| Indie netbooks run with the Jackalope |
Aug. 21, 2009
 Two separate U.S.-based system integrators are shipping Ubuntu 9.04-based netbooks that run on the Intel Atom N270 CPU and offer 10-inch displays and 160GB hard disk drives (HDDs). Denver-based System76 announced a "Starling" netbook, and Berkeley-based ZaReason weighed in with its Terra A20 (pictured).
Both netbooks are presumably customized versions of unnamed Taiwanese OEM products, and apart from offering the same Ubuntu 9.04 distro, have similar features and pricing. Standard features for both include the 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270, 10-inch display with 1024 x 600 resolution, VGA webcam, 10/100 Ethernet, three USB ports, and an SD slot.
ZaReason's Terra A20
(Click to enlarge)
The devices do offer different styling, with ZaReason's Terra A20 (above) going for a mocha case with sharper angles and System76 opting for a beveled black design. The Terra A20 also offers an optional HSDPA/UMTS cellular modem, and claims 802.11b/g/n instead of the b/g WiFi listed with the Starling (below).
System76's Starling
(Click to enlarge)
ZaReason provides a 500GB HDD option in addition to the standard 160GB drives listed for both, and offers solid-state disk (SSD) options ranging up to 160GB. The Terra A20 weighs 2.8 pounds compared to the Starling's 2.6 pounds.
ZaReason recently introduced an Ubuntu 9.04-based netbook called the Ion Breeze based on the Intel Atom and Nvidia's Ion companion chip.
Availability
Pricing for the netbooks appears to be fairly similar. The Terra A20 is said to cost $350 with 1GB of DDR2 memory (expandable to 2GB) and 160GB HDD, and the Starling costs $360 for the same HDD size, but with 2GB of memory.
More detailed coverage of the netbooks is available on our sister site, LinuxDevices. The ZaReason Terra A20 story may be found here, and the System76 Starling story should be here.
-- Eric Brown
Do you have comments on this story?
Talkback here
NOTE: Please post your comments regarding our articles using the above link. Be sure to use this article's title as the "Subject" in your posts. Before you create a new thread, please check to see if a discussion thread is already running on the article you plan to comment on. Thanks!
Related Stories:
(Click here for further information)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
