Intel's Classmate PC headed for US, European consumers

We've seen 'em in India and the Philippines (among other locales), and if all goes according to plan, we'll be seeing 'em in the US and Europe, too. Reportedly, Intel will be making its Classmate PC available to the everyday joes / janes in America and Europe, though Lila Ibrahim, general manager of the firm's emerging market platform's group, declined to mention what PC manufacturers would be responsible. As for pricing, we're still hearing "sub-$300" tossed around, and while definitive time frames weren't provided, here's to hoping "soon" actually means soon.

[Thanks, Brad L.]

[Rob @ Mar 20th 2008 10:48AM]

What OS are they running? Linux, Windows, or OS X?

[AutoTom @ Mar 20th 2008 11:08AM]

It's a surprise, every PC comes with a different OS

[Andrew @ Mar 20th 2008 9:33PM]

Yeah, it's running OS X, because Steve J realized he could save the world that way.

[sethmo @ Mar 20th 2008 10:55AM]

I see a "Windows" button on that there keyboard.

[Jon Acheson @ Mar 20th 2008 11:01AM]

Why would I get this when I could get an EEEpc instead? The black EEEpc is a much better looker.

[Alan Strangis @ Mar 20th 2008 11:57AM]

Agreed. The black EEE is hotness defined. Every single restaurant or coffee shop I've started up mine in has drawn multiple to ask where I got it, how much etc.

I'm glad there's competition though. The EEE has defined what UMPC should have been from the get go (now make a convertible tablet version already so I can read ebooks comfortably on the subway). ;)

[apeguero @ Mar 20th 2008 11:02AM]

I wonder if this will be tough enough for my 5 year old?

[bearlan @ Mar 20th 2008 12:36PM]

The design is perfect for the market that it was originally intended for, education. As a consumer play, however, this design falls woefully short. You would think that Intel would take a little time and effort to redesign the skin. But oh wait, someone else did! The Asus Eee PC is *identical* to the Classmate PC under the hood, and is in fact, the same hardware design.

[apeguero @ Mar 20th 2008 1:01PM]

My soon to be 6 year old has outgrown those stupid $40.00 Hot Wheels, toy laptops. I'd love to be able to buy him one of these and install all kinds of educational software in it. I think it would be the perfect educational lappy for < 10yo kiddies as the alternatives are way more expensive and too big. Another candidate would surely be the Negroponte one but I think those are hard to find and may offer less than this. I'm only concerned this Intel lappy may not be kid-proof. I was thinking of buying an eee PC for this purpose since it's fairly inexpensive but I'm afraid I'd end up taking over it and hacking it to death or my kid would just end up breaking it somehow. I don't think this Intel one would atract me as much though. I'll have to wait and see I guess.

[AutoTom @ Mar 20th 2008 11:07AM]

wow, looks like intel hired everyone who DIDNT get into the apple design team

[Eddie @ Mar 20th 2008 5:58PM]

I lol'ed.

[EricR @ Mar 20th 2008 11:19AM]

Looks like it fell out of the 90's

[sully @ Mar 20th 2008 11:27AM]

I couldn't be happier about this race to the bottom. My niece is 9 and I'm trying to get her to be technically proficient. These seem great for getting her to have something to play around with that she can screw up and learn how to fix herself.

[Skullgrl @ Mar 27th 2008 8:28AM]

I agree completely, though I would for her sake get one of these new super-cheap laptops with Microsoft XP. Linux would have been too much for me to handle at that age. Especially considering that if we went to class and used the computers at school they were all running windows software. Although a kid friendly linux is nice too. All depends on personal preference.

[Alan Strangis @ Mar 20th 2008 11:54AM]

While reading your post, I was struck that it's in all likelyhood SPAM.

[aka_gus @ Mar 20th 2008 12:00PM]

....aaaand *delete*.

[PS3guy @ Mar 20th 2008 12:15PM]

One word Ugly.

[Harbo @ Mar 20th 2008 12:34PM]

I think you mean fugly!

[Rodrigo @ Mar 20th 2008 12:46PM]

We have them here in CHile in department stores already. WinXP, 256 MB RAM, 1 GB storage, for USD400. I am terminally underwhelmed. For USD 40 more you can get a Eee

[billmao @ Mar 20th 2008 1:05PM]

I bet that box is made out of a super famicom :S

[Brent Gaskey @ Mar 20th 2008 1:23PM]

You Know, its a great concept - but where are the freekin text books and software to run on these things? My children's school is currently in the market for a new curriculum and I would love to put this on the table as a viable option.

Unfortunately, there are few if any comprehensive curriculum's available for PC's such as these no matter what OS your running.

[Matt @ Mar 20th 2008 4:26PM]

Ze goggles, zey do nothing!

[egotman @ Apr 11th 2008 5:06PM]

When did Intel hire VTech to design the box?