Xtra PC - a bit tecchy

[Dave2002]

Although this is a little bit tecchy I'm posting it on the station platform.

Has anyone tried the Xtra PC USB based operating system which pops up in adverts sometimes?
I saw a Youtube review which suggested it wasn't bad - for the money.

My understanding is that basically it is a bootable USB version of Linux - which looks a bit like a Windows GUI. The adverts are probably misleading in so far as most people will have a Windows PC, and they're probably not going to get Windows - so Advertising Standards people might take an interest. However, the other claims for it may be justified. If it will actually boot up a reasonable version of Linux, and do most of the basics, then it could be worth the modest sum for the dongle thing.

It is of course possible to install versions of Linux which can either be freely downloaded, or the LiveCDs which are distributed with magazines such as Linux Format will often have distros on - typically about £6-7, but many people may just not have the patience or technical know how to work with those.

I do have to say that if I could get a bootable version on a USB stick which would "just work" in under 30 seconds, and for under £20, I'd be quite tempted - to avoid the faff of having to make bootable sticks.

I just wonder if anyone here has actually tried any of these, or if they are just a scam. I think they're probably not a scam, though they may not do quite what is claimed.

I have made bootable USB drives before for MacOS and bootable hard drives for Linux, so know that it's possible, and can work, and the performance can be good enough for testing. If the USB drives are fast enough these pre-loaded memory sticks could help some people. I probably ought to make up a Linux bootable SSD - now that SSDs are getting cheaper.

[ardcarp]

If I understood a word of it, I'd be happy to comment! I thought you were having a rant about something (as techy looked like tetchy!)
Are you sure the techie board wouldn't be better?

[Bryn]

Although this is a little bit tecchy I'm posting it on the station platform.

Has anyone tried the Xtra PC USB based operating system which pops up in adverts sometimes?
I saw a Youtube review which suggested it wasn't bad - for the money.

My understanding is that basically it is a bootable USB version of Linux - which looks a bit like a Windows GUI. The adverts are probably misleading in so far as most people will have a Windows PC, and they're probably not going to get Windows - so Advertising Standards people might take an interest. However, the other claims for it may be justified. If it will actually boot up a reasonable version of Linux, and do most of the basics, then it could be worth the modest sum for the dongle thing.

It is of course possible to install versions of Linux which can either be freely downloaded, or the LiveCDs which are distributed with magazines such as Linux Format will often have distros on - typically about £6-7, but many people may just not have the patience or technical know how to work with those.

I do have to say that if I could get a bootable version on a USB stick which would "just work" in under 30 seconds, and for under £20, I'd be quite tempted - to avoid the faff of having to make bootable sticks.

I just wonder if anyone here has actually tried any of these, or if they are just a scam. I think they're probably not a scam, though they may not do quite what is claimed.

I have made bootable USB drives before for MacOS and bootable hard drives for Linux, so know that it's possible, and can work, and the performance can be good enough for testing. If the USB drives are fast enough these pre-loaded memory sticks could help some people. I probably ought to make up a Linux bootable SSD - now that SSDs are getting cheaper.

It's basically a con. It's really easy to knock up a Mint Linux bootable USB drive. I seem to recall there are even YouTube videos showing how. My understanding is that the XTRA PC is no real improvement on such.

[Frances_iom]

why not just go to Debian or Ubuntu or Mint's home page - they all offer free downloads for PC or even RaspberryPIs - and you can find ways of putting these onto a CD or a mem stick - buying a magmight be easier if your download speed is low or if the mag has an attractive version on its DVD (tho one of the 2 main mags have stopped the DVD during the lockdown) - my suggestion is to buy a RaspberryPi 3 or 4 and download Raspbian and play with that

[Dave2002]

It's basically a con. It's really easy to knock up a Mint Linux bootable USB drive. I seem to recall there are even YouTube videos showing how. My understanding is that the XTRA PC is no real improvement on such.

I think I disagree with you there. You and I can fairly easily “knock up” a Mint, or Ubuntu, or XXXX Linux system that runs off a USB stick. Then it would have to have appropriate applications put on.

It may be a con, but it may be not quite as bad as that. If it works, and can actually provide a system which the supposed target audience can install and use, then it might be reasonable value. I would buy one if it were easy to install and to use, and cost under £20, as it would save me time, and might be useful to have.

I am probably not in the target customer base. I don’t want to promote the product, but I may post links of YouTube reviews which didn’t seem too biased. Maybe Spencer - Click - could do a review in the BBC’s weekly programme. If it is a scam or con, then that should be highlighted, but it might just be a gadget which could help some people. I have applications which might fit quite well into such a device.

If anyone has actually bought and tried one, it would be good to hear about experiences here.

[Dave2002]

why not just go to Debian or Ubuntu or Mint's home page - they all offer free downloads for PC or even RaspberryPIs - and you can find ways of putting these onto a CD or a mem stick - buying a magmight be easier if your download speed is low or if the mag has an attractive version on its DVD (tho one of the 2 main mags have stopped the DVD during the lockdown) - my suggestion is to buy a RaspberryPi 3 or 4 and download Raspbian and play with that

I don’t want yet another gadget, and even though the Raspberry Pi is pretty cheap for a small computer, it doesn’t compete with the £15 price I’ve seen quoted for the USB based system.

I do have several of the Linux mags with discs from before the lockdown, and I would definitely consider mapping a system onto SSD, but I do have quite a number of projects to work on. For me time is important, and I’d rather spend time with the applications or running/using applications than installing yet another OS, or some other needlessly awkward systems maintenance task which I could otherwise avoid.

[MrGongGong]

Not come accross this so had a look
and

Xtra-PC Pro gives you speed, large storage capacity, and FileRez software. With 64GB of storage, Xtra-PC Pro provides all the storage you need for photos, files, music, and movies. And with fast speed, Xtra-PC Pro is the best value for a full transformation of your old, outdated, slow computer.

This is BS , pure and simple

ALL the storage I need ?

I'm just editing some of this mornings session.
It's about 9 GB
So 9 GB per session ..........

MOVIES ?

I guess if you want your music to sound like it was recorded in a washing machine its ok
but seems a waste of time to me .........

So I'm not the target audienece BUT .........

[Bryn]

https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/tutorial-create-a-usb-stick-on-windows#1-overview

https://www.lifewire.com/create-uefi-bootable-linux-mint-usb-2202084

https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/linux/create-a-bootable-ubuntu-usb-flash-drive-the-easy-way/

https://www.fossmint.com/best-linux-distros-to-install-on-usb/

[Dave2002]

If I understood a word of it, I'd be happy to comment! I thought you were having a rant about something (as techy looked like tetchy!)
Are you sure the techie board wouldn't be better?

Re “tecchy” I am amused by the comment, coming from yourself, with a user name which I often read as ‘ard carp.

If you do a search for “youtube xtrapc review” you should see a range of options - from some which suggest it’s a scam, to others which appear to show the stick being tested, and in some cases the review/tests do have a veneer of veracity, perhaps they are even genuine. I could still post a link of one or two which look more serious.

At one level I was simply asking if anyone has tried this and could comment authoritatively. I deliberately didn’t go to the techie board as I thought that others might have been more likely to have tried this - if they’d seen the adverts.

[johnb]

It seems that Xtra-PC is based on Lubuntu, a lightweight version of Ubuntu.

Admittedly Xtra-PC appears to be packaged with some applications but if I needed a lightweight version of Ubuntu I would download one of the free official packages. Installing LibreOffice, etc is pretty simple.

I certainly wouldn't install or use software or an operating system on the basis of advertisements.

[Bryn]

Not come accross this so had a look
and



This is BS , pure and simple

ALL the storage I need ?

I'm just editing some of this mornings session.
It's about 9 GB
So 9 GB per session ..........

MOVIES ?

I guess if you want your music to sound like it was recorded in a washing machine its ok
but seems a waste of time to me .........

So I'm not the target audienece BUT .........

Oh, I don't know. Back in the early 1990s, shortly after I bought my first CD burner (which burned as fast as x2!) I also invested in the highest capacity hard drive to have just come on the market, a massive 2.5GB. Enough room to both record and edit a Radio 3 evening concert at 44.1kHz sample rate and 16-bit quantization, ready to burn to a couple of CD-Rs (max capacity 74 minutes and costing around £1.60 each (discounted price). The hard disc worked out at around £1 per 10 MB. Tell that to the kids today . . . .

[Dave2002]

Oh, I don't know. Back in the early 1990s, shortly after I bought my first CD burner (which burned as fast as x2!) I also invested in the highest capacity hard drive to have just come on the market, a massive 2.5GB. Enough room to both record and edit a Radio 3 evening concert at 44.1kHz sample rate and 16-bit quantization, ready to burn to a couple of CD-Rs (max capacity 74 minutes and costing around £1.60 each (discounted price). The hard disc worked out at around £1 per 10 MB. Tell that to the kids today . . . .

We could do a reprise of the four Yorkshiremen here .... "Back in the day .... we only had a bank of 12 x EDS 60 drives - each with 60 Mbytes of storage", "Aye, aye, aye - you think you had problems. We only had a couple of 2.5 Mbyte drives in a PDP 11 and a box of floppies for backup", "Hang on, we didn't have drives at all - we had paper tape and we had to put in the samples for the audio by punching holes in them from a printed chart". "Took ****y ages ..."

Etc.

Over to you!

[MrGongGong]

Still got the ATARI 1040ST
No hard drive
OS on floppy disc

[Dave2002]

Still got the ATARI 1040ST
No hard drive
OS on floppy disc

I might still have a Sinclair Spectrum somewhere - not sure - might have gone when we moved.

At one time I used a machine with key panels to boot it up.

Now, where did I put my abacus?

[Frances_iom]

I might still have a Sinclair Spectrum somewhere - not sure - might have gone when we moved.

At one time I used a machine with key panels to boot it up.

Now, where did I put my abacus?

as we appear to be in our anecdotage - anyone else ever programmed a PDP1 or a DDP516 (the big brother to the H316 which ran the original ARPA nodes) - the 516 actually had in late 60s a hard drive - 2MWords (4MByte) powered by a probably half horse power motor in a cabinet maybe 1m square by 200mm