Classmate PC live and in the flesh

Sure, we've seen it under those shiny stage lights, but this is the first time we've spotted the Classmate PC up close and personal. We can't say it looks quite as edible as OLPC's XO, but it also seems a bit more solid than its cheaper progenitor. Apparently the PCs won't just be limited to 1GB NAND, but will feature "several GB of memory, depending on the needs." The Classmate PC is also now being labeled as "sub $300," which is getting dangerously close to the XO pricetag, which seems to be creeping towards $200. Be sure to peep the read link for plenty more pics.

[liquid @ Oct 27th 2006 12:34PM]

Really dont see the point in these things.
If Dell and others can somehow sell a normal laptop for 400-500 bucks that doesn't look like a toy and not crippled beyond use, what is everyone else's problem.
Take it, at least this thing is marketed for kids to use, but any self respecting geek wouldnt give this to there kids. I wouldn't waste 300 bucks on this crap for my daughter, id get her a real laptop with a real screen shes not going to go blind trying to read.

[Rohit Kapur @ Oct 27th 2006 12:51PM]

The point behind this and the OLPC is that not everybody can afford a 400-500$ laptop, especially in third world nations where the currency conversion itself is horrific. It might not seem like a 100 bucks is all that much when already spending 300$, but for some people, it really is.

The original idea behind these was to somehow sell them under 200, I believe. That would've made much more sense and might actually have been practically implemented a lot more. Even so, when you consider nations buying them in bulk, a 100$ difference on each laptop adds up to a lot. I'm guessing there aren't gonna be subsidies on it because of bulk orders, considering it's already supposed to be a "cheap" product.

[kelly @ Oct 27th 2006 2:03PM]

third world nations where food, sanitation, infrastructure, health care, public safety and education are all issues. answer? give 'em cheap laptops. brilliant.

[james @ Oct 27th 2006 2:35PM]

Undoubtedly, third world countries need sanitation, food and shelter but no one has claimed that the laptop will fix all of their woes. Let us not be so critical and see the bigger picture for what it is. Laptops will help educate another set of peoples. This will give them empowerment to help solve their glaringly obvious problems. Education is the key, not welfare.

[College Guy @ Oct 27th 2006 2:10PM]

Anyone else think the idea of 30+ laptops plugged in during class is going to be a logistical problem?

[Nutsfullabeer @ Oct 27th 2006 2:48PM]

Since when did technology become a replacement for education? I understand that these laptops would help countries train programmers... but what about everyone else. This whole OLPC b.s. is based on the same thinking that brought us "Urban Renewal". In other words, the notion that building new crap is always better than fixing the existing crap.
ugh. This is like colonialists giving comes natives a tractor and expecting them to suddenly become a productive agrarian society.

[Josh @ Oct 27th 2006 3:19PM]

Lets be clear, these laptops are not meant for the Sudan or some other strife ridden hellhole. If you look at some of the places that put in initial orders for the OLPC (or whatever it has been branded this week) you see places like India and Brazil. These are places that have the basic necessities, have an education system, and are now trying to work on reducing the tech gap with the richer nations so they have a generation equiped to participate in the modern economy. India is argueably further ahead than most other places in this but the population comfortable with technology is only a small percentage of their total technology.

$100 a laptop (which is something none of the cheap laptops have achieved) is still to expensive for the incredibly impoverished nations. Right now the goal is to prove the technology, refine how it is used to HELP educate people (not to imply the technology is a replacement for an actual teacher), and figure out how to drop prices so that it can one day be used to help get the impoverished nations on their feet. It isn't the end all be all answer but if the poor countries remain perpetually 50 years (or more) behind on the tech curve they will remain poor forever.

[Magallanes @ Oct 27th 2006 3:49PM]

When i was young, a 8bits was enough for everything but today everyone want color, sound and many flashy and shinny things.

[Ralphw @ Dec 8th 2006 2:50PM]

Color is nice to have, but not essential.
8 bits of address space, however, is too limiting.
32 bits data and 32 bit address space is reasonable, for a multitasking, multiuser system like Unix & Linux.

- R

[Mark Smithies @ Oct 27th 2006 5:09PM]

It's about much more than price, and third world countries. The worldwide education market has never been properly catered for by the IT industry - we either knock down walls to house big desktops that do too much, pay premium dollars for laptops that can't stand the rigours of the classroom, or go for tiny, losable and stealable pdas when we don't need their miniturisation. Schools have always needed sub $200 devices, solid state, usable keyboard, basic apps, and wireless. When these arrive, the days of computer labs will happily end, all students will have their own device, and IT will become integrated across curriculums.

[Matt W. @ Oct 27th 2006 11:29PM]

Honestly, this little beast looks far more rugged than a standard $400 laptop. If indeed the rugged exterior is more than just skin deep, than this could be a viable alternative to buying your kid a $400 computer that will break the minute he/she accidentally drops it off his/her desk and on to a wood or tiled floor.

[Graham @ Oct 28th 2006 10:49AM]

heh, looks like a leapfrog. LAME!!

[Seth @ Dec 15th 2006 2:54PM]

TCO = Total Cost of Ownership. The TCO on a US $600 laptop ends up at AT LEAST $1000 - software costs money and so does support and maintenance, virus protection etc etc - Many of the low cost laptops including the StudentMate (not Classmate) ship with software - BIG DIFFERENCE. The StudentMate also claims a FREE 5 year warrantee.

TCO is key for everyone, not just emerging countries.