I need the bottom line on the Starling.

**jdb** · August 22nd, 2009

Originally Posted by caligula2

Does Starling netbook support SDHC?

The reason I ask is because I plan on putting ubuntu onto an sdhc card. I want to do this because with a magnetic disk hdd, it can't take much vibration, so I plan to run ubuntu off of the sdhc card, and just unmount the hdd until i want to use it.

So, I guess I have another question. Will this work?

I tried that once (not on a Starling) and the sdhc was so slow it was unusable.
The sdhc I used was one that was advertised as "high speed".

jdb

**jml** · August 22nd, 2009

caligula2, how much vibration are you anticipating that your netbook will have to withstand? The HDD of the Starling is reasonably rugged and is easily able to survive the challenges of "normal" activity. Mine gets thrown into a book bag on a regular basis, hauled back and forth to work without any problems.

Will your use, require that netbook be subjected to an unusual amount of vibration, as in some kind of industrial or automotive setting? If so, you may want to consider a Netbook that comes with a SSD instead of a HDD. Then install the distro of your choice.

Joe

**caligula2** · August 22nd, 2009

I found that SSD netbooks tend to cost a lot more than HDD, and I am a collage student, thus my budget is very limited.

About the amount of shock, You pretty much covered everything that the netbook would go through. The only thing is that I rarely have a place to set a netbook other than my lap, and i have a "somewhat" aggressive twitch in my right leg (don't ask why).

**XKCD64** · August 25th, 2009

2 questions for someone that works at Sys76.

Will you guys be offering second 6 cell batteries anytime soon?
Will you guys be offering SSD's in the netbooks anytime soon?

Number one is more important than 2. Although not a deal breaker, I need my netbook to last 6-7 hours. Although I will take my cord to school, I can't guarantee that I will be sitting next to an outlet.

**thomasaaron** · August 25th, 2009

Will you guys be offering second 6 cell batteries anytime soon?

We've been trying to get extras for a while. I think we will soon be able to obtain them.

Will you guys be offering SSD's in the netbooks anytime soon?

We've had a lot of requests for SSDs in netbooks, and we're looking at ways to make it happen. Basically, a decent SSD drives the Starling too far above its desired price point. But were examining a couple of different solutions.

**ShowMeGrrl** · August 26th, 2009

I must say I don't understand the buzz around SSDs. From what I've read, higher cost SSDs do outperform conventional HDDs, but the lower cost SSDs do not.

I seem to remember an HP netbook that had an SSD and got very poor reviews for its slowness.

Part of the netbook concept is low cost. SSD just doesn't seem to fit into that picture at the moment.

**jml** · August 26th, 2009

I agree with you, ShowMeGrrl, the SSD does not yet seem to be worth the price. I think the buz first started when Apple released the first generation MacBook Air. At least that was when I first became aware of the technology. But I think when ASUS began selling the EeePC 701 with a reasonably fast and rugged 4Gig SSD more and more people became aware and users of the tech. The SSD was really touted by ASUS as a major feature, contributing to the device's ruggedness and relatively long battery life. So if a person really needs to have a computer that can write to disk while the device is subjected to acceleration/deceleration forces, the SSD may be the best way to go.

Joe

**XKCD64** · August 26th, 2009

I am so confused. I am thinking about the Asus Eee PC 1005HA with Linux pre installed.

What is better? Starling or Eee?

**jjramsey** · September 2nd, 2009

Originally Posted by thomasaaron

Basically, a decent SSD drives the Starling too far above its desired price point. But were examining a couple of different solutions.

What's your idea of a decent SSD? Right now, I have a Dell Mini 9, and while I'm thinking about maybe replacing it with something that has a nicer keyboard and longer battery life, I have no complaints about its SSD, which is 32 GB. I don't know if the SSD is really all that fast, but its capacity seems to be a decent compromise, small enough to keep the netbook from being too expensive, but large enough not to be cramped. That's just my non-expert opinion, though.

BTW, often when I use the Mini 9, I have it on my lap, usually with a three-ring binder just underneath it. Of course, my lap isn't perfectly still, so it probably moves around subtly when I do that. I've gotten away with using a traditional laptop (with an HDD) that way from time to time, but I'm not sure how safe that is for an HDD.

**thomasaaron** · September 2nd, 2009

There is a very wide margin in SSD performance from brand to brand. You can pretty much bet that anything you get in a netbook at a low cost is going to be very slow compared to a more expensive SSD.

Nevertheless, it is a netbook. We're looking into some SSD options, but I have no ETA on when they will be available.