December 17th, 2008
I read with some amusement the CherryPal review over at TG Daily – the author’s biggest gripe was that she felt the CherryPal was really ugly because the ports faced in front. (Turns out, the direction of the cherry logo confused her, which is funny to me because I never even noticed the logo’s direction. I just set up the box with the ports facing back. Big deal!) There was also a complaint about the box seeming “flimsy,” which is not my experience whatsoever. And, oh, horror, there’s no CD/DVD drive!
Such reviews are truly missing the point of the CherryPal, which was conceived to be a low-power green computer that did not require moving parts or fans. Let’s just try to envision the world in maybe as little as five years, where DVDs are becoming obsolete with the increased use of digital downloads and flash drives. Let’s look ahead to a time where electricity costs are increasing due to increased power consumption and lowered reserves of natural gas. Perhaps at that time, a small desktop computer that consumes only 2 watts and doesn’t need a DVD drive would be ideal? Perhaps. (more…)
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December 13th, 2008
It’s kind of funny to me that there are actually computer conspiracy theorists out there who think the CherryPal really doesn’t exist and those of us reviewing it are making it all up because we don’t have actual video of the computer in action. Well, pardon me, but I don’t have a video camera – I’m a writer, not a cinematographer! (I’m a doctor, not a mechanic, Jim!)
The CherryPal is slowing getting shipped out to those “on the list” – whether Brand Angels or those ordering the machine. There have been some other reports of glitches – people not being able to login or other bugs. Most people who get one seem to have no problem with it out of the box, fortunately, but this is definitely a machine that has some kinks to be worked out.
My thoughts on the CherryPal upon further use:
Pros: I love how absolutely quiet the machine is. I love the small footprint and the “green” aspect of saving on electricity. I love having a no-nonsense Linux box without hassling with Windows or a lot of bloatware. So on the whole, I’m really hoping that we see more machines like this in the future.
Cons: The CPU is woefully underpowered for the software. Upon testing, I discovered that the CPU often runs at about 100% just to load a large web page. Really complicated web pages can freeze the machine, even when using a leaner browse such as Epiphany. I have yet to test video on the box, but I’m not hopeful what with the current performance. I’m wondering why they went with Xubuntu as the OS instead of a more optimized Linux distro such as Puppy Linux.
Given the limitations of the CPU, I would not be able to replace my regular computers with the CherryPal at this time. I do plan on using the CherryPal, however, for writing and checking online email. I often leave my computer on all day as I like to go back and forth from the computer, and I’d much rather leave on the low-powered CherryPal than my laptop, so I don’t burn out the laptop earlier than I need to.
As for a cheap computer, though, it might be better to get an old computer and put Linux on it. I have a Pentium III I run Linux on. I just put Puppy on it and it is 10x faster than my CherryPal.
So if you want a second machine to save power with, the CherryPal might be a good option. It is not a replacement for a full-powered desktop just yet.
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December 6th, 2008
Well, not one day into it and I managed to brick my CherryPal. (For those of you who aren’t in the know on the slang, that means, I’ve broken the machine and turned it into a “brick.”) I am pretty good at exposing any vulnerabilities in a Linux distro in my first day or two of use – without meaning to. It’s a special talent I have. This is potentially a major bug, and CherryPal users should be warned about it, until they have a solution for it. (more…)
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December 5th, 2008
Yes, believe it or not, I am typing this from an actual CherryPal computer. It arrived today in a small black box similar in style and size to a classic iPod box. It is extremely small! The carefully folded CherryPal t-shirt took up most of the box. There is supposed to be a single sheet of directions (to save on paper) but I did not receive any with my package. Fortunately, I had gotten an email from CherryPal telling me how to login.
The CherryPal machine itself is super small and compact. It could have been a PDA circa 1995. (Remember the Apple Newtons?) It has two USB ports, a monitor port, and a headphone/speaker output. (Alas, no line-in or microphone input.) No CD/DVD or any other extras (this is, after all, supposed to be a lean, mean green machine).
When you first plug in the machine, a somewhat unfriendly looking login prompt greets you. This is where it’s helpful to have the email that tells you what the login is! Once logged in, you are greeted by a very plain Linux desktop. This is a apparently a specially-built Xubuntu distribution, which uses the lightweight Xfce desktop. The background is just a plain blue. Given the cute CherryPal packaging on the box and the machine itself, it would have been nice to carry that theme over to the desktop (a small wallpaper graphic would not have sacrificed too much disk space), but it’s not a deal-breaker. I’ll put my own background on there soon enough.
I immediately tried to break the machine by using not only a USB hub but a wireless mouse. The USB hub works fine; the wireless mouse does not. I have heard other reports that wireless mice and keyboards do not fare well with the CherryPal, so be forewarned. Perhaps there’s a setting or something; we shall see.
What did work right out of the box was the wi-fi. I immediately got the machine to recognize my wireless network and it connected very easily. I have to say, after fiddling with wi-fi on my various Linux laptops with much pain and grief involved, this was nothing short of miraculous to me. Score one for the CherryPal.
Using a USB hub, I was actually able to plug-in my digital camera and download the photos I just took of my new CherryPal onto the CherryPal. The operating system mounted the digital camera automatically and I was able to move the photos over manually. Not bad.
I have yet to try out any of the installed applications other than Firefox, but a good assortment of software is preinstalled, including Firefox (obviously), games, and a word processor. As with the Xubuntu distribution, AbiWord is the word processor provided and not OpenOffice.org’s word processor (my preference), but maybe I’ll give good ole AbiWord a try for once.
Firefox appears to be a bit slow on the CherryPal. I’m not sure if that’s my Internet connection or the memory that Firefox can take up. Some pages I’ve tried have been excrutiating to load. I’ll probably install another browser to see if it’s Firefox that’s being a memory hog: I find myself using Seamonkey on my Linux machines more often than Firefox lately due to the bloat. Firefox, for whatever the reason, is just not as good on Linux as it is on Windows.
I have yet to see any evidence of the “cloud computing” advertised with the CherryPal, but perhaps I’ll find out more about that later. One thing I was happy to see installed was the Synaptic Package Manager, which means I can easily install most open source software with the click of a button. With a Linux box, 8 gigs is more than enough to install most needed programs and still have some space left over for basic documents.
One thing I will say for the CherryPal – it sure is quiet. Quiet, as in, completely quiet. No moving parts really does mean it’s a silent machine. That may not mean much to some, but I’m one of those strange finicky people when it comes to noise. I have an Acer laptop with an insanely loud fan that likes to turn the laptop into a mini washing machine at times. I truly love the silence of the CherryPal. It’s so much more peaceful.
Well, those are my first impressions. I’ll be posting more here as I go along. If you are willing to plunk money down for a CherryPal, knowing that the company is still a bit unstable and the machine may still have some kinks, you can order one here. Use my promo code CPP235 to get $10 off the purchase price.
P.S. Just as I was getting ready to upload this article, my monitor turned all purple, and I can barely see the desktop with strange bands of darker purple blocking much of the screen. I’m wondering if it’s an issue with my monitor or the CherryPal, or combination of the two: Perhaps my monitor doesn’t like the low power output of the CherryPal. I’ll reboot and post an update soon. Update: Rebooting the machine did not fix the monitor, but unplugging it did. We’ll see if it happens again.
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