Not through Carphone Warehouse, but though a new online store. I don’t have a launch date to share yet, but we will be charging 15% VAT and might well be shipping some to Santa’s elves for a Christmas delivery.
Not through Carphone Warehouse, but though a new online store. I don’t have a launch date to share yet, but we will be charging 15% VAT and might well be shipping some to Santa’s elves for a Christmas delivery.
That is good news! I hope Santa’s helpers include an instruction manual and a note of this blog.
Sue
That’s excellent! The webbook’s a great little machine and I’d hate to see the ubuntu one disappear altogether
Well said, Sue!
I think the desktop of the new webbooks should have a link to this blog, or else have it set as the default homepage…
Hi All
I second that, definately good news
Hi Alan,
I am glad to hear that the Ubuntu webbook will be making a comeback!
It provides a genuine alternative to the uninspiring range of netbooks congregating on the shelves of high street stores in increasing numbers. Most of these have cramped screens and/or keyboards compared with the webbook and almost all of them now come loaded with boring, virus-ridden Windows XP, the devil everyone knows and has supposedly grown so fond of.
By the way, have you considered offering customers the choice between Long Term Support release Hardy Heron and the latest Intrepid Ibex?
Santa’s elves might be a bit hard pressed to produce a user manual in time for Xmas. Maybe we could all give them a bit of help in the new year…..
I see that Dell have an Ubuntu Wiki on their website, though it is quite poor. Dell’s Inspiron Mini Ubuntu netbook is a puny creature with a tiny screen and a miniscule hard disk. Regarding the latter – and marketing Ubuntu in general – the following Nov. 24th blog entry by Larry Dignan (USA), entitled ‘Netbooks + Ubuntu: On fence about form factor; OS solid’ makes interesting reading: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=10985
Postscript – Stranger than fiction…
Stepping into a branch of CPW on my way home from work, my eyes alighted on the familiar desktop of the UBUNTU LINUX webbook!
In response to my somewhat bemused query, a sales assistant assured me that the webbook was now being sold with XP and that the Linux model before my eyes was “just for display”….
I am working on hauling together and editing some of the blog entries into some form of introductory manual. It won’t read or look like a traditional computer manual, but that is probably a good thing. It is on Google docs so I guess I could just open it up for all to edit and improve when I get the basic structure in place.
I was just checking up the elonexone website and was redirected to the new Shop.elonex.co.uk where they now have the Ubuntu webbook for sale at £199.
I nearly laughed when i saw only WinXP webbooks in the Clearance section.
Also if you check the site, presently the specs are detailed only on the Linux laptops. There is no specs given about the windows webbooks
Alan,
Are Elonex planning to change the standard the webbbook spec? Or offer some options. I’m thinking….
More memory (>1gb)
SSD option instead of HDD (quicker boot up??)
Integrated HSPDA (no dongles to lose/break)
Higher graphics resolution when using an external monitor.
For me that would mean I could use the webbbook as a desktop replacement for my sales a/c managers that they could take away when they are out and about.
This, plus Ubuntu would make the webbook compelling IMHO.
Just my 2c.
M
£199 from the elonex site looks like an old price – or am I missing something?
Surely £199 from CPW inc 17.5% VAT means Elonex should be able to sell them at £195? Also they don’t have to give CPW a margin.
I don’t think that CPW ever sold them at £199 (at least not intentionally) they were £229 I think – and I understand that may have been an error. They were more interested in selling the monthly option than the outright sale. There appear to be some communication issues going on around this new store, lets just say the launch was not exactly as I had expected.
£199 is certainly a great bargain, especially compared with the £274 Elonex are charging for the Windows version. I hope people don’t end up choosing Ubuntu for the wrong reasons!! CPW was charging £239 for the Ubuntu webbook when I bought mine outright in late September (though I gather it had been £219 back in July/August.)
One concern I have is that Elonex has farmed out Support to a company called Callstream in South Africa. See: http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=15852
Before I bought my webbook I rang the Elonex phone number provided in a CPW booklet and was astounded to find myself speaking to a guy in Cape Town who told me quite frankly that he and his colleagues were fed up with Ubuntu Linux and that it was well worth paying a bit more to get Windows!!!!
Also, selling memory (RAM) upgrades for under £20 is all well and good, but I am probably not the only person who would not have the confidence to tackle something like that.
These are just some first thoughts and impressions….
By the way, I was interested in your update on the webbook user manual, Alan. Sections such as FAQs, Compatible devices and Useful Resources would perhaps lend themselves well to community contributions….
Correction:
Having reread the article I linked to, I think I wrongly identified Callstream with “Elonex’s 24 hour support centre in Cape Town, South Africa”. However, the man on the help desk in Cape Town whom I spoke to in September told me the support centre was not actually run by Elonex, but by a separate company affiliated with it. And as I said, he was extremely negative and unhelpful regarding Ubuntu. If Elonex are still diverting support calls to Cape Town, it surely does not bode well….
support was handled in South Africa from the start, by this company as it happens http://www.thehomeithelpdesk.com/ doesn’t sound like you had a good experience with them. They have passed quite a few questions on to me to answer.
the ram upgrade is really really easy, you could certainly do it and you would be surprised how easy it was!
Hi Alan,
I’ve had a look at the website of the Home I.T. Helpdesk (used by Elonex) and much is made of the support provided “for all Microsoft products”, but there is no mention of Linux, let alone Ubuntu. (No mention of Ubuntu on the Elonex website either, come to that!!)
Would it not be a great idea to set up an Ubuntu Linux Tech Squad under your own direction?
By the way, do you have any thoughts on my printing problems?:
http://webbookblog.com/free-as-in-really-really-free/#comments
I bought HP Deskjet D1470 not only because it was cheap and compact, but also because it was supposed to work well with Ubuntu: http://www.linuxprinting.org/show_printer.cgi?recnum=HP-D1470
Could the problem really be a bug?
P.s. Perhaps you could include a section on memory (RAM) upgrades in the webbook user manual….
not sure what is up with your printer, the debug information you posted looks fine to me. Perhaps you could try on the main Ubuntu forums with that one.
My brother sorted out my printer problem as reported here: http://webbookblog.com/2008/12/ Sorry to have bothered you with it, Alan.
Regarding the idea of setting up an affordable Ubuntu Linux helpline for home users, perhaps that is an idea you could pass on to CANONICAL if it is not something you would wish to get involved with yourself.
As far as I know, Canonical currently only provides support to business users. However, as Ubuntu becomes mainstream there will be a HUGE demand for dedicated technical support in the near future.
By the way, I am sorry to have overlooked your previous post on Memory Upgrades: http://webbookblog.com/thanks-for-the-memory/ Having struggled even to connect a printer, I think I’d better steer clear of anything like that for the time being.
I actually only paid £219 in the summer
Hi there
Just looked at the elonex site, and the ubuntu version is no longer listed in the shop?
Cheers