Medison reveals more details on $150 laptop

To say the least, Sweden's Medison has attracted a fair bit of skepticism with its promise to release a $150 Linux-based laptop. The company looks to be doing its best to dissuade those naysayers, however, recently meeting with a group of Swedish journalists to make its case. While it apparently "did not exactly strengthen its credibility," according to Computer Sweden, Medison did reveal a few new details, including a promised August 15th delivery date (at least for the first batch of units). The company also said that the laptop will not be its primary source of income, with it instead expecting to make most of its money from advertisements on its website (mainly from accessory-makers and the like). Further adding to intrigue/ridicule surrounding the company, Medison's Valdi Ivancic reportedly also dropped the bomb that he's considering declaring his candidacy for Prime Minister of Sweden. Really.

[Thanks, Eric S., photo courtesy of Computer Sweden]

[David @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:41PM]

I hope it's not one of those $150 after rebate ones.

[Gav @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:51PM]

Man. I'd love this to be true. I'd order a gazillion :D

[Eric Stone @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:57PM]

I'm hoping its true, too. Hopefully someone will get one to review around the 15th. I'm not ordering one until I see the proof of others actually getting one, though.

[Ellianth @ Aug 3rd 2007 1:01PM]

what are the specs?

[Gav @ Aug 3rd 2007 1:14PM]

They're on the Medison Celebrity site.

[Nedy78 @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:53PM]

I'll bet Valdi's plan is to make these things so cheap that it will be in every Swede's home, then slowly hypnotize them into voting for him at election time.

[thesb @ Aug 3rd 2007 12:55PM]

Honestly, it looks like they got ahold of a prototype Zepto notebook, or discontinued version for the images. That, or assuming it is real, blatantly ripped off several design features. The Zepto Znote 6024W has strikingly similar led lights and control buttons, while the Znote 3415W has a similar webcam.

http://uk.zepto.com/Media/Components/Scaled/1000/100300_1.jpg

http://www.zepto.com

[TimB @ Aug 3rd 2007 1:00PM]

You're uhm... kidding, right?

The linked picture you gave looks nothing like the one in the article. The only thing similar is the placement of the activity lights and the square shape of whatever those buttons are above the keyboard at the hinge.

[Brutus @ Aug 3rd 2007 1:05PM]

Sorry to say, but its only the buttons that are even close to looking the same. And all notebooks got buttons there(well almost all).

[thesb @ Aug 3rd 2007 1:09PM]

I'm just saying that those few things look very similar. I couldn't find anything else out there with that layout.

[Hernan Paredes @ Aug 3rd 2007 1:04PM]

i also hope this is true, this is pretty sweet.

[thesb @ Aug 3rd 2007 1:08PM]

No, not kidding. Plus, an almost identical layout on the cd-drive side, rectangle blue led power button. In the pics of the celebrity, what is going on where the open/close latch is. I don't see any sort of hook or anything at the top. Does it use some sort of magnetic latch like an ibook?

[Xavier Gill @ Aug 3rd 2007 1:11PM]

He reveals the scam towards the end of that article

"Medison’s owners also revealed that they do not see the computers as their most important source of income. Instead the big money will come from advertisements on the web site, ads which the company will sell to suppliers of accessories and auxiliary equipment.

Ivancic mentioned that the advertisements could cost anywhere between 15 000 dollars and almost three millon dollars."

1. Sensational claim leads tens of thousands to visit website
2. Gain revenue from advertising and a few gullible buyers
3. Refund the $150 in a few months after advertising money and interest has accumulated.
4. Take the remaining money and go on holiday.

[Z @ Aug 3rd 2007 1:36PM]

$150 laptop? It looks nice but for that price, that thing must have the lowest quality components imaginable (i.e.: complete crapola).

Moral of the story: Stay as far away from that thing as possible.

[RJRibeira @ Aug 3rd 2007 1:46PM]

I think its a great idea. It would be a perfect laptop to get for your kid so they could just play little flash games, work on their homework, and learn the ropes of computers. And if they spilled soda on it or dropped it down the stairs, it wouldn't be that big of a deal. I hope its real.

[Ellianth @ Aug 3rd 2007 2:04PM]

Then get a crappy desktop for that price. And when they spill their pop on 1 component, the others will still work.

[natte @ Aug 3rd 2007 1:43PM]

I think they have it out already... I just went to their website and the only laptop on there is selling for 150 USD...

Is this fake???

[Eric Stone @ Aug 3rd 2007 2:07PM]

You can order one, sure. But no one's actually gotten one, YET. First batch are supposed to ship out on the 15th.

[Mia @ Aug 3rd 2007 2:08PM]

$150? forget the OLPC

[suv4x4 @ Aug 3rd 2007 7:15PM]

"$150? forget the OLPC"

Why one or the other? They don't compete directly.

You see, the OLPC is a computer, and Medison Celebrity are the lies of a mad man.

I'm sure they'll both do great on their own respective markets.

[Liqwid @ Aug 3rd 2007 2:14PM]

After I pay my tuition on Monday, I will consider buying this. I could probably put Linux back into my life (I had used Red Hat 9, all of the earlier Fedora Core(s), Ubuntu. I really liked Ubuntu, it's very user friendly, as was Fedora Core.), it's just a matter of re-adjusting, like I did with Mac OS X, and I love it more than Windows, now.

[rahul @ Aug 3rd 2007 2:19PM]

will hav to c how many ppl will use genuine xp on this :P

[mean2u @ Aug 3rd 2007 2:22PM]

Specs:
*14-inch WXGA screen, an optimized Fedora Linux install
*1.5GHz Celeron processor
*256MB of RAM
*VIA PN800 integrated graphics
*room for Windows XP if you want to pony up for a license
*40GB of storage
*CD / DVD combo drive
*802.11g WiFi
*built-in webcam

What an awesome deal for $150. :D

[matt @ Aug 3rd 2007 2:24PM]

Haven't the Swedes learned anything about bad business models? Boo.com, anyone?

[Durvivor @ Aug 3rd 2007 2:28PM]

Just in case this company is considering being bad, lets all remember a classic con technique. This company might actually send out a batch of $150 laptops, thus making people believe that they are completely legit. e.g. "Jack & Jill got thier laptops, so I'm going to order now." Of course, when the second wave of orders pours in, that would be the time the crooks may choose to walk away with the money.

[TS @ Aug 3rd 2007 2:36PM]

Right, so the moral of the story is: Be Jack and Jill and give them your money before everyone else gets a chance to. :)

/sarcasm

[Mecharine @ Aug 3rd 2007 3:31PM]

A few shades of Gizmondo? Maybe Im just a pessimist.

[jegHegy @ Aug 3rd 2007 4:13PM]

That's a Clevo on the pic.

[Tommy @ Aug 3rd 2007 4:33PM]

You can get loads of more details about Medison at http://www.medisonscam.info

[XGM @ Aug 3rd 2007 5:01PM]

It's so cheap because it dosn't need to liscence a crap OS at some crazy price. (Hint, it comes from the company to make bad OS'es and it starts by Microsoft)

[suv4x4 @ Aug 3rd 2007 7:48PM]

Microsoft doesn't license Windows "at some crazy price" for OEM. It's from $20 to at most $80.

But congratulations, you're a naive Linux fanboy.

[Fenway Beer Man @ Aug 3rd 2007 9:14PM]

Medison's Valdi Ivancic reportedly also dropped the bomb that he's considering declaring his candidacy for Prime Minister of Sweden.

I like this guy's attitude. Michael Dell, you know what you have to do now!

[Haxornick89 @ Aug 4th 2007 6:13PM]

hahahahahaha Told All You Motherfuckers on the previous article that this was real so suck my ass all of you

[suv4x4 @ Aug 4th 2007 6:34PM]

"hahahahahaha Told All You Motherfuckers on the previous article that this was real so suck my ass all of you"

So I guess it's even sadder that it's not. The press conference was a joke - did you read the damn article? The journalists were shown one laptop with a sticker removed, and he couldn't answer to even one of the hard questions.

[anupam @ Dec 9th 2007 3:37AM]

i want to assemble more than 100 laptops so i need the details of rates and price list becoz that i knw about the manufracturer