$199 WalMart PC Evaluation

OK… This should be my last post on this matter, frankly I’m tired of thinking about it myself.

I want to make it clear that what I’ve done is an evaluation and NOT a review. Even though this unit was purchased by my employer for other purposes, I simply evaluated this unit for my own personal needs or desires. Specifically, how well would one of these units serve the purpose of a new PC for a friend of family member.

So rather than clog up your news aggregator, simply click on the “MORE” link below to read of my entire experience along with my concluding opinions.

-KHD

The Outside
Box arrived, pretty nicely packed. Opened up, the keyboard was sitting on top of the foam-rubber packaging for the compter.

The keyboard, a ÒTurbo-XwingÓ keyboard states that itÕs an ÒEnhanced Keyboard with 6 additional hot keysÓ The keyboad looks like any other 101 Enhanced keyboard except that it does have the ÒWindowsÓ keys on it (the start and properties keys on both sides of the space bar), but it also has 3 additional buttons that make up a third row below the Ins, Home, PgUp, and Del, End, PgDn key, just above the directional arrows. These keys are labled Power, Sleep, and Wake.

I can see right now, if these keys are enabled to do as they are labled, then they are going to be a major pain in the ass. However, my hunch is that these are only usable within a MS-Windows environmentÉ DonÕt have the problem on this machine!

The mouse is a little cheapie, ÒMS-303Ó scroll-wheel mouse that states it is Windows 95/98/2000/ME/NT/XP compatibleÉ No mention of Linux. SoÉ it this an ommision or an assumption?

The accessories bag includes the power chord, a complimentary floppy cable for the non-existent floppy drive, and a small card with a product ID for Lycoris along with two stickers with the login name and password. ItÕs so generic that I assume that itÕs the same for every system that is set upÉ If it wasnÕtÉ oh IÕd hate to be on THAT production line!

Also included in the accessories bag is a postage paid RMA Return Mailing Label that instructs one on how to fill out the RMA form according to the back of the original invoice stating the ÒReason for ReturnÓ. The impressive part here is that is a paid U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail Label. Of course its bulk rate, but impressive nonetheless.

And finallyÉ the all impressive Microtel Computer System Manual. 11 pages total consisting of 2 pages of how to set up the system, 1 page on the manufacturer’s return policy, 2 pages on getting support, 3 pages of warranty legal mumbo-jumbo, and finally, 2 blank pages for notes.

Pulling off the foam-rubber reveals a box of 160W speakersÉ Real noise makers.

Extracting the machine from the box reveals a nice looking machine that appears to have had at least a LITTLE bit of attention paid to is as the 4 labels on the back of the box are nice and neatly adheared. Even the ÒMade in ChinaÓ label is neatly parallel with the bottom of the case.

By quick glance, the system has a 52x CD-ROM drive and 2 front accessible USB ports. Looking at the back of the machine, I see a PS/2 Mouse and KB socket, 1 parallel port, 1 serial port, an Ethernet port, 2 more USB ports, VGA monitor port, and the 3 typical audio jacks, line in, line out, and mic.

The Inside
Opening up the case reveals an interesting sightÉ A 6-3/4Ó x 6-3/8Ó EPIA-V motherboard. Its so tiny! Apparently these things were just recently announced at COMDEX so that may have been the delay in this boxÕs arrival.

DonÕt expect to do too much in the area of upgrades. This board has only a single PCI slot. There is though a second socket for another stick of RAM and according to the docs, this board can handle up to who knows how much RAM as it doesnÕt mention ANYTHING about whatÕs inside the box! IÕll have to dig that info up myself.

There is a floppy cable adapter to if you do want to install a floppy drive, at least you have the option. Beyond that, there really isnÕt much else in this box beyond the 10GB 5400RPM HDD and a 100W HIPRO Power Supply.

The first boot
I set everything up in preparation for the first boot. Immediately, when I plugged the power cord in, the PC powered up. I had to flip the power switch on the back. Probably a BIOS setting, IÕll check later.

Power on the box and I see the bios informationÉ

Phoenix Ð Award BIOS v6.00PGÉ
Model: EPIA V BIOS revision: 1.02

Main Processor: VIA C3 800A MHz(133×6.0)
Memory Testing: 122880K OK + 8192K Shared Memory DRAM CLK: 133MHz

Next it begins its attempt to PXE boot from the network. After about a minute or so, IÕm finally presented with a Grub Boot menu with Òdesktop/lxÓ as my only option to select within 5 seconds.

Another minute goes by and IÕm finally presented with a logon screen. As per the card I plug in ÒuserÓ for the user name and Òuser.123Ó for the password. Before long IÕm presented with a ÒWelcome to Lycoris Desktop/LS!Ó dialog box and a nice looking desktop.

I close the dialog box and proceed to check out the system, wanting to change my resolution as it just doesnÕt look well on this 17Ó monitor. Having used KDE before I figured this shouldnÕt be a problemÉ So I click on the flower, select System Management and then Control Center.

I choose the Video and Monitor Category, and then I select the Screen Resolution Item. Suddenly up pops a message stating that the System Password is needed.

OkaaaayÉ so what is it? IÕve tried just about every logical combination that I can think ofÉ [Ll]ycoris, [blank], password, pass, user.123, MICROTEL, [Mm]icrotel Ð nothing works.

I Need Help
OKÉ no problem. IÕll head over to the Lycoris web site and see what I can find concerning what the root password is within their community forums. Nothing listed there so I went ahead and registered and made a request to see if anyone else had a clue. Not wanting be held up by this slight, but irritating oversight, I decided to contact Microtel Technical Support. I located a toll-free number in the documentation.

My call was answered quickly by a receptionist who told me there were 2 other calls in front of me. So I proceeded to waitÉ and waitÉ and wait.

In the meantime, while I was waiting I checked the Lycoris site once again. I noticed a response to my posting with the Microtel forum. The helpful sole told me there should be a piece of paper with the password information on it. I explained that the only thing I had was a card with the Lycoris Product ID on it and the login name (user) and password (user.123) on it, but nothing concerning the system (root) password.

Still waiting on holdÉ (18 minutes have passed).

Still on hold after 28 minutes. In that time I have carried on a conversation within the support forum on the Lycoris community site. Certainly no complaints there, but this hold time is a bit irritating.

So finally after 32 minutes, IÕm greeted by a Microtel Technical Support personÉ I explain my situation and he tells me that it should be on the card with the Lycoris Product ID. I explained to him that all that was there was two stickers with ID: User, and PW: USER.123. He states, “that’s odd… Use ‘system.123′ for the system password.” Apparently, on the Lycoris Product ID card, at the bottom of it should have been two labels; 1 label with the default user ID “user” and its password, “user.123″ and the other with the system, or root password “system.123″

Something else to noteÉ these are typed in all uppercase letters on the labelsÉ this could be a problem as the password was in fact all lowercase.

This conversation took all of about 30-45 seconds tops. Before it was over however, I was corrected by the technician on the pronunciation of the word Lycoris. As explained to me, itÕs pronounced Lyco ris NOT licorice

So with that hurdle out of the way, I can now begin to test out the rest of the system.

The remainder of my tests were nothing major or earthshaking… just typical tests to see how the system responded and to see just what all was included in the Lycoris distribution.

My Opinion

Based on my observations from the Lycoris Community Support pages, it appears that Microtel needs to work on the establishment of a “Final QA” before these boxes leave the floor. It seems that there have been several instances where the Product ID card (which contains the needed passwords) has been missing, or as in my case, had to identical labels rather than the 1 label for the user and 1 label for the system password.

As far as a machine goes… It’s really not all that bad for a first time user machine. However, the selection of Linux, though cost-effective, I don’t feel is quite ready for prime-time as far as first-time users are concerned. Keep in mind, these units are being sold at Wal-Mart and as such, it must be taken in to consideration that most people purchasing these rock-bottom priced units are very likely to be first-time users. As such, I believe the system could still be a little friendlier. Making it clear on how to set the unit up for access to an ISP, or using it with an existing cable-modem.

In conclusion, though this machine would be a perfect machine for someone like my Mom, who is not techno-literate, it would be just fast enough to serve her needs. However, I don’t think it would be a system that she could set up herself without numerous calls to Seattle to ask me for help. By then frustration would surely have set in and she would want to take it back.

If I were to rate the entities…
On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being poor and 5 being great) I would rate the three entities as follows:

Wal-Mart – 3.5 – Pretty reasonable machine for a nice price

Lycoris – 4.5 – The OS does just about everything that it’s supposed to do. There are still a few things that could be a little clearer. The Community Support Forum is excellent with many friendly fellow users eager to assist however the can.

Microtel – 1.5 – The fact that there have been several mistakes within the QA process there needs to be a little more attention paid to details. MAJOR details like default passwords. 30 minute plus hold times is unreasonable just to obtain a password.

-KHD