ASUS Ubuntu Netbooks Launch in 100 Portuguese Stores

By , Published November 18, 2011

Ubuntu-loaded ASUS netbooks are now available to buy in over 100 stores across Portugal.

The ASUS EeePC 1215P, which boasts 9 hours of battery life, a dual-core 1.55Ghz Intel Atom processor and 12.2″ backlit screen, is now available to buy in over 100 Vobis and Worten stores.

This is latest retail landing for Ubuntu.

Last month Canonical teamed up with Dell to launch an Ubuntu-powered Dell netbook in over 200 Chinese Dell stores; and prior to that Vodacom’s Ubuntu-powered “web-book” was made available in some 1,000 stores across South Africa.

There’s nothing nicer than being able to physically carry home a new netbooks. And Portugese shoppers now have that luxury - with an added Ubuntu bonus!

Thanks to Canonical

Related posts:

  1. In-Store Ubuntu Displays, PCs Come to China
  2. ASUS’ kinect competitor ‘Xtion PRO’ Supports development on Ubuntu
  3. new style Stickers for sale in Ubuntu store – perfect for covering netbooks with!
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  • http://twitter.com/NtynRuben Ruben Verhack

    Any news on the price?

    • http://twitter.com/dbrenha daniel brenha

      279 €. about the average for a netbook

  • Aaron Honeycutt

    Wonderful to hear that Linux is going more commercial. Maybe then we will get more attention for the UI. I’m liking Unity a bit more everyday.

    • Freddi

      And here the ASUS post:
      http://pt.asus.com/News/LhdJxY2YyuxC8bnL/
      (there is not yet an official product page, I hope they won’t keep it as secret as Dell where you could only buy via phone or something like that)

      And here the Worten (retail market) page:
      http://www.worten.pt/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=04826099&oid=30|31|36905&c=2655842

    • Anonymous

      Linux has been going commercial for 7 years already. Ever heard of Xandros and Linpus

      ASUS first EeePC netbook came with Linux as well. It was a disaster, people started returning them cause they wanted windows and not linux (ASUS own words). Later ASUS dumped Linux and went with Windows XP as the OS.

      Linux on the laptops have been tried numerous times and all the time the product has simply failed. Their isn’t a single Linux based laptop (of any kind) that has been commercially successful.

      If at first you don’t succeed try try again

      • Anonymous

        While your right about  Linpus or Xandros failing I think Ubuntu has a better shot then Linpus or Xandros.

         Xandros is outdated,slow and didin’t really care about debian. They also haven’t released anything in nearly 3 years! besides that presto thing.

        Linpus was a weird beast it never caught on because they never had a community and no one supported this random company too much.
        A Why not use a different distro? why pick Linpus? Mentality I believe.

        Ubuntu and canonical are a lot more dedicated and frankly deserve it! I hope it works out. But I feel the dekstop needs more eyecandy. Other then that go Ubuntu!

        • http://www.facebook.com/hein.hanssen Hein Hanssen

          I bought an Asus Netbook with Xandros. At first it worked as a charm, but soon I got annoyed that software wasn’t updated to newer versions: the software provided was already outdated by at least half a year compared to Ubuntu at the time of delivery.

          I never understood why Asus choose Xandros, as Ubuntu was already then the most widely used distribution.

          Now again a crucial mistake is being made: only on netbooks and only in emerging markets is not the signal we need. It looks as if Ubuntu is a poor man’s alternative to Windows. And it’s not: it’s a clever choice for (almost) every computer user.

          • Anonymous

            “It looks as if Ubuntu is a poor man’s alternative to Windows.”

            It is easier to sell in emerging markets because of two reasons:
            - Windows share that uptakes the price of whole product is more important (to deliver as low price as possible),
            - market has lower number of competitors, so easy to success.

            It is also important how many people will use Ubuntu after buying a laptop. In emerging markets there is a lot more piracy, so buying a cheaper product and wipe out Ubuntu and install pirated Windows.

          • Marcos Marado

            While you’re right, I think you and this branch of comments are missing the whole point.
            More likely, this is a country that already counts with one success of small laptops with GNU/Linux: the government-sponsored edition of “Magalhães” (a Classmate PC) that was given or sold to children had dual-boot with Windows and GNU/Linux, and while teachers didn’t even bother to look into the Linux distro (Caixa Mágica), kids just love it. Wouldn’t this be a point in favor for ASUS to choose Portugal as a country to test this release?

          • Greg Simkins

            I have another theory.  Microsoft will aggressively crush Linux wherever is possibly can.  For evidence, see how they fought the OLPC program.  Also, how they pulled every stop to get an ISO vote in their favor.  The do not want children anywhere to get accustomed to using Linux.

            Evidently, Portugal is willing to stand up to Microsoft (or Portuguese retailers).

            Asus announced 3 Ubuntu Netbooks at beginning of June.  They are not available in the United States.  I don’t need to see the evidence to conclude that Microsoft threatened every US retailer not to handle the product.

          • Javier Rivera

            Portugal is not an emerging country. Sure it’s one of the poorer (or even the poorest) countries in Western Europe, but that means that it still is one of the richest of the world.

          • Gabriel Rousseau

            I just saw the list of the richest countries, and Portugal is 49, behind Iran, Taiwan, Algeria and many others…

          • Javier Rivera

            Around 35th of 190 in the GPD/per capita lists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP%29_per_capita) well above Iran or Argelia. Taiwan is a rich country. You are probably looking a GDP list, not per capita.If in this list Luxembourg is poor your are doing it wrong.

      • http://soundcloud.com/butyourecooltoo Tom Howe

        see the thing is, it mustn’t have been commercial enough, because I haven’t heard of either of those things. Either way, I’m glad *ubuntu* is going more commercial. a bit. dunno

    • José Antonio

      It would be awesome to have a decent computer shipped with linux with proper hardware support so that I wouldn’t have to worry about if hardware will work properly or not.

      • vincent van den Bergh

        Never heard of system76 (www.system76.com)

        • José Antonio

          hhhmmm this seems interesting :P

  • Francisco Tecedeiro

    Fantástico!!! – português

    Great!!! – english

    Linux is the future…

    • http://twitter.com/tonybarsilva Tony Silva

      Acho demasiado caros 

      Too extensive

      • Ricardo Barbosa

        i think you mean “expensive”

        btw, great news for all, not even the ubuntu user’s in Portugal like me, but for everybody ’cause this is the begin of a new era ! (at least they’re trying!)

    • Luís Miranda

      Linux is not the future. Linux IS here! Ubuntu… is the future:P

      • Chad Germann

        Lets check distrowatch   Servery says!!

        Linux mint Replacing Ubuntu at #1  2438

        Ubuntu Falls to #2  2080 and falling

        Unity has been a success at  taking the heat  and off Gnome-Shell

  • Anonymous

    what a good news!  nice initiative by canonical.

    i have the feeling that more and more “first time linux” people are coming.
    i mean the askubuntu website is full of new users with questions.
    and you can tell it’s their first experience.

    people in the streets recognize my t-shirt with the ubuntu logo on it.
    maybe not grandma’s and grandpa’s but still, the new generation is always more tech oriented and they know linux is there.

    • http://mark-y-a.myopenid.com/ Marky

      The sales guy where I bought my notebook recognized Ubuntu even when I had it ran initially on recovery mode. I was testing if the hardware was ok with Ubuntu 11.04 before I was going to buy anything, and I had an Ubuntu in a USB just for this purpose. He was like “Wow Ubuntu looks like a Mac!”, referring to Unity 2D. Ok I didn’t like his comment but still, at least he didn’t look confused. :)

      • Glaasje

        I had that same response a few days ago… ;)
        I took my laptop to my school to do some PLC programming and everyone was like ‘Wow! is that Mac!?’

        It was actually a bit funny because when i said that this is Ubuntu an that it is free they said ‘Awesome!’ :D

        I think that we got a few more Linux users that day.  :P

  • http://twitter.com/fmo1973 FMO
  • http://profiles.google.com/pmlsantos Pedro Santos

    Thats awesome! I seen somewhere it would be 269€ but not sure. And with windows same model its more 50€. This is great news! If i dont use windows why pay for it!? =)

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ON6CS3UJOSXBQ7RM3LUWAERN2A d4rk_l1gh7

      Windows Refund! (but sadly, not many people knows about this)

      • Anonymous

        Nah. Never works because stores sell computer and OS as one product.. So either you buy and pay for both, or you can return your computer and get a full refund.

        • Trevor F. Roll

          Wrong. Instead of just blurting out the first thing that jumps into your head, perhaps you should learn a little first.

          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_refund

          • Anonymous

            Funny, you should read this article too. :)

            This refund was OK for Windows XP (there was a license where it was stated that Microsoft will return the fund if you don’t use Windows), but for Windows 7 (from web page wikipedia.org link you provided):
            “By using the software, you accept these terms. If you do not accept
            them, do not use the software. Instead, contact the manufacturer or
            installer to determine its return policy. You must comply with that
            policy, which might limit your rights or require you to return the
            entire system on which the software is installed.”

          • Gabriel Rousseau

            I don’t know how is the law at your country, but in Brazil, the ”or require you to return the 

            entire system on which the software is installed” have no value. They are 2 different products, so, if you are not happy with one of them, you have the right to give back just the Windows. But this doesn’t means that it will be easy.

          • Trevor F. Roll

            Microsoft’s template EULA has absolutely no grounds on which to make claims over the hardware. None whatsoever. 

    • Filipe Gonçalves

      279€ http://www.worten.pt/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=04826099&oid=&c=

    • Marcos Marado

       Where did you see the same model with Windows? The most similar model I could find ships with Windows and costs… 450€.

  • http://profiles.google.com/pmlsantos Pedro Santos

    My bad. Its not the same model. But its similar, altought the ubuntu model has more RAM etc etc.
    To give the example.
    With WIndows http://www.fnac.pt/Asus-Eee-PC-1215B-BLK203M-Computador-Portatil-Computador-Netbook/a517618?PID=3045&Mn=-1&Ra=-5000&To=0&Nu=19&Fr=2

    And the ubuntu one: http://www.worten.pt/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=04826099&oid=30%7C31%7C36905&c=2655842

    • http://twitter.com/takluyver Thomas Kluyver

      So it looks like you can get an Ubuntu one with *better specs* than the Windows one for €50 less. Nice.

    • Anonymous

      hmm, they need a new video. that’s the old netbook remix. or is that what it comes with ?

  • http://twitter.com/jspaleta Jef Spaleta

    Is there an authoritative reference as to which version of Ubuntu  this comes pre-installed with? 

  • stijn de loose

    Still has a Windows button. :(

    • http://profiles.google.com/pmlsantos Pedro Santos

      OMG didnt see that! That’s kind of a sh*t!… =/

    • vincent van den Bergh

      That is the Super key. You can let the launcher pop up with the “Windows”key.

      • Anonymous

        I think that it’s the iconography not the functionality of the super/windows key that’s being questioned. I’m pretty sure that we all like having a key that launches the dash, what people don’t like is the laziness of leaving the logo of an os which isn’t installed by default on a devices keyboard.

        It would drive up production costs slightly (not significantly though i’d imagine) to print up different keys to the windows devices but at least it would feel like a cohesive and thought out product as opposed to a a speculative punt at selling an existing product to a different niche market by installing a different os.

        • vincent van den Bergh

          I have a Tux picture on my former Windows button.

  • http://twitter.com/orawas orawas

    Grrrrr… I want this here in the US damn it….

    • David Sharman

      You’ve got System 76!  Stop whingeing! :o)

      • http://twitter.com/orawas orawas

        funny story: them and zareason don’t have netbooks right now… I HAVE NO IDEA WHY….

      • Anonymous

        System 76 is no Asus

        • Anonymous

          Thats a bad thing?

          • Glaasje

            well…
            If you only want Asus….

          • Trevor F. Roll

            Asus make innovative, affordable and well-refined products. System 76 make overpriced, bulky junk. So yeah, it’s a bad thing.

          • Akshat Jain

            Frevor T. Roll

  • Ricardo Pereira

    Espectacular … :D I love my country …

    • Joel dos Santos Almeida

      Agora é espetacular!! I hate my language…

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IH4OBL3AGQV2WPP2OGHZRRKG64 Helder

        Para mim, será sempre espectacular.
        For me, it will always be “espectacular”. Nevermind the orthographic (dis)agreement …

  • http://novacut.com Novacut

    Kick ass.

  • paolino turone

    Good news! but a UK release would be good :-)

  • Joel dos Santos Almeida

    Yeey!! Here in Portugal!! Hopefully I’ll get one soon!

  • David Gomes

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdxbPgRwEUw This is the official Worten video for publicizing the laptop.
    It has text in Portuguese, which says at a certain point “Free of virus”, and “Compatible with Microsoft™ Office”.

    • Freddi

      What is that? I’ve seen a similar (old) video before, but now I’m wondering what Ubuntu version does this new ASUS have?

      From the video I saw the old netbook remix with karmic theme and left window buttons and Ubuntu font and Canonical’s new corporate style ?!

      • http://profiles.google.com/michel.memeteau michel memeteau

        It’s 10.10 . I guess with the TIME To MARKET frame it’s difficult to hava the lastest version in store . will be easier for 12.04

  • Anonymous

    quase me apetece ir comprar um computador novo só para sentir a pica de o ligar pela primeira vez e ver o splash do Ubuntu.

  • Luís Miranda

    Nice! 

  • Anonymous

    Nice. Roll it out in more countries. Asus, don’t be afraid of Microsoft threats. 

  • Anonymous

    This is great news.

  • http://profiles.google.com/francisco.pgv FV .

    Good news. A step towards the right direction. Until now it was almost impossible to buy a laptop with linux (or without any OS) in Portugal.
    It would also be nice to have more powerfull linux laptops available.

  • Anonymous

    the same goes here, my wife is very conventional/conservative and non techie (she even confused when switch from opera to firefox/chrome on windows) , when i show her ubuntu 11.10 with unity on it, she like it, its easy to understand she said.

    I am myself new ubuntu user (i have tried ubuntu 7.10 n 10.10 occasionally in college before) but  when I use ubuntu 11.10/Unity it just “WOW its works and so easy to understand”.

     I try gnome shell too, but i think it just to hard to understand, I think its to complicated. my brother said when he look at my laptop, its that ubuntu, “Wow its looks good”.

    to day i will buy new netbook for my wife (asus 1215B or lenovo s205) and she agreed to install ubuntu 11.10 on it. and I Will continue to promote ubuntu to my friend here in Indonesia, so they can left their pirated windows.

    sorry for my english.

  • Luis Manuel Ramos Da Costa

    Why did I bought an Asus 1215N ! It is just a big piece of “Optimus” ….

    Btw great news ^^

    Greats from Portugal :D

  • lmx insider

    Only to tell you guys that I will buy it ;) , i will sell my asus 1005ha too hehehe !!!
    This notebook, is great, and with a good price…it have a special, customized OS, from canonical, but i think that, it don’t came with the last version…, my question is…if i upgrade it, it will lose the customizations made to it???
    because if it will, i don’t now!!!Maybe i will stay wit the standard version for a lot more of time!!!
    I love it!!!!!!!!!
    Ho i forgot to tell you that i live in Portugal :)
    We are almost in the christmas…do you believe in this, guys????its amazing!!This is a special gift that canonical send to me, and i will get it!!!
    Sorry my English.

    Regards

  • Anonymous

    I wonder if the super key has Ubuntu on it or the windows one as in the blog image above.

  • Anonymous

    Getting closer to the uk :) maybe next year. Who knows

  • Christoph Seeliger

    The design is identical to the 1215B which I own. I can say that it is a very well-built piece of subnotebook :D

  • http://www.facebook.com/hein.hanssen Hein Hanssen

    Problem is that it’s not widely available nor being widely advertised. In Holland we can’t order Ubuntu powered hardware from Dell, our German neighbors can though. Strangest about this is that all hardware is coming from a single factory: no matter if it’s for the Dutch or German market.

    Asus computers with Ubuntu? Very nice, if this would be available all over Europe, all over the World.

    • lmx insider

      hi,
      this product in in Portuguese market, i guess in spanish to, italy, german…for now this is the search i have made!!

      regards

  • Anonymous

    Too bad that except for in the press release, the advertised model is nowhere to be found on Asus Portugal’s site. At least not through the menu system.

    http://pt.asus.com/News/LhdJxY2YyuxC8bnL/

    You can in fact find it by entering “1215p” in the search box in the upper right corner, but all you get is a largely blank, non-descript page.

    http://pt.asus.com/Eee/Eee_PC/Eee_PC_1215P

    A poor marketing effort.

    And overall these “Hey, from our lineup of 100+ computers, we generously give you one low-end model with Linux/Ubuntu” deals are bordering on the ridiculous.

  • Anonymous

    Unfortunately I neither live in Portugal nor in China or SA. Maybe they could resell hadware like this in the canonical store. It would we great to have a source for Ubuntu-certified hardware! The Apple approach!

    Currently, whenever I buy a new laptop or desktop, I spend an incredible lot of time checking the linux compatibility. It’s really annoying sometimes.

  • http://twitter.com/rawrimbally Baljit Singh

    See what Canonical are doing is tactical thinkin’. They’re going straight for the bull instead of dodging it. Getting all up in M$ sh*t and that’s good in a sense. Going for the big populated countries is good marketing, but they need to remember about the smaller markets as well, like some countries in Asia, or Australia or New Zealand.

    So far, Canonical are being very smart.

  • Ziv Leyes

    Netbook with Ubuntu, nice, but the winkey is a fail!

  • Joel dos Santos Almeida

    Gotcha!!! My parents bought me one!! TESTING IT NOW!!!

    • Joel dos Santos Almeida

      It rings Ubuntu 10.10. Updating now!

      • lmx insider

        Can you tell us if it have a win logo on the menu key??
        I prefer to buy one with the ubuntu/tux key if it has one, if not …well maybe i will reshape it :)
        Can you give more informations about the machine? the graphic card model??the ram in it, etc, noise(fans), responsiveness…tell us i can’t wait to buy one…
        in what store you have bayed it??(explicit the name please, because I don’t want to go round and round and end without a notebook ;) )

        regards 

        • Joel dos Santos Almeida

          It has the windows logo key…The graphic card is the usual, a Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3150, it has 2GB DDR3 of memory, 500GB for the hard drive. It REALY fast comparing it to my older netbook (Acer Aspire One 260) and it has a better cooling system. It is almost completely silent…

          I’ve bought it on Worten here in Portugal. Here is the website:

          http://www.worten.pt/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=04826099&oid=30|31|36905&c=2655842

          I also found it on Vobis: http://www.vobis.pt/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=04826099&oid&c

          Watch de pictures!

          PS: Sorry for any gramatical issue on my speech xD

          • David Gomes

            I like the sticker, did it come with the laptop?

          • Joel dos Santos Almeida

            Yup :P The Asus sticker are kind of stupid, tey make publiciti to Super Hybrid Engide, wich is not avaible to Ubuntu…

          • lmx insider

            Joel:
            can you tell us  How long does the battery ??and is in standby or when you are using him??
            Thanks in advance

          • Anonymous

            LOL the ubuntu certified sticker is right below the windows button…

          • Anonymous

            Whoa! your right!
            I kinda wish they had more generic button on the keyboard Instead of a Windows or “Super Key”. So we wouldn’t need custom key stickers for laptops running Linux or other oses.

            Hey its the super Key Why not a Superman logo? haha.

      • http://www.jusargumentandi.co.cc Jean

        Really? But why 10.10? 11.10 is so much better!

        • Joel dos Santos Almeida

          Yes, it is better, but since 11.04 Ubuntu started to have some power drain and heating problems… I think that’s the reason: To say that the battery has 8h of power…

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IH4OBL3AGQV2WPP2OGHZRRKG64 Helder

    I had no idea that this model was just for the portuguese market, I assumed it was a worlwide thing.
    Maybe if it succeeds here in Portugal , ASUS will expand it to other countries ( and I sure hope that it will).
    Boa sorte ASUS!

  • Oliver Förster

    It’s nice to read about this. It’s a way back from Microsoft. I like it! 

  • http://www.redtube.com ActionParsnip

    Is it 9 hours battery under ubuntu though? I’ve seen too many laptops billed with high battery time only to find it is not the same under Linux and is only that long due to some software gubbins in Windows.

  • http://twitter.com/howythegeek Howard Birch

    I’ve seen Ubuntu in a Norwegian library. :)
    They’re available for the people to use if they want. I noticed that they used Maverick or Lucid. (It used some Gnome 2.x variant.)
    It gave me belief in the Norwegian people+computers. :)

  • http://twitter.com/adonetubuntu ubuntu install

    Do they ship in the entire european market, or only in portugal?

  • Eduardo Rodriguez Reyes

    congratulations ubuntu!

  • http://twitter.com/Zta77 Stephan Henningsen

    Lovely news!  Now if only Lenovo would include allow me to buy a ThinkPad with Ubuntu preinstalled so I wouldn’t have to waste money on those horrible legacy operating systems they shove up your … hard disk.

 
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