Thursday, April 3, 2014

Novena

Despite my current condition of chronic non-employment, I may be in the market for a new laptop. It is kind of a cobbler's children with no shoes situation. The battery doesn't last very long, but I could replace it. However, the laptop occasionally shuts down completely - just a power off. That is probably a loose latch for the battery which I have fixed I think. A couple of times a month, Windows just freezes. And the newest problem; max volume is just above a whisper. None of these items would push me over the edge, but I see them as symptoms of age on this thing. If I do discover I need to buy a new one, I probably won't go with the Novena despite the hacker cred it would give me.
"A new open-hardware computing platform, flexible and powerful, designed for use as a desktop, laptop, or standalone board. 
Novena is a 1.2GHz, Freescale quad-core ARM architecture computer closely coupled with a Xilinx FPGA. It's designed for users who care about open source, and/or want to modify and extend their hardware: all the documentation for the PCBs is open and free to download, the entire OS is buildable from source, and it comes with a variety of features that facilitate rapid prototyping."

4 comments:

  1. Loving my new Chromebook. Cheap, fast and tons of battery. You can Linux it up if you want as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had the same problem with shutdowns and freeze-ups, it was the CPU overheating.

    If it's an old laptop it's probably the airways inside clogged with cat hair, pollen, cig smoke, etc. I'd recommend getting the service manual for the laptop and tearing it down as far as you can, inspecting and cleaning parts as you go.

    Use a digital camera as you tear it down to make it easier to put it back together.

    The sound thing could be many differing problems.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow 500 USD just for the board!
    Agree with Anonymous, clean it up, new fan if necessary.
    All the new are new for 18 months then obsoleted by something else.
    That is why I use older refurbished office laptops and install an SSD more memory replace the CD with a second drive.
    I have two HP6910s running like this. Both dual boot.
    It's a good bang for the buck if you are not a gamer or draftsman.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm with you... I think I need Windows. I say "think" because I've not actually walked the list of all the applications I really need. Plus if I get a job soon, I bet I will have a laptop provided for me - and unless it is completely locked down, I bet I could use it for a few personal odds and ends.

      Delete