US Cable Support > OptimumOnline > [OOL] PC with Linux OS

[OOL] PC with Linux OS

reply to FS613
It will work fine with cablevision, however i would advise you against buying such a ridiculously expensive and underpowered computers.
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reply to FS613
How about this?

»www.telikin.com/

reply to FS613

reply to FS613

reply to FS613
Yeah, way overpriced. It should be LESS expensive if they use Linux and don't pay for a Windows OEM license or at least equal and not double the price.

I have one except it's not that rebranded thing. It's an MSI All-In-One Windtop 1900 something or other bought for $540.00 new a few years ago. It has a dual core Atom processor, 2GB ram and plays hi-def (720p at least) very well. I wiped MSI's Vista crap off the HD and installed several versions of Linux. They all work brilliantly. The only snag was getting the touchscreen working properly but I finally got that setup.

This machine was bought for a family for the kids to play movies and it was sufficient yet I would have preferred that they wipe the hd in favor of Linux from the git go. It was at least half the cost of an iMac and had lower power consumption. The kids (and even more likely, grandma) don't need a super computer to browse, email, chat, skype, and type letters.

The dad finally decided he didn't want the kids to have a computer so I got it back for me to enjoy.

Mac-mini's are cool but you'll still need a monitor. iMacs start at $1200. In general the entire Apple line is designed to lock you into their system. You will need to keep your credit card handy.

If I wanted to go with this format again I would look into the Dell One, »www.dell.com/content/products/pr···lt=popup . Dell has great service agreements. The only problem with the Dell is that it comes with Windows. I would wipe that out and install Linux but that's probably getting a bit advanced so an iMac might be your best bet for new computer users and potential victims of the internet.

reply to FS613
What does she plan to actually do with it? Depending on that she might even be ok with an ipad. I wouldn't go the linux route, its more work to support for her and if you go with some unknown company with a special linux distribution for seniors you have the problem of depending on them to keep it working and not go out of business.

Otherwise, my aunt is pretty tech illiterate but has been an internet addict ever since I got her a mac. They also offer workshops at the apple store, so if she needs help figuring it out you don't get stuck. The only thing I have against them is the one time my power adapter died and when I called the hold music seemed to be a whole Avril Lavigne album...

reply to currly
The Telikin computer was designed for the seniors. It runs Linux so no need to worry about viruses, spyware or tool bars. We initially had a touch and non touch version. Everyone wanted the touch version so we dropped the non touch. It is much easier than a windows computer. You can watch the videos and reviews on the website www.telikin.com. We also have great support. It is not a windows computer, so it may not be for everybody. We offer a 60 day satisfaction guarantee. If it does not work for you, just send it back. We have over 10,000 satisfied customers and growing every week.

Fred A. CEO Telikin.

You are ripping people off! The pricing is ridiculous. Outrageously out of touch with reality. The fact you are marketing your rip off to senior citizens is even more disgusting.

Do not buy this overpriced garbage.

reply to xirian

reply to FS613
Try these for easy grandma-proof Linux PCs.

»www.system76.com/
»zareason.com/
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These laptops have pretty small screens for seniors to use. I'm also not sure if ubuntu12 can be locked down enough so that user won't endup where they shouldn't be.
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reply to FS613
My Mom is in her 80's and sits in a recliner, most of the time.

The recliner faces a 32" TV.

She has arthritis in hands and legs.

She currently uses an old MSN TV dial-up set top box, hooked up to the TV; but the dial-up transmission is too slow, and the browser doesn't always display a web page properly.

She tried an iPad; she couldn't work it properly.

She tried an MSN TV 2 set top box, which uses broadband Internet, and which was also hooked up to the TV. She couldn't work that properly, either.

She needs something which is extremely simple, where she can use a wireless keyboard and touch pad (she has difficulty with a mouse), while sitting in her recliner, and which "something" can be hooked up to the TV, and where she can clearly see the text on the TV.

Maybe a Mac Mini? I've never used a Mac computer before.

Can it be configured with simple applications?

What does one do about anti-virus and firewall applications? She can't deal with updates.

Any suggestions would be welcomed.

Thank you.

So why not try the computer you originally inquired about? It will work with OOL, and is designed specifically for the use you describe.
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reply to FS613
This is quickly leaving the realm of this forum, but I'll bite.

If she can't work an iPad, I think it'll also be very difficult for her to use those Linux PCs or a Mac.

The Mac can be made to work in a very basic mode called Simple Finder (as pointed out earlier): »www.switchingtomac.com/tutorials···in-os-x/

The main interface becomes a single window with large icons that can be used to access approved apps (Mail, Safari, etc). The downside is that once you get into the app, it's the same full-feature app as on any other computer. The application menu's text will be relatively small (compared to WebTV's menus), navigating will require moving the small cursor around (you could install third party tools to make the cursor larger), etc.

If you reduce the resolution for the TV, everything will be easier to read, but then you'll have to scroll more often to see all the content on a page.

As for security, at least with the Mac solution, you can pretty reliability just turn on the firewall and call it a day. At this point, there are so few viruses/trojans for the Mac that it'd be statistically impossible for anything bad to happen, especially on a limited user account.

If you really wanted to go all out, you could purchase Deep Freeze. It reverts the entire computer to a "frozen" configuration after every boot. You can delete the entire system folder, reboot, and everything will work just fine. Downside with this approach is any saved documents/bookmarks are lost after a reboot.
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reply to jaa

reply to Thinkdiff

reply to FS613
The Telikin or the Mywow aren't exactly total ripoffs so I pretty much agree with jaa. They might be a bit pricey for my personal taste but I'm a cheapasssumbuck. I have the skills to buy something like this at $447 and turn it into something I can use. But for the technically challenged one of the two might be the easiest way to go. I would lean toward the Telikin since the CEO seems to take a personal interest in customer satisfaction. Development of the UI is going to cost time and money and these engineers should be applauded and supported for using Linux as their platform. I definitely support development of non-proprietary hardware and software. Thinkdiff describes exactly the problems I see with Apple products wherein you have to buy$ every single useful addon and adapter and those only work with Macs. Apples are pretty but they definitely are designed for the privileged classes.

Linux is arguably even more secure than MacOS without having to buy$ some third party addon. It's also infinitely more configurable as shown by these two products. Almost all the popular desktop environments available in Linux have accessiblilty modes/themes and if you don't like those you can make your own like Telikin and Mywow.

One BIG potential issue I see is with the quality of the TV. If it's a standard definition (SD) TV reading type will always be very difficult. The 20" model and the custom UI might be a good choice without having to buy an HDTV and they have a 60 day satisfaction guarantee. Apple gives you 14 days... go figya.

While it is good that Telikin's ceo posted here and he shows interest(if you consider "google alerts" that), I kinda dislike their TOS and their marketing approach. I feel they are not actually satisfying a market demand but rather exploiting a market segment.

Both "wow!computer" and telikin look identical, which makes me wonder how much of the actual custom software they've written. At least telikin published some of their gpl mods at »www.telikin.com/open_source.php, i couldn't find this at wow!computer. They are using TinyCoreLinux so I imagine they are using some standard GUI as well.

Btw, while poking around I found this interesting project »www.eldy.eu/
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