(Credit:
OLPC)
With all the attention we lavish on Netbook-style laptops such as the Asus Eee PC and the HP 2133 Mini-note, it's easy to forget that all these systems owe some of their DNA to the One Laptop Per Child project and founder Nick Negroponte's dream of getting a low-cost XO laptop into the hands of any student who needs one.
The original XO ended up having more impact as an influence than an actual product, as it was plagued by delays, price increases, and lowered expectations. But even if there are more Intel Classmate PCs and Eee PCs in the wild, don't count OLPC out just yet.
The group has said it is working on the next generation of XO laptops, and has released a few very intriguing photos and details for the XO 2.0. The most interesting part is clearly the dual touch-screens in place of a traditional keyboard and monitor. The publicity photos look a bit too sci-fi, and the final product (much like the original XO's early design mockups), will probably be somewhat more pedestrian.
The official press release points out four different areas where the new OLPC laptop will improve on the original:
Cost reduction - Set in early 2005, the original target price of the XO laptop was $100. Although that target has not yet been met (it is now at $188), it is clear that OLPC must aim for an even lower target price of $75. New developments in display, processor, and other hardware and software technologies will make it possible to achieve the $75 target in the future.
Lower power consumption - While the first generation XO laptop already requires just one-tenth (2-4 watts versus 20-40 watts) of the electrical power necessary to run a standard laptop, the XO-2 will reduce power consumption even further to 1 watt. This is particularly important for children in remote and rural environments where electricity is scarce or nonexistent. Lowering the power consumption will reduce the amount of time required for children to generate power themselves via a hand crank or other manual mechanisms.
Smaller footprint - The XO-2 laptop will be about half the size of the first generation device and will approximate the size of a book. The new design will make the XO laptop lighter and easier for children to carry with them to and from school or wherever they go. The XO-2 will continue to be in a green and white case and sport the XO logo in a multitude of colors that allow children to personalize the laptop as their own possession.
Enhanced book experience - Dual touch-sensitive displays will be used to enhance the e-book experience, with a dual-mode display similar to the current XO laptop. The design provides a right and left page in vertical format, a hinged laptop in horizontal format, and a flat two-screen wide continuous surface that can be used in tablet mode. Younger children will be able to use simple keyboards to get going, and older children will be able to switch between keyboards customized for applications as well as for multiple languages. The dual touch-display is being designed by Pixel Qi, which was founded in early 2008 by Mary Lou Jepsen, former chief technology officer of One Laptop per Children and a leading expert on display technology.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) chose a relatively obscure processor from Via Technologies for its high-profile Mini-Note 2133. An HP marketing manager explains why.
The HP 2133 Mini-Note PC starts at $499 and weighs only 2.7 pounds
(Credit: Hewlett-Packard)The Via C7-M offered what HP needed now, according to Robert Baker, a notebook product marketing manager for HP. "Via gave us that right mix of performance and price for the type of environment that this product is going into--content consumption." And the chip's low power requirements were a plus too. "Their power (efficiency) is where we needed it to be for this platform. Web surfing, creating Power Points," Baker said.
CNET Reviews said the 2133 Mini-Note performed at "an acceptable level" when "surfing the Web and working on office documents" but "doing very much more than that, or open too many windows at once, and things will start to bog down." And CNET Reviews added this: "We won't kid you--this CPU (1.6GHz Via C7-M) did not perform well at all on our standard benchmarking tests."
Via C7-M processor
(Credit: Via Technologies)Timing also factored into HP's decision to go with Via's C7-M. Intel's low-cost Atom processor--which will compete directly with Via chips--is not shipping yet from Intel. Though Baker did not cite the Atom explicitly, he alluded to timing exigencies. "The other key thing was we were designing for education. We had to bring the product to the market now. A slip of a month kills you," he said. Educators need to get their hands on units "so they can make decisions for purchases they'll roll out during the summer when they're doing the vast majority of their purchases."
HP will, however, consider other processors such as the Atom when it's time to refresh the lineup. "There will be an interim refresh about six months in. If the Atom is the right processor, that's what we'll go with. We'll look at everything in the market at that time," he said. Via is slated to bring out a higher-performance "Isaiah" processor in the June time frame. HP will also look at that, he said.
The design for the 2133 was not driven by the wow factor, which is an Apple forte. "We didn't say, hey, we want something cool." The design was a result of a long process of "taking feedback from our customers. All those conversations were well over a year ago. This has been in development for a year now."
Whether ultra-compact, low-cost notebooks like the 2133 (starting at $499) and the Eee PC constitute a sea change in notebook buying habits nobody can say yet. To date, small, fully-functional notebook PCs--which the 2133 is intended to be--have carried a high premium. Look no further than the MacBook Air, said Baker. The Air starts at about $1,700 and jumps to above $3,000 with a solid state drive (SSD). The svelte, 2.8-pound HP 2510p subnotebook for corporate customers starts at about $1,500.
If this class of notebooks does take off, "you'll see more and more bang for your buck baked into these small machines," Baker said.
Surprising virtually no one, Hewlett-Packard has finally officially announced its new low-cost, low-power NetBook-style mini-laptop, called the 2133 Mini-Note PC. Of course, we've been following every detail of this system for months, including the presumed launch date, but they're finally officially on sale starting today, from $499-$749.
We've had a chance to play around with an early test unit for about a week now, and so far we like it a lot. Like the Asus Eee PC or Intel Classmate, the 2133 Mini-Note is a smaller-than-ultraportable laptop that trades high-powered specs for portability and price. The HP 2133 keeps the compromises to a minimum, however, with a decent 1,024x768 resolution on its 9-inch screen, and options for 2GB of RAM and even a 7,200rpm hard drive. Its best asset is a unique keyboard, which manages to cram in nearly full-size keys, as opposed to the tiny, hard-to-use keys found on other small laptops.
Our main sticking point was the pokey VIA processor (although VIA's integrated Chrome 9 graphics runs the Vista's graphical interface smoothly), especially with Intel's new Atom ultramobile chips around the corner, and skimpy battery life with the default three-cell battery (you can also get a larger battery, but it's so big as to defeat the purpose of having tiny laptop like this).
The upshot on NetBook-style laptops like this is that they're best for basic tasks, such as Web surfing and working on office documents--but that's 90 percent of what we spend our time doing on laptops anyway.
Check out our full review and video of the HP 2133 Mini-Note PC for a more in-depth look.
(Credit:
Engadget)
If you're not making a cheap and tiny laptop to compete with the Asus Eee PC, what are you doing? Hewlett Packard's forthcoming mininotebook will use Via processors (not Isiah, however) and start at $549, according to a spec sheet that Engadget got its hands on. The entry-level HP 2133 Mini-Note PC will use Linux (SuSE Enterprise) and have a 1.2GHz Via C7-M processor, 1GB of RAM, a 120GB hard drive, a 3-cell battery, and a 8.9-inch screen with a 1280x768 resolution. Another $50 nets you the same configuration with Windows Vista Home Basic. A $749 model serves up a faster 1.6GHz CPU, 2GB of RAM, a 7200rpm drive, a 6-cell battery, Bluetooth, and Vista Business. We're not sure what to make of the "Regional" model listed, which costs $849 for a weaker configuration than the $749 unit.
Engadget reports the Mini-Note PC will hit on April 7.
Don't pay too close attention to the weights and measures listed on the spec sheet; they appear to be for the system and the box in which it ships. It's a safe bet that the HP 2133 will weigh less than 5.26 pounds. A friend of Crave has seen the Mini-Note and says it looks and feels much more expensive than it is--very sturdy and less toy-like than the Asus Eee PC. He also said it felt a bit heavier than he expected.
(Credit:
Engadget)
Features not found include solid-state hard drives, Draft N Wi-Fi, a touch screen, and GPS. Also, we can't help but be disappointed at the C7-M processor, which we've tested in the OQO Model 02 and the Wibrain B1 and have been less than impressed. Perhaps the first revision of the 2133 will bump it up to Via's Isiah chips or introduce Intel's Atom CPUs.
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