NewsForge broke the news last month that Microtel was putting together
Mandrake-Linux PCs for Walmart.com, the online division of the giant American
retailer. If you were beginning to think those PCs were never
going to make their way online, you were wrong. As of Sunday evening, they’re
online in the desktop computer section of Walmart.com.Walmart.com is offering nine Mandrake-Linux powered systems, ranging
in price from $391 USD with a 900MHz Duron and 128MB RAM, to $648 USD with a 2.0GHz Pentium 4 and 256MB RAM.
The systems come complete with Mandrake-Linux 8.2 and all the accompanying
software — including the Sun StarOffice 6.0 office suite, which retails for over
$75 USD. Walmart.com says, “Additional software includes Web, email, chat, photo
and image editors, CD burning, MP3 ripping and several games.”
The low-end system, retailing for $391, also includes a 3.5-inch floppy drive, a 52x
CDROM drive, and a 40GB hard drive. The “accessories available for this item”
include the Lexmark Z23 printer and the 100 pack of Durabrand CD-R discs. The
system is almost $100 more than the lowest-priced LindowsOS system that debuted
several weeks ago on Walmart.com — probably because the Mandrake system’s hard
drive is 30GB larger, and the Lindows system doesn’t include a floppy drive.
Neither one of these features is very expensive to the builder but could make up
a good chunk of the $100 retail difference.
The high-end Mandrake system, retailing for $648 USD, has the same 40GB hard drive teamed
with a 2.0GHz Pentium processor and a CD-RW drive. The most expensive
Walmart.com Lindows system runs $599 USD with a 1.8GHz Pentium 4, but is otherwise
identical to the Mandrake system, hardware-wise.
Several of the mid-range Mandrake systems are exactly the same, with regard to hardware
specs and pricing, as the LindowsOS systems.
Category:
- Linux
