CherryPal debuts $99 netbook, names it Africa
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted December 15th 2009 1:47PM
posted December 15th 2009 1:47PM
If you're looking at a netbook whose motto is "small, slow, sufficient," you pretty much know what to expect. CherryPal's latest, named Africa (in honor of the nation of Ghana or something), has everything you'd want in a $99 computer: a 7-inch display, 400MHz processor, 256MB memory, 2GB flash storage, and either Linux or Windows CE under the hood. According to the company, you can expect about four hours use on the included Lithium battery. If that weren't enough, the company has introduced its online store -- no longer do you have to pick up your CherryPal PCs on the streets, like we did when we were your age. Hit the source link to get started -- but not before you check out the PR after the break. It's a real page-turner.
Cherrypal Launches World's First $99 Laptop
New 7-inch Netbook Helps Bridge the Digital Divide; Redesigned Intel N280 Bing laptop features 13.3-inch wide screen; New Cherrypal Open Store Launched
PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Cherrypal, the company that brought the world's "greenest" desktop computer to market last year, announced today that it has officially launched the first $99 laptop computer: the Cherrypal Africa. With a screen size of just 7 inches, the Africa is a mini netbook computer that enables anyone to browse the Internet at an affordable price.
"At Cherrypal, we're extremely conscious of the so-called 'digital divide'," said Max Seybold, the company's founder. "We're constantly looking for ways to bridge that gap, and the Cherrypal Africa is a huge step in the right direction. Plus, everyone who has tried it has absolutely loved it!"
Named after Cherrypal's recent community building initiative in Ghana, the Africa packs quite a punch for its size and price point. The computer runs on a 400 MHz processor and features 256 GB RAM, 2 GB flash memory and can run either Linux or Windows CE operating systems.
The Africa isn't just user friendly - it's also environmentally friendly. From top to bottom, Cherrypal designs all of its computers to consume the least amount of power possible, while using fewer parts than other manufacturers. This saves electricity and keeps excess computer byproducts out of landfills. The company is also aware of its own carbon footprint and relies on wind energy to power its website.
Along with the launch of the Africa, Cherrypal has also redesigned the new 13.3-inch widescreen Bing laptop. Priced at only $389 (including Windows XP), the Intel N280-based (1.6 GHz operation) Bing features 1 GB DDRII memory, 160 GB HDD, 1.3 MP integrated web camera and much, much more.
The Cherrypal Bing and Cherrypal Africa can both be purchased through the recently launched Cherrypal Open Store, which features products designed by Apple, Dell and others. All non-Cherrypal products featured in the Open Store are priced at least 30 percent less than the manufacturer's suggested retail price, but carry Cherrypal's unconditional 30-day money back guarantee.
To browse all of Cherrypal's affordable green machines, visit www.cherrypal.com.
About Cherrypal:
Cherrypal (http://www.cherrypal.com) is part of Tristate Hong Kong Group Limited (http://www.tristatebrands.com) with offices in Hong Kong and Palo Alto, California. Founded in 2008 Cherrypal is the leading vendor in the green personal computer market. Part of Cherrypal is the Green Maraschino cloud computing initiative.
New 7-inch Netbook Helps Bridge the Digital Divide; Redesigned Intel N280 Bing laptop features 13.3-inch wide screen; New Cherrypal Open Store Launched
PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Cherrypal, the company that brought the world's "greenest" desktop computer to market last year, announced today that it has officially launched the first $99 laptop computer: the Cherrypal Africa. With a screen size of just 7 inches, the Africa is a mini netbook computer that enables anyone to browse the Internet at an affordable price.
"At Cherrypal, we're extremely conscious of the so-called 'digital divide'," said Max Seybold, the company's founder. "We're constantly looking for ways to bridge that gap, and the Cherrypal Africa is a huge step in the right direction. Plus, everyone who has tried it has absolutely loved it!"
Named after Cherrypal's recent community building initiative in Ghana, the Africa packs quite a punch for its size and price point. The computer runs on a 400 MHz processor and features 256 GB RAM, 2 GB flash memory and can run either Linux or Windows CE operating systems.
The Africa isn't just user friendly - it's also environmentally friendly. From top to bottom, Cherrypal designs all of its computers to consume the least amount of power possible, while using fewer parts than other manufacturers. This saves electricity and keeps excess computer byproducts out of landfills. The company is also aware of its own carbon footprint and relies on wind energy to power its website.
Along with the launch of the Africa, Cherrypal has also redesigned the new 13.3-inch widescreen Bing laptop. Priced at only $389 (including Windows XP), the Intel N280-based (1.6 GHz operation) Bing features 1 GB DDRII memory, 160 GB HDD, 1.3 MP integrated web camera and much, much more.
The Cherrypal Bing and Cherrypal Africa can both be purchased through the recently launched Cherrypal Open Store, which features products designed by Apple, Dell and others. All non-Cherrypal products featured in the Open Store are priced at least 30 percent less than the manufacturer's suggested retail price, but carry Cherrypal's unconditional 30-day money back guarantee.
To browse all of Cherrypal's affordable green machines, visit www.cherrypal.com.
About Cherrypal:
Cherrypal (http://www.cherrypal.com) is part of Tristate Hong Kong Group Limited (http://www.tristatebrands.com) with offices in Hong Kong and Palo Alto, California. Founded in 2008 Cherrypal is the leading vendor in the green personal computer market. Part of Cherrypal is the Green Maraschino cloud computing initiative.
It has 256GB of memory? That's crazy considering it's only $99.
@themoonisdown09
Memory as in RAM, which is far below standard nowerdays.
@themoonisdown09
I'm glad that wasn't a mistake on Engadget's part :)
CherryPal should proofread their shit.
@(Unverified)
Umm, I think you need to re-read the article. 256 GIGABYTES of memory/RAM is definitely NOT well below standard nowAdays.
@themoonisdown09 256MB not GB. Big difference
256gb of memory?
My pre is faster haha.
Damn, 256GB of RAM, huh? :P
thinking my old PDA has a 624mhz processor, 16GB memory, 3.5 inch screen, runs Windows CE (Winmo version), and also fits in pocket
Interesting product as most standard smartphones are more powerful and capable,
@OCEAN CLAK
I think that's an unfair comparison.
CPUs and memory are cheap enough now that the actual basics of a machine, from the display to the keyboard, are actual expenses. This 99$ is for a machine with basic keyboard and screen. Of course it's got a cell phone class processor and memory, but even a cell phone for $99 that did all this would be a bargain.
This is a cool product for the right buyer.
@OCEAN CLAK
Wow, ignorance. First your "$100-$200" phone really costs more than that before it's $200-$300 in carrier subsidies. Second, this 400Mhz PC gives you flexibility in OS, better user input, easier to read screen, and over all better user experience.
Oh hey look, OLPC minus the suck
A store you need to sign into to shop?
Fail.
OLPC couldn't make a $100 laptop but these guys sure did.
in conclusion: OLPC 0 Everybody else 10,000
@(Unverified) P.S. Yes, I know ITS OVER 9000!!!
@(Unverified)
Dead on. I love how a "not for profit" government sponsored program can't beat the free market and a for profit business.
Of course, all you socialist out there, don't let this little thing get in your way of having it change your mind that government and non profit should control the rest of the world.
What is this point of this computer? I would rather get another Lenovo S-10 and call it Antarctica, or Asia.
Wasn't 100$ Laptop is the original goal of OLPC .
let me wonder if ISP's will start giving these to consumer for free when singing-up for internet.
i still feel ripped off after giving them money for a cherrypal, and never getting product after months and months.
@mmitchel Yeah. Same happened to me. They begged me not to report them. Took a complaint with my credit card company to get my money back. These guys are horrid. Would you actually expect something decent for $99?
It's actually already out in the U.S. I was at a Kmart the other day and in the electronics dept. they had these sitting there but the kid had no idea if they were $149 or $99. I checked it out and it was terrible. The mouse buttons are insane, it has a 400Mhz Samsung CPU, and is pretty much worthless in build quality. They had 3 of them though on the shelf in the case.
@Zhurrie What exactly were you expecting of a laptop costing $99?
@Tommy Five
I wasn't in the market, I didn't even know these existed. I walked by, saw a strange netbook I had never even seen reported about. The strange specs were what caught my eye. I'm cool with low-tech specs for low dollars, and there may be some users for it. I was a huge supporter of OLPC and even helped contribute to the project. This is useless outside of that realm. The mouse buttons are almost unusable, and the CPU is really tough for almost anything... the one in the store had WinCE. Linux may be better. My issue is that for developing nations, fine, but to foist already useless tech on consumers is just a massive waste of resources and added ewaste.
"slow, small, sufficient" now that's badass. to have the balls to say your motto is that. daring
*dons 80s ballad voice*
It's going to take a lot to take me awaaaaaay from yoooooouuu....
@telepheedian :
"There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do ..."
I was considering one of those fake V-tech laptops for my two year old. However since they cost almost as much as this, I might get this instead. At least I won't be limited to V-tech educational software.
@jimlivingston
I think a lot of people here forget that you're not going to get an netbook or laptop for a 6 year old to start to learn typing, math, spelling, etc... Basically this is a good alternative to vtech and like products
The question is... if I order it today will I get it in less than a year? I would never do business with CherryPal again, after what happened with their ultra-buggy, $250, not-capable of running even a web browser well POS which case 6 months after I ordered it...
Not to mention the fact their support forum/whatever hasn't worked for months (Not even sure it's working now...)
I would skip the trouble and stick to ANYTHING else on the market...
@jjdb210 Agreed. Cherrypal=fail. Would never send any money to these guys ever again.
Reminds me of that Sylviana "netbook" that had a mousepad literally the size of a postage stamp.
If I had a kid who had just started elementary school, I'd probably grab him one of these to get him on a computer as early as possible. That V-Tech shit is great and all, but this is a real computer with a real operating system.
I remember back in kindergarten I learned how to type and do simple math on this epically large computer that was probably running Windows 3.1 or some shit. I see little difference.
And who knows. With enough time maybe he'll become a Minesweeper master.
@kenny goo Save your money and get a proper netbook, these are crap. They have been out in the UK for a while now, have appalling build, very poor software (Windows CE or some odd version of linux), you can't use a printer or 3G dongle and there is no flash. They really aren't worth the money.
I could of used a Linux one 10 years ago. This one is better than the Dell 133Mhz 'laptop' that I used back then (I had Debian/Mandrake on it).
@rcappo
I did get through college with it however. It somehow hung in there.
The real question is, is the keyboard usable by adult humans? I got one of those $179 laptops a year ago that were remarkably like this in specs, and while slow, it was still barely usable in terms of speed. Especially after people started making new Linux builds available for it. But the keyboard was so cramped that I just couldn't type on it, and that made it useless.
it's not x86 based so it can't run real Windows => fail
Windows CE? Oh, okay. Hello over-sized phone that can't work as a phone out of the box.
Hey, if you don't know, poor people may think one of these are amazing, don't just think about yourselves.
It's very unfair to see that Africa and poor-asian countries are so far below us.
@Joseph L. Flatley what's your age? do you think only teens troll Engadget ;)
LOL "Africa"
ARM Processor = this is NOT a netbook.
@Chefgon
Who says?
That's an Exon International chassis as seen in the Skytone Alpha and it's merry band of clones.
We've been covering this over on TeleRead. Here's an interview with the chairman, Max Seybold, where he goes into more details concerning the provenance of these machines.
http://www.teleread.org/2009/12/24/cherrypals-max-seybold-talks-africa/
We've since heard from some of the people who've ordered and they reported a lack of communication from the company.
I phoned and talked to Max again and he explained about a snafu with the carrier they were using.
http://www.teleread.org/2009/12/29/cherrypal-orders-any-delays/
I'm going to be receiving a test unit of both the Africa and the Bing within a week or so and will be reviewing them for TeleRead.
This is an awful article! Why is the author knocking this and why are so many other people knocking this in the comments? Cherrypal has clearly said that the machine specs are minimum specs, you will likely get higher specs. But even with the minimum, there are many people who can use a 400mhz/256mb ram laptop and the price is awesome.
Plus this is a very interesting model for producing computers.
You would think that after all the hoopla about OLPC, a $99 laptop would be given serious and balanced, consideration. Rather than sneered at.
So whats the problem here? is it the name?
emk
I ordered two of these on January 5 and made payment by PayPal. I ordered one with Linux and one with Windows.
Last night my entire payment was refunded and my order canceled. I received a notification email from PayPal to that effect, but no explanation or communication from Cherrypal whatsoever.
So much for "serious and balanced consideration". I tried.