Wal-Mart's $200 Linux Computer Sold Out

Wed Nov 14, 2007 11:30AM EST

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It may not have the cachet of the $200 OLPC laptop, but it does have much wider availability. Or, at least, it did: Wal-Mart's $199 desktop from Everex, stripped down in specs, running Ubuntu Linux, and touted as "green" due to its low power consumption, has sold out of its initial production run of 10,000 machines after a week.

The Everex TC2502 gPC includes a 1.5GHz Via V7-D CPU, 512MB of RAM, and an 80GB hard drive. With Windows you'd have a long wait just getting this setup to boot (much less run any apps), but with Ubuntu everything's fine. The computer is also preloaded with a bundle of Google apps, OpenOffice, and more, the idea being to give Linux newcomers (which, at Wal-Mart, is going to be just about everyone) all they need to get going with the new OS. Everex is even offering Wal-Mart buyers free tech support on their new computers.

Ten thousand units may be a drop in the bucket in the PC world, but it's still a strong indicator that demand for Windows alternatives is on the rise, after years of Linux failing to make a dent in the mainstream. As more vendors jump into the Linux fray, could we possibly see Microsoft's decades-long dominance start to whither?

You don't need new hardware to give Linux a try. Ubuntu is a free download and installs easily on many PCs. Most users will likely find that burning an installation disc (which you have to do in Windows, before you install it) is the most complicated part of the operation. (Hint: Grab ISO Recorder here, first.)

Have you made the jump? Post your Linux success (or horror) stories here and let us know how you've fared with it. 

LINK: Wal-Mart's Ultra-Efficient Linux PC Sells Out 

Comments on Wal-Mart's $200 Linux Computer Sold Out

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  • 6 Posted by zuul023 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 11:02PM EDT Report Abuse

    Yeah you could do that.. hopefully you have the RAM needed to do so.

  • 7 Posted by klacour on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:52PM EDT Report Abuse

    @gtmiller: Why spend $250 on a used P4 witha Windows license, when you can get a P4 without a Windows license for about $100 (http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Optiplex-GX-240-P4-1-7GHZ-512MB-CDRW-XP_W0QQitemZ250185097208QQihZ015QQcategoryZ140070QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem) Add a hard drive, put free linux distro of your choice on it, and you're ready to go. Or go to Wal-Mart, and pick up a brand new PC with support for $250. It would seem everyone that wants a Windows PC has a Windows PC.

  • 8 Posted by super_dave_1984 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    I think that until the gaming industry starts making Linux versions of every game much like there is a PS3, XBox, etc. Linux will still be a very small market share.

  • 9 Posted by seanryan41 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:10PM EDT Report Abuse

    Ubuntu is a great Linux distro. Anyone looking to experiment should definitely give it a shot!

  • 10 Posted by kupriaa1 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:54PM EDT Report Abuse

    One of the greatest benefits of all linux platforms is the cost factor. The problem though will always be the lack of applications that run on top of it and certainly the lack of hardware support. Even though this has come a long way over the years, it is still not perfect. So for most people (myself included) linux provides an alternative cheaper solution to Windows for specific needs. For most users though, the lack of app and hardware support is a real deterrent.

  • 11 Posted by jrguliz on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:42PM EDT Report Abuse

    Some Windows Games do run on linux distributions like Ubuntu. WINE is one way to do that. The other is to have either Windows running as a virtual machine OR dual boot option (Linux on one hard drive...Windows on the other). I made the linux switch three years ago and my family of four (wife, son and daughter) actually prefers it over Windows. Best bet is to run a live CD or DVD first....which allows you to test/experiment without installing it on your machine. It runs off of RAM....ejct the disk and reboot and your back to your current OS. You can either download a linux distribution or get one from a local linux group (Google "linux groups").

  • 12 Posted by der0ss on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:41PM EDT Report Abuse

    Linux has been touted for years and has nothing to show for it to a mainstream consumer. It is great for behind the scenes things like servers, but is a nightmare for the 40+ folks. I do tech support for Windows and Mac based products and people cannot handle these, let alone the thrid OS that has zero support unless you pay dearly for it or take a serious interest in it. That equals no one that I know in the bay area.

  • 13 Posted by stlshawn on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:45PM EDT Report Abuse

    I'm sorry der0ss, but i must disagree. I have a few machines running various versions of Linux, and i find it a blast. It can be as "techy" or as "non-techy" as you want it to be. For a non-techy, easy to use version, there's Ubuntu (that's why the Wal-mart machine runs it i'm sure), all the way to the ultra-customizable, but overly geeky slackware. I'm very happy with my linux machines for running everything i need to for my small business, surfing the net, and generally playing around. as far as support is concerned, i have never had too much trouble from the mainstream distro's wikis and forums. Like you, i support people's pc's (for a hotel chain, i help them get online and use wireless, I'm sure we can swap some horror stories some time) and i'm sure that some people couldn't handle the older versions where you had to edit ini files and whatnot. But luckily, the newer versions are configurable through various versions of control panel style software that are consistent through KDE or the Gnome desktops. I would ask that you try downloading Ubuntu and putting it on an old machine that you may have laying around. Or one that ran XP but MS won't let you reload for licensing reasons if you had to swap the drive a year ago and the processor later. anyway, have a wonderful day, and thanks.

  • 14 Posted by hsirantoine on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:21PM EDT Report Abuse

    Yeah well it's a shame. Websites like http://www.linuxdownloads.org/ don't cost anything to anyone

  • 15 Posted by hdson21 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:17PM EDT Report Abuse

    I recently purchased a Dell with the new Vista program, which they said they were having problems with and was just wondering that is the reason some of my games won't run..Any help guys?

  • 16 Posted by pete_biddier on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:08PM EDT Report Abuse

    I would like to know if there is any planes; for Wal-Mart to dring back that $200 linux.

  • 18 Posted by shiznic on Sat Sep 5, 2009 10:25PM EDT Report Abuse

    My linux eperience.... love it. i have played with a variity of different distros of linux. i was looking foar one that will read and write to a windows drive in NTFS and share files to a windows computer on my network. PClinuxOS was my first. then Ubuntu, Debian, now i have found one that is easy to operate and do what i wanted with linux MINT. love it.

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