ZaReason's New Terra A20 Ubuntu Netbook: Everything Works
By: Paul Ferrill
Friday, October 2, 2009 11:28:35 AM EST
URL: http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reviews/6862/1/
Real Computer or Toy?
Netbooks of late have lost some of the charm and excitement marking their initial reception. Many vendors offer a variety of operating system options, but very few preload an OS targeted specifically at the netbook. ZaReason is one of the few and preloads Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook Remix on their Terra A20 netbook. What follows is our hands-on review of the device and how it fairs for the mobile traveler.
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If you were to take a look under the hood of the ZaReason netbook, you'd find an Intel Atom N270 1.6 GHz processor, up to 2 GB of memory and a variety of options for the hard disk. They also offer, as an option, a built-in 3G wireless modem ($99), but our test machine didn't have one. Network options include Draft-N Wifi and 10/100 wired Ethernet. Screen size is 10.2" and supports resolutions up to 1024X600. Three USB ports, an SD card reader VGA monitor and audio connectors round out the list of hardware items.
First Impressions
Boot time is definitely a plus for this little machine. If you've ever used a Windows-based laptop, you've probably suffered through boot time creep. With every new application and driver you load you'll see the time from hitting the power button to a useful computer slowly creep up. The ZaReason Terra A20 goes from power on to login screen in a snappy 45 seconds. Type in your user name and password and you can be doing useful work in another 10 seconds. That's not too shabby for a hard disk-based computer.
Ubuntu Netbook Remix uses a screen-heavy approach to launching applications or accessing specific file locations. This works really well on a screen with a relatively small amount of real estate. Similar applications are grouped together under wide buttons. Clicking on one of these buttons presents icons for each individual application in the middle area of the screen. It seems to work better than the traditional Ubuntu desktop on the smaller screen.
When you start typing on the keyboard, you will quickly notice the size of some of the keys. The three keys on the bottom row to the left of the shift key on most US keyboards are comma, period and the forward slash ("/"). On the ZaReason Terra A20 all three of these keys are smaller than the rest and take a little getting used to. We found it pretty easy to hit the slash key instead of the period, and that can be a problem when you're typing in web addresses or sentences in a document.
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Real Computer or Toy?
Answering that question really depends on your perspective. Netbooks aren't meant for heavy-duty computing tasks like graphics or number crunching. That doesn't mean they aren't up to the task of word processing, creating presentations or surfing the web. Ubuntu's Netbook Remix edition comes with pretty much everything you'd expect to see on the full desktop version. If you can't find what you need, it's typically available for download from the normal repositories.
To check out multitasking and memory usage we launched Open Office Writer, Calc and Presentation. We ran all three and Firefox without a hitch. The 2GB of system memory is probably the biggest reason here and is definitely worth the extra $29. Netbooks find their best application as a second computer for those times when you just need something to check e-mail or do some writing. The ZaReason Terra A20 definitely fits that bill.
Running Moblin on the Terra A20
Just for kicks we downloaded the final release of the Moblin OS to see if the ZaReason Terra A20 could handle it. Answer: with flying colors. Moblin boots extremely fast, even from a USB memory stick. Total time from choosing boot from USB on the Grub menu to a working desktop was right at 38 seconds. Moblin doesn't use a login screen so you boot right into the OS. Wifi worked without a hitch, and we were up and browsing the Web in just a few minutes time.
Moblin's approach to application launching is a disappearing tool bar at the top of the screen along with what they call application zones. The home screen, called myzone, shows your latest calendar and task list, a set of thumbnails showing your web history and a social services pane for twitter or last.fm updates. A people tab on the top toolbar lets you connect with people using a variety of IM sources including Google Talk, AIM, ICQ, IRC, MSN Yahoo and more.
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The Moblin GARAGE is essentially an application catalog with the expressed goal of making it easy to install new apps on your Moblin-based netbook. You'll need to get the most recent Moblin image if you want to give it a try. It links to the Moblin GARAGE website and will install any of the available apps over the Internet without the need to run any other tool.
Bottom Line
The specs on battery life say up to 3.5 hours, but we saw more like 2 hours of typical usage. ZaReason offers a spare battery for $39 which is a real bargain. We found the keyboard layout difficult to get used to, but your mileage may vary. Another minor annoyance was the USB ports on both sides of the device. For some reason they seem to be upside down from most other laptops -- meaning you have to flip your USB key over from what you would normally use. On the bright side the unit is light (2.8 lbs) and really travels well. The 3G modem would really make this thing useful for when you're sitting at the doctor's office waiting your turn.
At a base price of $349 it's slightly higher than similarly equipped units from Acer, Asus or HP. Walmart sells the Acer 10.1" Aspire with similar specs (except for Windows XP Home) for $298. Costco online has the same unit for $299.99 with others to choose from as well. You could get one of these and just install Ubuntu Netbook Remix yourself or, you could support a fine company in ZaReason and expect to get real service and support. The choice is yours.