers, jlime icewm comes with epdfview, fbreader, and abiword. So between them you can view and/or edit:

With fbreader....
fb2 e-book format (style attributes are not supported yet).
HTML format (tables are not supported).
CHM format (tables are not supported).
plucker format (embedded images are supported, tables are not supported).
Palmdoc (aportis doc).
zTxt (Weasel format).
TCR (psion text) format.
RTF format (stylesheets and tables are not supported).
OEB format (css and tables are not supported).
OpenReader format (css and tables are not supported).
Non-DRM'ed mobipocket format (tables are not supported).
Plain text format.

With epdfview...
PDF

With abiword....
Microsoft Word documents, OpenOffice.org, WordPerfect, Rich Text Format, HTML and many others.

There are many browsers for linux, and the common ones were listed already. If web browsing is a major factor in your decision, get a 728 instead as firefox runs very nice on it. Midori and mini-browser are quite fast, and render great, but lack ssl support.

Just remember, linux is beta yet, but quite useable. Currently no sound support (kernel 2.6) and no true suspend, though there is now fake suspend added. Not as good as CE's, but works well enough to suspend for 24-36 hours in my tests.

Cheers

What is the difference between the two?

CHM support - really now...I wanted that once!

What is this "midori" browser? Geez, I feel out of the loop again. What, is the VGA card supported too?

I think the version called abiword embedded on the feed just has less in the way of toolbars so as not to cover the whole 720 screen...

I find browsing on a 640 pixel wide screen to be a serious limitation: personally, this would also mean I'd go for the eee or other HPC.

And apart from the video performance it's why I find the sig3 a much better option.

When at home if I want super fast web but sitting on the couch I can just RDP into my home pc from the Sig3 (the 800x480 is really very nice for this) and I get full speed desktop browsing....

Again though Sig is hard to recommend to someone with only a little knowledge that doesn't want to have to tweak things to get it all working the way they want.

I think the eee PC will actually be a good 900C/picturebook size alternative (though I would like to see better battery life) which is why I see it as a potential laptop replacement for me and will be a possible replacement for my IBM X21...

I guess it depends what he values most.... good resolution screen, good web browsing (eee PC) or pocketable with good battery (jornada or similar).

And again why I think better to wait till the eee PC is actually out and more people have tried it and reported on their experience with Jlime....

John

Is this because of the increased memory (64 mb) in the 728, or is there another reason? Would a 720 w/64 mb RAM work as well?

Its the ram... and a 720 with 728 board should be just as good....

John

That's what I thought. I'll watch for a 728 or upgraded 720. I know the smaller screen can be a hassle with viewing web pages and docs; I really like the Aero 8000's 10-inch screen. But I'm already carrying a 3 lb. Dell laptop back & forth for work, so I'm looking for a smaller, lighter device anyway.

And the browser really is key for me; if I can't surf at a *reasonable* pace, I'll just stay with the Aero. I have TextMaker 2002 and presentation editors on it; I just can't work online with it.

Edited by PDXMark 2007-08-16 3:19 PM

oh, that 640 pixel thing is a persoanl preference. it is enough for me especially when the browser has a fit to screen option. the pixels are plenty enough to prevent distortion when doing that.

what's a reasonable pace for you?

Somewhere between dial-up and DSL, though hopefully closer to DSL.

Well with a wireless card or ethernet card that wont be a problem. I use wireless and firefox opens many pages in 7-10 seconds on average on a 728.

640x240 resolution isnt bad for browsing IMO either. Just full screen any browser (yea i said 'any' unlike CE this is possible w/linux). Full screening removes taskbar and window borders and makes full use of the tiny screen. Some browsers even have their own built in full screen mode. For example gpe-mini-browser: http://freeshells.ch/~wicked74/j720/images/gpe-mini-browser-fullscreen2.png

Another alternative would be something like the toshiba libretto 100 or 110ct. They are 166-233 mhz w/64 meg ram and run any OS that would run in those specs. I have win2000 on my 100ct (overclocked to 266mhz) and it runs nice. Thatd be the easiest bet to use normal windows programs to suite your needs. They run about $100-150 on ebay currently. Size-wise, its a hair smaller than a mobilepro 900c and has 800x480 resolution. Only drawbacks are no instant on, and 2.5-3 hour battery life.

The eeepc looks nice, and i want one myself, but its release date keeps getting pushed back, the price keeps going up... heck, it may take another year yet, and will probably end up well over $500 when it does finally hit the stores.

Cheers.

How did you get Windows 2000 running nicely in 64mb? I tried...and could hardly even navigate around the system.

Maybe now is a good time to mention that those lifebooks are dropping to sub-$500 prices? Picturebooks? Anyone?