The sub-$100 laptop is finally here?
We’re all aware by now of how the OLPC never quite managed to reach its goal of a $100 laptop—though it claims it will do better next time around.
However, Slashdot reports that a Chinese company, HiVision, has managed to create a UMPC laptop that currently sells for $120, and that using what they have learned from creating this one, they will definitely be able to get the next one down to $98 (available at the end of October).
According to TechVideoBlog, HiVision’s laptop features "a new cheaper MIPS based 
processor, WiFi, 1GB flash storage, it runs Linux, has 3 USB ports, Ethernet, SDHC card reader, audio in and out, voice-chat, skype, multi-tabbed Firefox browser support and Abiword for word processing." TechVideoBlog also has an 18-minute 720P 393-megabyte video of the PC being shown off at a trade show. A lower-resolution version has been uploaded to YouTube.
The laptop is certainly a cute little thing, not that much larger than a Kindle, and it looks easy enough to use—and being Linux, it would presumably run FBReader easily enough. But unlike the XO, it does not appear to have a tablet mode, so might be a bit unwieldy for light e-reading.
Still, if a full-fledged laptop can be built at this price, surely a tablet can as well. It is only a matter of time.
September 7th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Sounds lovely to me.
September 12th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
While I feel sort of sorry for OLPC, it was a noble cause, I always felt that the market forces would push the price down to next to nothing and that the “$100 OLPC” machine would fail.