| HP preinstalls Linux on SMB desktop |
Dec. 10, 2008
 HP and Novell today jointly announced that HP will pre-load Novell's SUSE LInux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) on its Compaq dc5850 desktop PC for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Additionally, Novell announced it will maintain a repository of educational software for SLED users, including dc5850 buyers.
HP's dc-5850 is a small form-factor PC typically available with FreeDOS, or else various versions of Windows. Ordering the machine with Linux pre-installed will not add to the cost of the PC, which HP lists as starting at $520.
dc5850 hardware
The dc5850 is available with processor choices ranging from an AMD Sempron LE-1250 clocked at 2.2GHz to an AMD Phenom X4 9600B chip clocked at 2.3GHz. Between the single-core Sempron and quad-core Phenom, the company is offering some seven other processor choices.
Graphics processor choices, meanwhile, range from an AMD Radeon 3100 IGP (GPU integrated with Northbridge) to a choice between two x16 ("by 16") PCIe external cards, each with 256MB of dedicated graphics memory: Nvidia's GeForce 8400 GS, or ATI's Radeon HD 2400 XT.
The dc5850's memory can be expanded to 8GB, but typically comes with 512MB, 1GB, or 2GB of 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM. Storage options comprise 80GB-to-500GB SATA drives, or 80-to-250GB 7200 RPM SATA drives. Naturally, optical drives include the option of LightScribe, long supported under Linux.
HP lists I/O as follows:- 8 x USB 2.0 (2 front, 6 in pack)
- Audio I/O front and rear
- 2 x PS/2
- 1 x serial (optional 2nd)
- 1 x parallel port
- 1 x RJ-45 (gigabit Ethernet)
- 1 x DVI-D
Expansion, meanwhile, comprises four PCI slots, including two low-profile x1 slots and a single x16 slot. The machine measures 13.30 x 14.9 x 3.9 inches (33.8 x 37.85 x 10cm) and weighs 16.75 pounds (7.62 kg).
SUSE's Educational bundle
The dc5850 is a fairly typical midrange desktop PC with moderate expansion capabilities. More interesting, perhaps, is the bundle of educational apps that Novell and HP have assembled. While announced concurrently with the dc5850, the bundle will presumably also work on Lenovo's S10e, a netbook targeting the education market, and available pre-loaded with SUSE Linux.
Novell says it will maintain about 40 educational applications in its special repository of educational software. However, many of the included applications are just supporting libraries, so what's actually available for the time being includes:- Abiword -- A lightweight word processor similar to older Microsoft Word releases, and hence well-suited to netbooks, or to the superannuated hardware often used in schools.
- Blender -- A 3D graphics creation suite (gallery)
- Celestia -- Three-dimensional space simulation program (gallery)
- Dia -- A graphics program for creating function block, vector, schematic, and other types of diagrams (gallery)
- Lilypond -- music notation software (gallery)
- LittleWizard -- Graphical software development environment for children (gallery)
- TuxMath (Tux, of Math Command) -- Resembling the classic arcade game "Missile Command," it bombs the user with math equations that must be solved quickly, in order to save civilization (gallery)
- TuxMathScrabble -- A mathematical version of the popular Hasbro word game (gallery)
- TuxType -- Like TuxMath, but aimed at teaching fast typing
- TuxWordSmith -- A multi-language version of Scrabble, the popular Hasbro word game (gallery)
- Yafray -- Ray tracing program (gallery)
Grant Ho, product manager at Novell, described HP as a good partner that has previously preloaded SUSE on other desktop products in the past, including the HP-2133 Mini-Note. Novell's other OEM partners, as listed by Ho, include Lenovo (s10e netbook), Dell (FX160 thin clients), Wyse (thin clients), and Microstar International. "Our overall Linux strategy is bringing SLED across all the different form factors, including netbooks, nettops, desktops, and mobile," Ho said.
Availability
The dc5850 is available now, priced at $520 and up. More details may be found here.
-- Henry Kingman
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