Comments on: Fidelity VPC – $199 Netbook

By: Bernard

Bernard — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 04:25:16 +0000

Awful Netbook. This Netbook should not be even sold in this competitive market. Bought one at CT for $169.99 and its so slow that going on to the internet takes ages. Then I bought a MSI-1013 from Computer Trends for $99 during Boxing Day and that one runs more smoothly than the Crappy VPC.

By: IT-Halfy

IT-Halfy — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:03:30 +0000

128MB RAM
400MHz processor
4GB SSD
two USB ports
800×480 screen resolution
one SD card reader
custom Linux operating system [poor quality i might add]

the processor is TINY! 533MHz is the new standard in even the new PSP Go systems and most new smart-phones.

128MB worth of RAM is almost completely useless these days.

4GB SSD is not bad, stable and reliable and size is no issue for a netbook.

two USB ports… i guess that’s alright, but even the first EEEPC’s came standard with three.

7″ screen is standard with most older netbooks, but 800×480 resolution is a little… sad. my EEEPC some how magically pulls off 1024×768.

no webcam. again, even the older EEEPC had a 1.3MP camera built in.

the SD card slot is a nice touch.
and on top of all of that, there is a sticker on the packaging that reads “MAY NOT BE COMPATIBLE WITH ALL FLASH SITES” which i find really contradicts the whole point of a netbook. i had purchased this machine and within ten minutes [i hadn't even made it out of the store] i returned it and purchased something a little more useful [a Belkin wireless router, which probably has much more power minus a screen!(haha)]

so im pretty much saying, if all you do online is check facebook with their new “lite” feature, then go for it, this is the netbook for you. otherwise, spend the extra one hundred dollars and pick up something a little better. why not an iPod Touch or PSP go? same basic functionality.
I hope i have helped some people with their netbook shopping with the information i have provided. farewell for now.

By: Steve M

Steve M — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:51:02 +0000

DO NOT BUY THIS. I got one for my son and , well I have to say its a piece of crap!!!. I went to costco and got a real netbook for 299.
THis is no more then a palm pilot or pocket notebook

By: David

David — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:36:12 +0000

Just wondering, those who bought one, if you can tell me if there is an option to change the VPC’s BIOS settings to boot from it’s USB device, rather than the internal storage device (aka hard drive).

When the VPC is powered on, is there a splash screen quickly flashes by that lets you press F2 or DEL (or something) to change the BIOS settings?

If so, I may just go pick one up to see if I can get a more useful version of Linux running on it, just for kicks. A local CT has a small stack of them selling for $149 now.

By: Steven

Steven — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 02:19:05 +0000

If anyone is looking for the new one from canadian tire
im selling it still in the box $130.00

By: Lawrence

Lawrence — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:37:28 +0000

The Fidelity VPC sucks!!! I bought 3 so that my girlfriend and 2 sons could stay in touch with each other! It won’t work on my eithernet connection and it won’t print to my printer! Tech support is in Canada but they could not help! They were bought from Canadian Tire at 169.00! A good idea for a mini computer but obviously not tested enough! Very disappointing!

By: lewis

lewis — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:02:06 +0000

My mother bought me a VPC from CT and it doesn’t even function right it freezes on me every 5 seconds and half the time it doesn’t even turn on properly. the most i can actually use it for it like the chat thing ans that is it the music player doesn’t even wrok right nothing on it really does. I’m most likely going to return it tomorrow morning

By: David

David — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:07:57 +0000

From the research I’ve done, the outlook on this one doesn’t look too good. I thought it would be a nice back-up machine, in-case one of our family’s main netbooks (we all have our own ASUS Linux netbooks around here – 2 years and counting) packed it in. But, all the reviews I’ve read about the Fidelity VPC is that it barely does what the marketing says it does.

It can access the web, browse web pages and access your e-mail. However, it does not render Flash enabled web pages, and watching YouTube videos is not done within the web browser itself, but uses an external app.

If you’re a Facebook user, you need to use the mobile version of Facebook (the version of Facebook you’d see on your cellphone), but it can seem to connect to Google Mail okay.

I thought that perhaps, to get more functionality out of the VPC, I’d just have to install my own version of Linux. But, at only 400Mhz and 128MB of RAM, it still limits functionality quite a bit.

If it had a connection for an external VGA montior I may have bought it just to experiment with, but I’m quite prepared to let this one slip on by.

I think I’d rather spend the extra $50 or $60 and get a Gekko Edubook rather than the VPN. http://www.norhtec.com/products/gecko/index.html

By: Todd

Todd — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:20:47 +0000

Just my opion, but this is still not worth it even at the $169 price point cancadian tire has it at. It has 4GB of storage space and 128mg of ram. These specs are just not worth it. If you do buy it, make sure you check the return policy, Canadian tire is generally pretty good, but my guess is you will want to take it back.

By: Andy Teather

Andy Teather — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 19:02:28 +0000

I had a closer look at the literature for this. Looks like 128MB RAM and a 4GB NAND flash instead of a real hard disk. Also works with SD cards. Anyone know what support is like for third-party USB accessories, such as CD/DVD drives and real mice?

By: Jason C.

Jason C. — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:02:40 +0000

I too am looking at the CT one for $169…. anyone know if this is good/great value?

By: Peter H.

Peter H. — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:15:33 +0000

Saturday Special at Canadian Tire is $169 CAD. Is that good enough? Also has 4GB Ram, MS Word & Excel. So what is the processor in this one? And how much harddrive if there is one. If any left, will have to see at 7am.

By: L

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:59:54 +0000

Not my first choice, only 100mhz processor.
No deal here, $350.00 cdn!
Sears Canada could do better, a LOT better!