Vodacom Linkbook review

RaptorSA said:
Little Jimmy takes the notebook by the screen and beats his grandmother to death, then he takes the blood covered notebook, still warm and slippery from Grandma's blood and shoves it up Vodacom's ass... THE END.
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Ohh, I love tech slash fiction.
 
I've used the Linkbook. It's a great device. Admittedly it's not aimed at your average MrBroadband reader, but as a device that is aimed at, and priced for, your average housekeeper/petrol attendant I think it is phenomenal. As bandwidth costs drop, the bundle will probably include more date. Imagine the possibilities for education and democracy if you could push South Africa's internet penetration to 50% +.
 
I was initially interested in getting this for a family member, but endless request via the Linkbook website remained unanswered. Seems the "info" form you fill in on the website is connected to a black hole.

I eventually contacted Vodacom Customer services and they had no idea of what I was talking about, claiming it is not one of their products. At that stage I gave up and bought a netbook linked to the ADSL wifi router at home and I am very glad I did.
 
While I am all for the device, this is tied to contract, so the target market I suspect are not going to get past the credit application. On top of that, Vodacom still don't have a proper cap on their contract data bundles, so these poor souls can potentially look forward to huge out of bundle bills at the end of the month.
 
I sincerely doubt this will have flash. A netbook can be had for about R2000 with Intel Atom which is totally superior currently to all ARM processors, in terms of raw power.
 
Would love some feedback from someone who's been using the linkbook . Not sure if I must get one.
 
pathetic... I didn't think it would be this bad....
 
Don't. Get a netbook. You'll actually be able to get things done with it.
 
The people at Vodacom did not pass maths.

I was thinking of getting one of these for each of my nieces. They're under 8 years old, and do not need data, so I wanted just the LinkBook, vc can keep their data.

So I phoned up the local Vodashop and asked them. Yes, you can buy it cash, for R 3276

Uhm.... HUH??

By my calculations:

24 x R 40 = R 960 (For the LinkBook)
24 x R159 = R 3816 (For the data)

BUT, by the price they're quoting on the device, you're actually paying:

24 x R 136.50 (For the LinkBook)
24 x R 62.50 (For the data)

Seems if you buy it cash, they rip you off on the price of the LinkBook and if you take it on contract, they rip you off on the price of the data. Either way, The Big Bag wolf WILL rip it's clients off any way they see fit.
 
News just in, on the backpage of the Rapport Magazine you can get this package (Linkbook + MyMeg300) for just R99 over 24 months. This deal seems much better :-) Does anybody know if the HSDPA is limited to 3.6 or 7.2?
 
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Who cares, you only get 300mb anyway, that is the major limiting issue.
 
hk1979 said:
... on the backpage of the Rapport Magazine you can get this package (Linkbook + MyMeg300) for just R99 over 24 months. This deal seems much better :-)
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Much better, but it's a tight bandwidth limit. For a "Internet focused device", which their hip wording and hype (and let's face it) promotes for daily use. That gives you ~10MB per day.

That will cover your email, if you don't download much attachments. And you stay of media-heavy sites. On second thought it might be better to use a text-only web browser :P

Tangent: I bet I could install another OS on there, it's just a netbook after all. Make it more light-weight (fluxbox/openbox) and get full control over the wireless. For techy users that will be a last resort hack, if there are no other PC's available, while in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. For someone who can't afford much else, a hacked linkbook could be a very cheap alternative to not having anything. I'll call it a hinkbook. LOL.
 
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Linkbook == Oversized phone without the calling or sms function.
 
The data charges REALLY anger me. Less than a R1000 for the device, and then you get royally ****ed by vodacom. Vodacom should be ashamed offering this thing to the masses.
 
nakedpeanut said:
Looking on the data bundles it's R139 for 300mb so it's actually R60! Some one never did their maths right :wtf: So it's R1440 for the thing! Now it seems a little more expensive!
For that price you can get a phone with a faster processor! But smaller screen..

I still prefer my InterNetBook... Sounds cooler :p
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sounds a little expensive to me, but I think the concept is a good one- I know a lot of people who are terrified of pc's, and would welcome an easier solution.
 
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