The Kogan AGORA 10.1" NETBOOK PRO cost AUD439 plus AUD30 postage (Total $469.00 inc GST of $42.63) and arrived, in a white box, without a manual running Linux.
The touchpad is a bit sensitive and takes some getting used to - but the netbook worked fine, when balanced on a knee at a Conference. For regular use, an external monitor, keyboard and mouse are more comfortable.
The motorolla U9 SD, popped up on the desktop as a writeable device, when the U9 was plugged in via a USB cable. There is also a slot for removable SD media which worked well for downloading stills from the Canon Camera
Unfortunately, there isn't a firewire port, so video has to be transferred to the netbook from the Cannon Camera, to the Targa with the latest version of DVGRAB from Synaptic(Kino and other software on the Targa, became unoperational when Video Conferencing/Flash Software Package was installed on the Targa). Transfer from the Targa to the Kogan is via a USB disk.
The raw video was then edited with Kino, which is easily downloadable via the Synaptic Package Manager, which is available via the gOS menu, through the System Preferences/System Administration option. The Kogan coped with the Video and Audio whereas the Targa had difficulty playing the audio, while the video was being edited. There was a problem downloading ffmpeg, however the OggConvertor, also available through the Synaptic Package Manager satisfactorily converts audio (WAV) files output from Kino to ogg (Vorbis) or DV to ogv (Theora Video). Listen to the birds
Internet access is via a Huawei Model D-100 Router and Huawei HSPDA E-169 4G Modem. The router provides either LAN access via ethernet or WiFi and both work. According to the Kogan website the E-169 modem should work without the router - but that wasn't the experience of this user.
It was just a matter of plugging in the USB mouse (mine ironically labelled Microsoft), USB keyboard, ASUS VH192D widescreen monitor and Epson Stylus C40UX printer.
The fan is quieter than on the Targa, but is unexpectedly on quite a lot of the time. As you can see in the picture the netbook is configured not to shut down when the lid is closed.
The Kogan came pre-loaded with gOS a version of Ubuntu. This includes Firefox and Thunderbird. Transferring the email between the two systems was relatively straightforward. Create an account on the new system then copy the files from the old system to the appropriate directory /home/username/.mozilla-thunderbird/mail-username/Mail.
Transferring the address books was a little more complicated. They had to be exported then imported into the new system.
If you find the Kogan noisy, check the sound recorder controls. Sound Recorder is found under the Sound and Video option on the main gOS menu. Once the sound recorder is open select "Open Volume Control" under the "File" menu and adjust the controls.
www.ramin.com.au/linux/kogan-agora-netbook.shtml © Ramin Communications 2009. Last modified 7 May 2015.
