Is this the cheapest laptop in the world, at $150, as one news report says, and how will it fare as an e-book-reader? Or is it a scam, maybe even a Ponzi scheme?
The Medison Celebrity laptop reportedly comes from Swedish company called Medison and can be ordered via 2Checkout.com in Ohio. No, I haven’t tried it. Maybe the screen quality is horrid despite the ballyhoo, and beyond that, tablets and PDAs are more comfortable to read long texts from than laptops are.
If, however, you want to do many things, not just read E, perhaps this laptop is worth finding more about. The ballyhoo says the machine comes with a widescreened 14-inch WXGA display. Just right for a two-page display via a uBook-style program?
$150 order processed
I’m still skeptical, but you never know. A reviewer from Crave says his order went through and that he’ll be testing the machine shortly. Shipping time was to take from four to six weeks. and there was said to be, yes, a $7 fee (shipping) plus a 5.5 percent commission and a little “extra” for 2Checkout.com. But the reviewr instead paid an even $150, with no shipping charges.
Specs: “Intel Celeron 1.5 GHz CPU, 14″ Widescreen X-bright LCD, 256 MB Ram memory, 40 GB Hard Drive, 802.11g Wireless LAN, Optimized Linux operating system, pre-installed office and multimedia applications.”
Company’s explanation for the price
In the FAQ, Medison explains the low price this way: “We see this from a democratic point of view where we believe everyone should be able to afford to have a laptop. The other reason is that we have our own plants where we assemble our laptops.”
So what do you think? Will this company indeed undercut the $175 OLPC project? In fairness to the latter, keep in mind that the OLPC machine is ruggedized for use in developing countries and has other special wrinkles. I’m not sure how fair a machine-by-machine comparison would be. In any event, please, please, let this be genuine good news without any scams involved. It’s too early to say one way or another.
Updated at 4:40 p.m.: Check out a skeptical Slashdot discussion and a more optimistic perspective from ZDNet. Who’s right? Thanks to Tamas for the Slashdot pointer.
Reminder: You can buy a used DT 375 tablet from uBid for $155. It will work with Mobipocket, Microsoft Reader, eReader and FoxIt.
This was picked up on Slashdot where the “wisdom of the crowds” said that it’s probably a scam. I agree.
Would be nice to confirm it… especially if it’s not 🙂
Thanks,Tamas. Well, as I said, it’s too early for a final judgment. For a nonSlash perspective, go here. Also see Google news roundup. David
Even if this offer is vaporous, cheap laptops will run Linux because Windows XP is expensive and because Linux generally runs faster on resource limited machines. For example, the ASUS Eee PC 701 is real and will cost $200-250 with a 7″ screen (a later model will have a 10″ screen for more money). It will come with Linux.
So software e-book readers that don’t run on Linux are at a disadvantage, and that is essentially all of them with DRM support. This includes MobiPocket, which runs on some Linux devices (eg. PepperPad 3 and iLiad) but not on Linux laptops. Adobe’s Digital Editions will eventually have a Linux version, but it isn’t available yet.
250$ or 150$ makes a big difference.
Even OLPC could not keep the price that low and they have the advantage of
– not trying to make any profit
– ordering in extra large quantities
But definitely cheap (200$) laptops are coming, probably for the XMas season…