EMTEC Gdium Liberty 1000 GDNBL10USK006 10-Inch Matte Black Netbook - 4 Hour Battery Life
EMTEC Gdium Liberty 1000 GDNBL10USK006 10-Inch Matte Black Netbook - 4 Hour Battery Life Review
For stability, ease of use and a good upgrade path, Linux can’t be beat. My first criterion for a netbook was that it run a version of the Linux operating system. The Emtec Gdium fit the bill, so I took a closer look. Reviews gave it high marks for its usb stick based storage and good fit and finish. They panned it for sluggish performance and poor battery life. Since I was looking for a machine primarily to pick up email while traveling, I was not too concerned about the performance issues - when I am on vacation, I try not to do too much serious number crunching that would strain a processor. The battery life was more of a concern, but when I thought about it, I realized that I would usually be close to an AC outlet. The price was right, so I placed my order.
In four days, the machine was on my doorstep. I booted it up, and found an attractive and easy to use interface. Just for the heck of it, I fired up the wi-fi connection applet and it immediately located and connected to an unprotected hotspot. In minutes I was on the internet. Later I made some configuration changes to the interface, loaded some of my own files and deleted some programs that I didn’t need. Like they say, even a cave man could do it.
The next day with a full battery charge, I unplugged the machine and started a slideshow to put a bit of load on the battery. Two hours later, the battery was on its last legs so I put it back on house power. The battery quickly recovered and was soon back to 100%, but still I was a bit disappointed at its lack of endurance.
I showed the machine to a friend who is a dyed in the wool Apple user, and she noted how much nicer and sleeker the Gdium looked compared to most netbooks. I have to agree with her, as a work of industrial design the Gdium far exceeds your average netbook. Not an Apple by any means, but if care and pride in design means anything to you, this machine exhibits it. The padded case provided with the machine is nicely ornamented and includes a little velcroed pouch inside with a screen cleaning cloth and room to carry an extra usb stick.
In addition to the machine and case, there is a dvd included that contains a copy of the operating system, so if yours gets a viral infection or is corrupted in any way, it is very simple to rewrite the usb stick from dvd. You can also make multiple boot sticks for each user if you are sharing the machine. That way each user can have their own configuration and keep their data private.
All told, I am quite happy with this machine. It is just what I need to check email and do some light browsing on the road. It also comes preloaded with Open Office, which I used to view a youngster’s school power point presentation and a short story she wrote for English class. Despite the modest processor and extra overhead of data transfer from the usb stick, Open Office performed quite nicely - not quite as fast as the copy on my desktop machine, but no cause for complaint. All told, I would recommend this machine to a friend, even if they had no experience with the Linux operating system. It is easy to use, nice to look at, and fast enough to do most tasks.
- 900 MHz, 64 bits, Loongson 2F CPU by STMicroelectronics
- 512MB DDR2 RAM
- 16 GB G-Key removable storage. Up to 4 Hours of Battery Life.
- 10-inch LCD screen with 1024 x 600 resolution. Slim, soft-touch keyboard, multi-finger touchpad and lightweight at 2.6 lbs
- Linux Operating System with over 50 Open Source applications including Open Office, Evince, Firefox, Thunderbird, MSN and more
The EMTEC Gdium Liberty Netbook bines innovative architecture entrenched in the Open Source world an elegant and stylish design and added security and mobility with the exclusive G-Key storage device. Gdium is an ultraportable puter that is one of the cornerstones of a wider environment dedicated to knowledge munication and learning. Gdium features a Linux Operating System over 50 Open Source applications a removable G-Key storage device multimedia functions including an integrated webcam and is packaged in an environmentally-friendly reusable file box. Matte Black finish with white stripe; 10″ LCD screen 1024 x 600 resolution; Mandriva G-Linux operating system; 900 MHz 64-bit Loongson) 2F CPU by STMicroelectronics; 512MB DDR2 RAM; Removable storage on G-Key; Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g; Ethernet RJ45 - 10/100 MB/s LAN; (3) USB 2.0 ports SD/SD HC card reader VGA output Speakers/headset output Microphone input; Sound card; Silicon Motion SM502 16MB RAM video card; 1.3 megapixel webcam; Multi-finger touchpad; Slim soft touch keyboard; Up to 4 hour battery life; Dimensions 10″ x 7.28″ x 1.28″ Weight: 2.6 lbs. Includes G-sleeve and 16GB G-Key.
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Tags: 10-Inch, Battery, GDNBL10USK006, Liberty, Netbook
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