Opposite experiences in our sample size of two. 4x5, hope you get your issues resolved quickly. Whether hardware of firmware, we may never know. I guess that "refurb" factor can introduce potential problems. Hopefully the low price justifies a headache or two, but returning things and RMAs are always a hassle.
It is what it is. Of course it's hard to get to worked up over $30. Heck I spent more than that on lunch last week. It looks like the return process for newegg is going to be a time consuming PITA though. From what I've been able to use of the netbook it's going to be nice to have and will fill some as of yet undetermined role.
I'm not sure why you're having a problem with getting an RMA from Newegg. I've had to do it a couple of times and it's always been pain-free and the RMA was issued instantly using their online request form. Good luck getting them to pay the return shipping though.
Ditto on the lack of trouble; to make the point I am leaving this response ON THE SYLVANIA. It wouldn't at all be my first choice for reading this forum; it's very slow (about 30 sec to 1 min to prepare a forum page for rendering fully) but soldiers valiantly and does seem to understand all the web code. IE for CE blows pidgin browsers like the iTomic out of the water.
Aaaaaand 3 more ordered. This is really a hard deal to pass up -- these things show a lot of promise for little dedicated web appliance style user interfaces. One of them will definitely be replacing my alarm clock which no longer sets itself for DST on the correct days. (The beautiful thing about that is that even if the dates change again and CE can't be updated, if the alarm is written in javascript the browser can always be programmed to do the new adjustment.) I may also try Linux on one of them to see how that works. The CE install is working so well on the first one I'm afraid to overwrite it and not have a way to get it back to factory.
I'm not sure why you're having a problem with getting an RMA from Newegg. I've had to do it a couple of times and it's always been pain-free and the RMA was issued instantly using their online request form. Good luck getting them to pay the return shipping though.
I was supposed to get the RMA and a prepaid shipping label via email and that never came. I called and after a 20 or so minute wait got through to a human being and got it resolved. I was at work and it'll be going back via ups tomorrow. I was hoping for them to cross ship a replacement but they won't and I couldn't get them to budge on it. Not great service but at the margins they work at it would be hard to expect more.
For the record I'm convinced that the problems I'm having is simply a problem with the unit I got and not representative of them. I'm sure that once I get one that actually works it's going to grow on me. Unfortunately it's going to be at least a few weeks before I get a new one. I can't wait and may order a couple more before I get the replacement. :-)
@4x5 & LR: Any interest in that $46 Craig unit with twice the speed & memory?
Well I will soon have 4 of the $30 units and I really think they're adequate for the kind of thing I'd use these for. Twice the speed and memory is still going to be kind of anemic for anything involving complex graphics, but for rendering text-based content with Javascript and DOM manipulation the cheapies should be fine.
Example: I have a programmable industrial controller I use at work which has an AnyBus ethernet card available as an option, and I've created a system by which the instrument can be remote controlled from a browser. I think that system will 100% work with these netbooks. These are a great alternative for industrial environments since they don't need cooling, have no moving parts, and don't cost $1,000 to replace if you destroy one anyway.
Well I will soon have 4 of the $30 units and I really think they're adequate for the kind of thing I'd use these for. Twice the speed and memory is still going to be kind of anemic for anything involving complex graphics, but for rendering text-based content with Javascript and DOM manipulation the cheapies should be fine.
Example: I have a programmable industrial controller I use at work which has an AnyBus ethernet card available as an option, and I've created a system by which the instrument can be remote controlled from a browser. I think that system will 100% work with these netbooks. These are a great alternative for industrial environments since they don't need cooling, have no moving parts, and don't cost $1,000 to replace if you destroy one anyway.
Yeah, the $30 price tag is going to be hard to beat!
Will this run the ARM stuff for RaspberryPi ? Can the CE stuff be replaced by some linux, or did that not work out?
Even if it doesnt, anything capable of running a terminal program is plenty for running a terminal program to talk to propforth, I might have to get one of these. DOS 3.3 is usually fast enough to run terminal program, so Win96 should be great.
Will this run the ARM stuff for RaspberryPi ? Can the CE stuff be replaced by some linux, or did that not work out?
Even if it doesnt, anything capable of running a terminal program is plenty for running a terminal program to talk to propforth, I might have to get one of these. DOS 3.3 is usually fast enough to run terminal program, so Win96 should be great.
Is the display 800x480?
The main problem with using it as a terminal is that it doesn't have a serial port, and you probably won't be able to get ARM drivers for either Linux or WinCE for a USB-serial adapter. It does have ethernet, wifi, a SD socket which can read SDHC, and 3 USB ports which have OS included drivers for the usual HID devices (keyboard, mouse) and USB mass storage. There is definitely a Linux distro floating around for it which I'll hunt down and try once I have more than one to play with. I believe the display is 800x480 which is about standard for 7 inch LCD's.
This is one instance where the Microsoft OS might perform better than Linux. Even though it has a kissin' cousin UI resemblance to Win9x-XP WinCE was built from the ground up as a RTOS and it's surprisingly snappy on this little underpowered box, even when you're asking IE to do things that shouldn't be possible.
Will this run the ARM stuff for RaspberryPi ? Can the CE stuff be replaced by some linux, or did that not work out?
Even if it doesnt, anything capable of running a terminal program is plenty for running a terminal program to talk to propforth, I might have to get one of these. DOS 3.3 is usually fast enough to run terminal program, so Win96 should be great.
OK my other three units arrived and I've unpacked them. Observations:
* Two have side-facing AC adapters packed in boxes, two have front-facing AC adapters packed into the foam.
* One has scuff marks and no static film over the LCD; the other three appear brand new.
* One has a sticker with digitalgadgets' tech support number to the left of the touchpad.
* They all have exactly the same Windows CE image, which I believe is the most recent one also available on the web.
So of four units one appears to be an actual customer return. They all boot, keypad and touchpad function, and they see my wifi network.
OK my other three units arrived and I've unpacked them. Observations:
* Two have side-facing AC adapters packed in boxes, two have front-facing AC adapters packed into the foam.
* One has scuff marks and no static film over the LCD; the other three appear brand new.
* One has a sticker with digitalgadgets' tech support number to the left of the touchpad.
* They all have exactly the same Windows CE image, which I believe is the most recent one also available on the web.
So of four units one appears to be an actual customer return. They all boot, keypad and touchpad function, and they see my wifi network.
My javascript clock is the KILLER APP for this device. I set one up at work today and people have been commenting all day. None of them have ventured to ask for one yet but I'm sure it's coming. (Incindentally, the original test I linked above had a noon bug that rendered noon as 0 instead of 12. Since fixed, load it again.) You can easily read it from 100 feet away. I can't get it to set itself from the internet but it does do DST on the new rules. So far the only thing I'd like that I can't make it do is hide the IE controls (ctrl-T hotkey) automatically. But that's actually a pretty small thing. You can't get a clock with a display like this for less than $100. For it to be so fully customizable (hey, if DST changes again I can recode it in JS) is unknown.
Hey Erco, my next to last post has a link to the demo code. I haven't had time to finish it yet but will post it when I do.
There's no app store, either for WinCE or for Android. I've seen multiple links to a repository of freeware, all dead; just found the Yahoo Sylvania_Smartbook group and another link which hooks up but is downloading the 105 megabyte file at about 20 kilobytes/sec. If it goes through and works I'll dropbox it.
OK I finally managed to get a copy of the WinCE software repository after a nail-biting 2 hour download from a FTP site that is apparently on the other side of a 28K dialup modem. There's a lot of stuff in there, and what I've tried does indeed run on the Sylvania, though a lot of it is really intended for phones and doesn't use the display very well. (Clock application, I'm looking at you.) Anyway I've put it in my public dropbox for now for a bit easier access:
1. Unpack the jsalarm.html, shortcut, and wav files from the zipped archive.
2. Edit the jsalarm.html to change the infosite (weather zip code is end of provided url; set it to an empty string if you don't plan to network your alarm clock). You might also want to change the alarmfile; the provided alarm.wav is a recording of an actual alarm clock beeping.
3. On the Sylvania copy all three files to the desktop.
4. It's not possible to create a shortcut directly in WinCE, so I created one for you. Copy or move it to Windows\Startup. (You could just put the HTML file there, but the alarm sound file needs to be in the same folder and if they're both in Startup the OS will play the alarm file on startup.) In case you're wondering, the startup folder is part of the OS image in some CE builds, but in this one changes are persistent.
5. Set the Start menu to auto-hide (as in XP right click the start button and go to Properties) and turn off the backlight timer (right-click desktop, properties, backlight, uncheck "automatically turn off on external power")
6. Configure the network if you're using an infosite.
7. If you turn it off and back on, the startup shortcut should start the clock.
8. You will need to use CTRL-T to toggle Kiosk Mode to hide the browser controls. Javascript can't do this and though I've found a couple or registry hacks that are supposed to force it, they don't seem to work.
9. To set the alarm, while the alarm is disabled (numbers are green) press the space bar. Options are w flag, time, a or p. Examples:
10. Once an alarm time is set, hit just about any key on the keyboard to toggle it. Numbers will be red when alarm is armed.
11. The alarm will sound for one minute when it goes off. To go to snooze mode, while alarm is sounding hit just about any key on keyboard. Snooze timer is relatively standard 9 minutes. To disarm from snooze mode hit any key again.
12. To pop up infosite press ENTER while alarm is disarmed. Press backspace to return to clock. (I tried making the popup automatic but found it annoying.)
13. Code is entirely open, so configure to your heart's content!
I really wanted to make the clock set itself from the internet but alas they don't seem to have compiled that feature into the OS image. Fortunately, it does seem to switch DST at the new correct times, which was my main priority.
Having actually slept with it for a week (wait, that didn't sound right did it) I did something you can't do with a regular alarm clock. I made some adjustments.
1. While disarmed, Use "A" to set alarm, and "S" to set snooze interval. Not perfect yet -- until you set snooze first time, it may come up NaN instead of defaulting to 9 minutes. Use space to see what the snooze interval is.
2. Now flips to info site when armed. Still armed when you back in.
3. When armed, space goes "insta-Snooze" even if alarm hasn't gone off yet.
4. If snoozing, space reverts to armed instead of disarmed like other keys. Note that if the alarm time has passed and you rearm this way it won't go off...
I have been running the original clocktest program on a unit at work as just a big plain clock for about a month now, with plain white $FFFFFF 7-segment characters on black background. The 7-segment pattern is now very noticeably burned in to the display. It looks like a CRT that's been running this application for a few years. I find this remarkable because while I've seen the occasional LCD do this it's very unusual, subtle when it happens, and only after years and years of service.
Comments
It is what it is. Of course it's hard to get to worked up over $30. Heck I spent more than that on lunch last week. It looks like the return process for newegg is going to be a time consuming PITA though. From what I've been able to use of the netbook it's going to be nice to have and will fill some as of yet undetermined role.
I was supposed to get the RMA and a prepaid shipping label via email and that never came. I called and after a 20 or so minute wait got through to a human being and got it resolved. I was at work and it'll be going back via ups tomorrow. I was hoping for them to cross ship a replacement but they won't and I couldn't get them to budge on it. Not great service but at the margins they work at it would be hard to expect more.
I'll spend your IRS refund before you even get it. That's what I do!
I ordered one for $43. :cool:
Well I will soon have 4 of the $30 units and I really think they're adequate for the kind of thing I'd use these for. Twice the speed and memory is still going to be kind of anemic for anything involving complex graphics, but for rendering text-based content with Javascript and DOM manipulation the cheapies should be fine.
Example: I have a programmable industrial controller I use at work which has an AnyBus ethernet card available as an option, and I've created a system by which the instrument can be remote controlled from a browser. I think that system will 100% work with these netbooks. These are a great alternative for industrial environments since they don't need cooling, have no moving parts, and don't cost $1,000 to replace if you destroy one anyway.
Yeah, the $30 price tag is going to be hard to beat!
Will this run the ARM stuff for RaspberryPi ? Can the CE stuff be replaced by some linux, or did that not work out?
Even if it doesnt, anything capable of running a terminal program is plenty for running a terminal program to talk to propforth, I might have to get one of these. DOS 3.3 is usually fast enough to run terminal program, so Win96 should be great.
Is the display 800x480?
The main problem with using it as a terminal is that it doesn't have a serial port, and you probably won't be able to get ARM drivers for either Linux or WinCE for a USB-serial adapter. It does have ethernet, wifi, a SD socket which can read SDHC, and 3 USB ports which have OS included drivers for the usual HID devices (keyboard, mouse) and USB mass storage. There is definitely a Linux distro floating around for it which I'll hunt down and try once I have more than one to play with. I believe the display is 800x480 which is about standard for 7 inch LCD's.
This is one instance where the Microsoft OS might perform better than Linux. Even though it has a kissin' cousin UI resemblance to Win9x-XP WinCE was built from the ground up as a RTOS and it's surprisingly snappy on this little underpowered box, even when you're asking IE to do things that shouldn't be possible.
Yup, the display is 800x480.
Then again, that would end up bankrupting me in the long run...
* Two have side-facing AC adapters packed in boxes, two have front-facing AC adapters packed into the foam.
* One has scuff marks and no static film over the LCD; the other three appear brand new.
* One has a sticker with digitalgadgets' tech support number to the left of the touchpad.
* They all have exactly the same Windows CE image, which I believe is the most recent one also available on the web.
So of four units one appears to be an actual customer return. They all boot, keypad and touchpad function, and they see my wifi network.
Have a not quite finished clock: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/108807246/clocktest.html
I hope that they all work for you. My experience aside they're nice little netbooks and in my never humble opinion well worth the money.
There's no app store, either for WinCE or for Android. I've seen multiple links to a repository of freeware, all dead; just found the Yahoo Sylvania_Smartbook group and another link which hooks up but is downloading the 105 megabyte file at about 20 kilobytes/sec. If it goes through and works I'll dropbox it.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/108807246/WinCE6freeware.zip
jsalarm.zip
1. Unpack the jsalarm.html, shortcut, and wav files from the zipped archive.
2. Edit the jsalarm.html to change the infosite (weather zip code is end of provided url; set it to an empty string if you don't plan to network your alarm clock). You might also want to change the alarmfile; the provided alarm.wav is a recording of an actual alarm clock beeping.
3. On the Sylvania copy all three files to the desktop.
4. It's not possible to create a shortcut directly in WinCE, so I created one for you. Copy or move it to Windows\Startup. (You could just put the HTML file there, but the alarm sound file needs to be in the same folder and if they're both in Startup the OS will play the alarm file on startup.) In case you're wondering, the startup folder is part of the OS image in some CE builds, but in this one changes are persistent.
5. Set the Start menu to auto-hide (as in XP right click the start button and go to Properties) and turn off the backlight timer (right-click desktop, properties, backlight, uncheck "automatically turn off on external power")
6. Configure the network if you're using an infosite.
7. If you turn it off and back on, the startup shortcut should start the clock.
8. You will need to use CTRL-T to toggle Kiosk Mode to hide the browser controls. Javascript can't do this and though I've found a couple or registry hacks that are supposed to force it, they don't seem to work.
9. To set the alarm, while the alarm is disabled (numbers are green) press the space bar. Options are w flag, time, a or p. Examples:
blank = no alarm, 12 hour clock
6 = 6:00 AM 24-hour clock
6:30 = 6:30 AM, 24-hour clock
6:30a = 6:30 AM, 12-hour clock
w6:30a = 6:30 AM, 12 hour clock, weekdays only
24 = no alarm, 24 hour clock
10. Once an alarm time is set, hit just about any key on the keyboard to toggle it. Numbers will be red when alarm is armed.
11. The alarm will sound for one minute when it goes off. To go to snooze mode, while alarm is sounding hit just about any key on keyboard. Snooze timer is relatively standard 9 minutes. To disarm from snooze mode hit any key again.
12. To pop up infosite press ENTER while alarm is disarmed. Press backspace to return to clock. (I tried making the popup automatic but found it annoying.)
13. Code is entirely open, so configure to your heart's content!
I really wanted to make the clock set itself from the internet but alas they don't seem to have compiled that feature into the OS image. Fortunately, it does seem to switch DST at the new correct times, which was my main priority.
jsalarm.zip
Having actually slept with it for a week (wait, that didn't sound right did it) I did something you can't do with a regular alarm clock. I made some adjustments.
1. While disarmed, Use "A" to set alarm, and "S" to set snooze interval. Not perfect yet -- until you set snooze first time, it may come up NaN instead of defaulting to 9 minutes. Use space to see what the snooze interval is.
2. Now flips to info site when armed. Still armed when you back in.
3. When armed, space goes "insta-Snooze" even if alarm hasn't gone off yet.
4. If snoozing, space reverts to armed instead of disarmed like other keys. Note that if the alarm time has passed and you rearm this way it won't go off...
Wow! That's quite an endorsement for Win CE!!
Now excuse me while I delete my browser history.
I have been running the original clocktest program on a unit at work as just a big plain clock for about a month now, with plain white $FFFFFF 7-segment characters on black background. The 7-segment pattern is now very noticeably burned in to the display. It looks like a CRT that's been running this application for a few years. I find this remarkable because while I've seen the occasional LCD do this it's very unusual, subtle when it happens, and only after years and years of service.
Now I'm glad I waited...
Maybe the killer app is a screen saver...
There is a brightness adjustment, IIRC. Maybe that needs to be turned WAY down for continuous use.