Submitted by Computer enthusiasts in the developed world will soon be able to get their hands on the so-called ‘USD 100 laptop’. The organisation behind the project has launched the ‘give one, get one’ scheme that will allow US residents to purchase two laptops for USD 399 (GBP 198). One laptop will be sent to the buyer whilst a child in the developing world will receive the second machine The G1G1 scheme, as it is known, will offer the laptops for just two weeks, starting on the 12 November.
I hope the G1G1 scheme expands to Europe as well. I’ll be glad to buy one myself.
Please, stop saying $100. The OLPC costs $188 in volume, or apparently even more when you buy two.
Forum users and news media didn’t invent the “100 Dollar Laptop” label; OLPC did it themselves. So if their early hype comes back to bite them in the a$$, who’s fault is it really?
But in reality it is quite a cool little peice of hardware that would probably make and effective travel laptop.
Anyone know how much it weights? That is probably the kicker.
Specifications
Physical dimensions:
* Approximate dimensions: 242mm×228mm×32mm;
* Approximate weight: 1.45KG with LiFeP battery; 1.58KG with NiMH battery;
* Configuration: Convertible laptop with pivoting, reversible display; dirt- and moisture-resistant system enclosure; no fan.
Core electronics:
* CPU: x86-compatible processor with 64KB each L1 I and D cache; at least 128KB L2 cache; AMD Geode [email protected] (datasheet);
* CPU clock speed: 433 Mhz;
* ISA compatibility: Support for both the MMX and 3DNow! x86 instruction-set extensions; Athlon instruction set (including MMX and 3DNow! Enhanced) with additional Geode-specific instructions;
* Companion chips: PCI and memory interface integrated with CPU; North Bridge: PCI and Memory Interface integrated with Geode CPU; AMD CS5536 South Bridge (datasheet);
* Graphics controller: Integrated with Geode CPU; unified memory architecture;
* Embedded controller: ENE KB3700 or ENE KB3700B;
* DRAM memory: 256 MiB dynamic RAM;
* Data rate: Dual — DDR333 — 166 Mhz;
* 1024KB SPI-interface flash ROM;
* Mass storage: 1024 MiB SLC NAND flash, high-speed flash controller;
* Drives: No rotating media;
* CAFE ASIC (Camera, Flash Enabler chip, provides high-performance Camera, NAND FLASH and SD interfaces); Marvell 88ALP01: (CAFE specification).
Display:
* Liquid-crystal display: 7.5” Dual-mode TFT display;
* Viewing area: 152.4mm × 114.3mm;
* Resolution: 1200 (H) × 900 (V) resolution (200 DPI);
* Monochrome display: High-resolution, reflective sunlight-readable monochrome mode; Color display: Standard-resolution, Quincunx-sampled, transmissive color mode;
* LCD power consumption: 0.1 Watt with backlight off; 0.2–1.0 Watt with backlight on;
* The display-controller chip (DCON) with memory that enables the display to remain live with the processor suspended; the display and this chip are the basis of our extremely low power architecture; the display controller chip also enables deswizzling and anti-aliasing in color mode.
Integrated peripherals:
* Keyboard: 80+ keys, 1.0mm stroke; sealed rubber-membrane key-switch assembly;
o Keyboard layout details;
o Keyboard layout pictures: international, Thai, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, West African, Urdu, Mongolian, Cyrillic, Amharic;
* Gamepad: Two sets of four-direction cursor-control keys;
* Touchpad: Dual capacitance/resistive touchpad; supports written-input mode; ALPS Electric Dual capacitive/resistive touchpad;
* Audio: AC97-compatible audio audio subsystem; internal stereo speakers and amplifier; internal monophonic microphone; jacks for external headphones and microphone; Analog Devices AD1888 and Analog Devices SSM2211 for audio amplification;
* Wireless networking: Integrated 802.11b/g (2.4GHz) interface; 802.11s (Mesh) networking supported; dual adjustable, rotating coaxial antennas; supports diversity reception; capable of mesh operation when CPU is powered down; Marvell Libertas 88W8388 controller and 88W8015 radio;
* Status indicators: Power, battery, WiFi (2); visible when lid is open or closed; microphone in-use and camera in-use visible when lid is open;
* Video camera: integrated color vision camera; 640×480 resolution at 30FPS; Omnivision OV7670.
External connectors:
* DC power: 6mm (1.65mm center pin) connector; 11 to 18 V input usable, –32 to 40 V input tolerated; power draw limited to 15 W;
* Headphone output: Standard 3.5mm 3-pin switched stereo audio jack;
* Microphone input: Standard 3.5mm 2-pin switched mono microphone jack; selectable 2V DC bias; selectable sensor-input mode (DC or AC coupled);
* USB: Three Type-A USB-2.0 connectors; up to 1A power supplied (total);
* Flash explansion: MMC/SD Card slot.
Battery:
* Pack type: 2 or 4 cells LiFePO4; or 5 cells NiMH, approximately 6V series configuration;
* Capacity: 22.8 Watt-hours (LiFePO4); 16.5 Watt-hours (NiMH);
* Fully-enclosed “hard” case; user removable;
* Electronics integrated with pack provide:
* Identification;
* Battery charge and capacity information;
* Thermal and over-current sensors along with cutoff switch to protect battery;
* Minimum 2,000 charge/discharge cycles (to 50% capacity of new);
* Power management will be critical.
BIOS/loader
* Open Firmware used to load the operating system.
Environmental specifications:
* Temperature: UL certification planned to 45C in Q32007, pending 50C certification in mid-2008;
* Humidity: UL certification planned to IP42 (perhaps higher) when closed, the unit should seal well enough that children walking to and from school need not fear rainstorms and dust;
* Maximum altitude: –15m to 3048m (14.7 to 10.1 PSIA) (operating), –15m to 12192m (14.7 to 4.4 PSIA) (non-operating);
* Shock 125g, 2ms, half-sine (operating) 200g, 2ms, half-sine (non-operating);
* Random vibration: 0.75g zero-to-peak, 10Hz to 500Hz, 0.25 oct/min sweep rate (operating); 1.5g zero-to-peak, 10Hz to 500Hz, 0.5 oct/min sweep rate (nonoperating);
* 2mm plastic walls (1.3mm is typical for most systems).
Regulatory requirements:
* The usual US and EU EMI/EMC (Electromagnetic Interference and Compatibility) requirements will be met;
* The laptop meets IEC 60950-1, EN 60950-1, and CSA/UL 60950-1 specifications. It also complies with UL 1310 and UL 498. In order to guarantee the safety of children using the laptop, it also passes ASTM F 963;
* The external power adapter complies with IEC, EN, and CSA/UL 60950-1;
* The removable battery pack complies with IEC, EN, and CSA/UL 60950-1 and UL 2054;
* RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive – EU) compliant.
So thats roughly 3 and 3.5 lbs respectively. That’s not too bad. I’d imagine they would want to keep these light as it will be kids who will be hauling them around. It may reduce or eliminate the need for a book bag filled with books. Oh how I dreaded carrying that heavy bag around.
For a developing nation I’m sure this is a good piece of hardware. For more developed nations, to me, it’s underpowered and acquiring this hardware is waste of time.
I doubt anyone here would be planning on buying it as their primary computer. For other purposes, the XO looks like a pretty GOOD machine: It’s got low power requirements, a thicker-than-usual case, long battery life, wifi, dirt and moisture resistant, no moving parts…
This would be the sort of thing to take with you on a hike, to a remote observatory… something like that.
I don’t expect the reviews of the system functionality to be all that positive given the slowness and the massive undertaking Red Hat attempted viz. the software interfaces.
I didn’t check the weight the critter, but it felt heavy for it’s size. The screen, however, works wonderfully in sunlight and the machine appears feels sturdy (only time will tell though).
As a science teacher, I would love to have these gadgets. It would be great for hauling students out doors to do real data collection and real-time analysis. It’s also a lot less expensive and less polished (which is good, IMHO) than many of the commercial products.
It figures they would announce this the day after I put my order in for an Asus EeePC! Not to bother though, I have a feeling the Asus, being more consumer driven, will be better for my needs anyway. I can’t help but feel a little sad though, it would have been nice to pay for another kids laptop.
Edited 2007-09-24 23:05
As someone here said, it would make a great text editing laptop for travel. Plus, it has it’s own built in power source. I want one just for that…even if I have to buy two of them.
Text editor and Book reader too.
When I am vacationing at the cabin (no power lines), the main uses at to read my free Baen book downloads of which I have plenty old time SF that is fun to read in that setting.
And to write out any flash of the brain that comes along about my code or fanfics.
A machine like this that lasts all day on a full charge is exactly what I need. Why do some people think computer can’t do anything worth-while unless they are multi-GHz machines with quad-cores?
I use to text edit on 1 Mhz 8-bit machines, and they could keep up to my typing then, and how much CPU power do you need to display text at reading speed?
Or will they roll their own distribution?
People have been tossing this idea around for a while; variations on give three, get one and so on. The XO isn’t a very powerful machine, but it’s a very specialized and pretty innovative machine… I’m thinking of the screen, the wifi, and the fact that it’s designed to be pretty indestructable.
I think it makes at least some sense, as long as they stick to differentiating case colors.
Once you have XO PCs in the open market, there is a risk that many of those intended for children in developing countries will be diverted to the black market where they will be resold to private owners that may not realise that they get contraband.
If you know that _any_ XO PC you can buy is contraband, fewer would do so.
A way to reduce this problem is to make XO PCs for private use distinct from those for developing countries. One way would be to use, say, blue plastic instead of green for the “commercial” XO PCs. This would be very difficult for black-market dealers to imitate, and if the OLPC foundation publicise the fact that if you are offered a green XO PC it is definitely contraband, it will reduce the black market trade.
The XO machine has a remote security activation called Bitfrost. Should it be stolen, it will be disabled within a lap of time making it useless thus making theft pointless. Each XO has its own serial number FYI.
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Bitfrost
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Bitfrost