Sun Ray Laptops in Japan
Really cool Sun Ray laptops are starting to show up in the office here
in Tokyo. The place is buzzing. I hope to get one of these
guys for home use and travel real soon.
This thing has a Japanese keyboard, so the layout is a little different.
Just a few keys live in different places, so it shouldn't be too bad.
I'll get used to it. It's nice and light, of course, since it has no
hard drive. It's just a network access device, basically, with the
brains in the software. I hate maintaining computers, so this is just
what I'm looking for. We'll see after I get it, though. :) I'm
anxiously waiting ...
Considering they don't have much to do, they have terrible battery life though.
Posted by 192.18.1.36 on September 21, 2007 at 07:50 PM JST #
These are just relabeled Accutech Gobi7 laptops. You can order them in North America, though the lead time is terrible. Here in Toronto, a reseller is Parameter Driven Solutions. And I agree, the battery life is awful for such a low workload, and the resolution on the displays is less than desirable at a paltry 1024x768. But hey, if you want SunRay portability, this is the way to go. Sun should have rolled out a laptop option a while back when it released the SunRay 2/2FS/270 line-up.
http://www.accutechco.com/2_product_02.html
Posted by Michael Kennedy on September 21, 2007 at 08:09 PM JST #
Jim, I'm typing this from Sun Ray at home. Not laptop. Not even the new model. I've had it for almost 2 years now.
Posted by iwan rahabok on September 21, 2007 at 10:18 PM JST #
Are they only available for bulk purchase? Will Sun eventually be distributing them?
Posted by Michael Schenck on September 22, 2007 at 12:45 AM JST #
Sun's goal is to convince the world that thin computing is the way to go. And that the SunRay is the way to do it. But there are objections (FUD) like poor performance, the need for connectivity for it to be useful. Because half of the solution is server based, it is hard for anyone to determine for themselves if this is the next big thing or if the FUD is correct. Sun needs to make it easier to get this technology in users hands. That was the same problem facing facing Linux several years ago and was addressed by putting distributions in magazines. (also true for new razors and popcorn) Sun also has the goal to get every the opportunity to experience Solaris. So here is a great SunRay idea that addresses both. Sun should use it's unused cycles and DASD in its data centers (also network.com) to provide free SunRay Solaris accounts to anyone for the asking. They can be limited in DASD, network, CPU but still be a usable account. Allow access only from a SunRay device which ensures that Sun will get some revenue from it (since only Sun or its licensees sell SunRay devices) and provide online only (documentation and blogs) support. The goal here is to get the technology in the hands of users so they can see for themselves how powerful session portability is. How pervasive network connectivity really is. How they never have to worry about upgrades, disk failures, etc. How performance is perfectly acceptable. It will start slow, but this technology sells itself once it is used. Then maybe telcos will be convinced to offer it as a service. Corporations will move to this model for obvious reasons. This would be a low cost and high impact in my opinion. Plus they get to see and use Solaris and experience it firsthand.
Posted by Scott on September 22, 2007 at 04:08 AM JST #
They need to listen to what you all are saying and make them work better. I love the idea and Sun needs something like this but they can't wait around for someone else to get it right. Don't think that other comapnies out there are not working on something like this to blow Sun out of the market. Again slow delivery, poor performance and late to market is going to kill Sun just like it did some years ago. I sure hope they get the price right as well and don't think you can sell them for over $300 each?
Posted by David Vasta on September 22, 2007 at 02:12 PM JST #
Thanks for the great comments and suggestions. In terms of battery life, I've heard that, too. We'll see. I view it as an experiment. :) The screen looked fine to me when I used it in the office yesterday, but again, we'll have to see how it works on the road and at home. Sun is or will be selling these in Japan, from what I understand, but I think it's just starting or will start soon. Not sure. But I think it's a great thing to give these to employees so we can test them in real work experiences. Personally, I love think clients (but recognize the performance issues), but we make a lot of fat clients too and so I think we are trying to balance both.
Posted by Jim Grisnazio on September 22, 2007 at 02:36 PM JST #
Posted by Peter Harvey's blog on October 03, 2007 at 09:29 PM JST #
What we need is essentially a Sun Ray Foleo(tm). This would be a mobile Sun Ray for most tasks, but when it's "untethered" still runs some productivity apps. Mostly the email/calendar stuff, probably something that integrates well with MS Exchange (as well as the usual POP, IMAP, CalDAV, etc.).
Posted by Charles Soto on October 03, 2007 at 10:33 PM JST #
Hello Mr. Grisanzio
i found this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimgris/sets/72157600585529837/
Some more pictures.
Greetings from Germany
/Markus
Posted by Markus on November 29, 2007 at 12:19 AM JST #
We have purchased accutech Gobi7 last month. We have configured server with SRSS. but unbale to communicate from client. Can anybody help me out in configuring the client.
Posted by Srinivas on March 27, 2008 at 04:50 PM JST #