Emprex BNB-1021 VIA C7-M 1.6GHz 1GB 160GB 10" Netbook Linux w/Webcam & Bluetooth (Bla

[spyguy31796]

I am not a beginner, however this post did not fit under any other description.
I am looking to buy a VERY cheap netbook. I found this one http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=BLK-BNB-1021&cat=NBB&cpc=APM Does anyone have experience with this netbook? I tried Google, and there were NO reviews or anything. I will be using this netbook for nothing more than typing school papers, streaming video, and playing some simple games. If this netbook is really bad, please give an alternative (under $240 please, I am on a very small budget) Thank you!

[Warpnow]

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch_v3.asp?scriteria=3005253


http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=JkW7rNrREF8&subid=&offerid=102327.1&type=10&tmpid=3883&RD_PARM1=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tigerdirect.com%2Fapplic ations%2FSearchTools%2Fitem-details.asp%3FEdpNo%3D6706748

or...this ;)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834320001&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-Netbooks-_-AUGEN-_-34320001&AID=10440897&PID=2977542&SID=

[james_xxx]

I would strongly urge you to stay away from any VIA C7-M netbook, especially if you are planning to use Linux.

Unless something has drastically changed in the last year, Linux support for this chipset is abysmal. The same goes for the VIA Unichrome video adapter.

At the very dawn of the netbook era, I purchased an Everex Cloudbook, with a 1.2Ghz C7-M and VIA Unichrome video. I tried everything imaginable to get that thing to perform well enough for it to be usable. I finally gave up.

I am warning you, just don't do it.

My recommendation is to buy the nicest, Intel Atom-based netbook that will fit your budget.

Also, there is some talk that there may soon be netbooks available with dual-core Atoms. Those might be worth waiting for.

[Warpnow]

Dual core atom is already here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834131089&Tpk=nf310

[spyguy31796]

Thx, for the replies.
Anyway, I am not sure if I am going to run Ubuntu or Windows, it depends on what exactly I use it for. I think I may look at some of those alternates posted, as I said I dont care what it comes installed with so for a little more I can get a better netbook. Lol @ Warpnow, That last netbook would be just a tad outdated for my taste.

[james_xxx]

Warpnow,

That SAMSUNG NF310-A0 from Newegg you linked to looks awesome.

It would be way more awesome yet, if it didn't have to be purchased with the Operating System they are bundling with it.

In my signature, I refer to a nettop I just bought from Newegg last week, with the dual core D525 Atom CPU. It is just amazing, IMO.

I have only had it a week, but have hardly used any other machine since I unboxed it.

Link:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856107072

[james_xxx]

Warpnow,

You started this.

Thought you should both see this article.

Mind you, he is using a machine with a somewhat faster ARM CPU.

I'll be interested to learn about his progress.

http://hackaday.com/2010/11/01/augen-e-go-booting-linux/

[theraje]

The VIA C7-M chips are poor regardless of what OS you choose to run - much less processing power than an Atom, and even those are not exactly workhorses by any stretch when compared to modern processors.

Atom processors are adequate for grandma/grandpa-style tasks (word processing, e-mail, and so on). They don't do so well with common intermediate tasks (High-Def, light gaming, audio production), and they are unsatisfactory for anything like video processing (for example, converting a DVD-video to h.264 will take much longer to process than just watching the movie to start with).

C7-M CPUs just aren't up to snuff with processors like the Atom series out there.

[Warpnow]

Warpnow,

You started this.

Thought you should both see this article.

Mind you, he is using a machine with a somewhat faster ARM CPU.

I'll be interested to learn about his progress.

http://hackaday.com/2010/11/01/augen-e-go-booting-linux/

That's awesome. If I had more free time I'd buy the Augen just to see if I could get linux working on it. Unfortunately, if I bought it, I'm quite sure it would be sitting in the corner for weeks.

The NF310 is also cool because it has a 720p screen and the dual core atom cpu can actually support 720p videos. On a netbook...

Such an advancement from normal single core low resolution netbook I use now.

[demosthene1]

It comes with Ubuntu 8.04 so it WORKS with Ubuntu.

Sounds interesting for the price! I am tempted.

[Johnsie]

VIA hardware is rubbish with Windows or Linux

[klikevil]

I bought that exact same laptop for a friend and upon upgrading to lucid lynx it rendered the it completely unusuable, still trying to find a way to fix it, i got it booting but the screen goes orange and pink when she tries to boot now, she's a complete linux beginner and i've been teamviewering in on a debian live usb attempting to fix it; it works great for ubuntu 8.04 AVOID the upgrade.


Any insight on how to fix this issue would also be appreciated =)



# /etc/X11/xorg.conf (xorg X Window System server configuration file)

Section "Files"
FontPath "unix/:7100" # local font server
# if the local font server has problems, we can fall back on these
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/cyrillic"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi/:unscaled"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/Type1"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/CID"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/lib/X11/fonts/75dpi"
# paths to defoma fonts
FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/TrueType"
FontPath "/var/lib/defoma/x-ttcidfont-conf.d/dirs/CID"
EndSection

Section "Module"
Load "bitmap"
Load "dbe"
Load "ddc"
Load "dri"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
Load "int10"
Load "record"
Load "type1"
Load "vbe"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Generic Keyboard"
Driver "keyboard"
Option "CoreKeyboard"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc104"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Configured Mouse"
Driver "mouse"
Option "CorePointer"
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
Option "Protocol" "ImPS/2"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "true"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection

Section "Device"
Identifier "Generic Video Card"
Driver "vesa"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Generic Monitor"
Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 30-68
VertRefresh 50-62
DisplaySize 196 116
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "Generic Video Card"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 16
SubSection "Display"
Depth 1
Modes "1024x600"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 4
Modes "1024x600"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1024x600"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 15
Modes "1024x600"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1024x600"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1024x600"
EndSubSection
EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Default Layout"
Screen "Default Screen"
InputDevice "Generic Keyboard"
InputDevice "Configured Mouse"
EndSection

Section "DRI"
Mode 0666
EndSection

should work