The world?s first AOL computer?

[fooshkee]

here's an interesting article about that $199 Lindows Walmart computer... apparently they've sold their souls to the devil... er aol now too.

check it out....

 

[GTaudiophile]

For those interested, the C3 (C stands for Cyrix) offers full x86 OS and software application compatibility, is fully compatible with Socket 370 motherboards and works with 100/133 front side bus and handles 3DNow and MMX technologies. What all that means is if you have a Celeron processor, you could plug in one of these instead with few problems, if any.

That doesn't sound right...

 

[dmcowen674]

Hmmm,

I didn't know the chip was designed for the Socket 370 series either. If it is that would extend the life of that series.

I will load this Lindows 2.0/Netscape combo on an old Pentium and see how it does.

 

[Red Dawn]

What struck me as odd is that he said the C3 800 was faster than the Duron 850 Mhz.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn
What struck me as odd is that he said the C3 800 was faster than the Duron 850 Mhz.

yeah, me too. i think the guy is talking out of his arse or listening to marketing people.

anyhow, yeah, the C3 is made for socket 370 amongst other packages.

 

[ChrisIsBored]

Remembers those little square silver mini barebones PC's selling for like $250? They were socket 370 as well... Took p3's, celeron's, and the C3's. This isn't new news.

Red Dawn is right though, I was under the impression the C3's were the equivalent of maybe a 100mhz less powerful than a similar speed Duron.

Someone get to work on the benchmarks!

 

[Red Dawn]

Red Dawn is right though, I was under the impression the C3's were the equivalent of maybe a 100mhz less powerful than a similar speed Duron.

I was under the impression that it was even more than that.

 

[ElFenix]

You have to double-click an icon on the desktop to get it to open, but only single-click an icon in the toolbar to get the same result.

maybe i just don't understand what he means by "toolbar" but isn't that how windows works by default?

 

[stev0]

Really?!

 

[ElFenix]

dan's data says:

At twice its stock clock speed, this Ezra C3 would be in the same performance ballpark as an 800MHz Celeron.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Wow! With a whopping 64KB of L2 cache, that C3 must be a speed demon! </sarcasm>

A C3 is about equal to a Coppermine Celeron of 33% lower clock speed eg a C3 866 is about a Celeron 667.

What all that means is if you have a Celeron processor, you could plug in one of these instead with few problems, if any.

Yeah ... except for the risk of overvolting it, the craptastic performance, the fact that the FPU on C3 chips isn't worth squat and performs about equal to a P2 of half clock speed ...

Bottom line though - AOL supports it. Therefore, it's got to suck that special brand of pole that earns it the AOL certification.

- M4H

 

[Mookow]

Originally posted by: stev0
Really?!

Yep

 

[stev0]

Originally posted by: Mookow

Originally posted by: stev0
Really?!

Yep

Power is what it is lacking though.

 

[SagaLore]

This is a good way for Netscape to make a come back. Because I don't think Microsoft would even dream of offering a linux version of IE. If Walmart is selling this PC, then people are going to buy it without knowing it's different than any other... and tech support will have to adjust accordingly, and soon you have a dominoe effect where this becomes major competition.

 

[Fatt]

I think those microtel computers are great.

For instance...
I have this 166mhz Pentium S (socket 7) that I want to upgrade to do a better job of running a RH install.
I could install an AMD chip I suppose... The K6 I guess? I haven't looked into it all that much.
I'd still be stuck with the 66mhz bus. Which isn't BAD but...

On the other hand, I could buy this $200 box, toss Lindows and install 7.3, or I suppose even win2000 or XP if I wanted to.

The microtel line has a bunch of different Lindows and No O/S systems that are appealing. I don't always want to build my own just for the sake of building it. Sometimes I just want an appliance. Besides... People underestimate how much it costs to build a computer.
They forget about the things they get nickel & dimed to death on and the rarely remember that shipping costs add up.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Good, now I have another excuse to not give free tech support to friends on AOL...

"You don't even run Windows?"

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Red Dawn is right though, I was under the impression the C3's were the equivalent of maybe a 100mhz less powerful than a similar speed Duron.

I was under the impression that it was even more than that.

Sorry but every test I have seen shows the C3 behind Celeron, and celeron behind the Duron.

So in terms of performance...

1. Duron
2. Celeron
3. C3

Also the 800Mhz C3 is the old chip style, not the Newwer C3 that has L2 cache and SOME improvements

 

[Vette73]

OK, I just read it and this is why the C3 is faster....

The Cyrix 800mhz Chips is faster than a Duron 850chip WHEN the duron is using Lindows 1.0, and the C3 is useing Lindows 2.0

 

[stev0]

Originally posted by: stev0

Originally posted by: stev0

Originally posted by: Mookow

Originally posted by: stev0
Really?!

Yep

Power is what it is lacking though.

oh for the love of god! REPOST!

edit: sorry for the cockiness... quitting smoking is a bit harder than i thought

edit: erm... wrong button

 

[Vic]

I understand that it's a review of an AOL/Linux PC on a site owned by MS, but do you think the reviewer could have at least tried to be a little less biased? :disgust: