Bargain laptop for under £100

thinkginge

i watched a documentry about these laptops a while ago, they are meant for school age children, theory behind it is that kids from disadvantaged backgrounds can have access to the internet etc.very successful scheme in the us apparently, they got funding i think to give them away in schools over there

bob_a_builder

i watched a documentry about these laptops a while ago

I think that may have been refering to the OLPC project (but I didn't see it, so could be talking rubbish)
Originally aimed at 3rd world,
still some discussion whether they would be made commercially available, i.e. you have to be a small country and place an order for a couple of 100k IIRC
edit: I see USA is now using them in Alabama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/$100_laptop

Actually better looking than the Elonex one, so not clear they are same device

tr3mor

andysstuff wrote: »

Would have thoght that for a hunfdred quid, you can't go wrong. That's a third the price of anything else.

OK not going to have mega GB of memory, but for basic surfing/word etc, looks fine.

My kids birthday presents sorted this year!

Apart from the screen resolution which is absolutely hopeless for the web. In 6 months time loads of companies will be releasing versions with decent screens so I'd wait if I were you.

hussey_2

well, it looks very far behind the monitor... how do they keep it balanced??

dj_jenns

I really don't know... I think the general idea is fantastic, at such an affordable price in comparison, but what I can't help feeling is where have we come to now that we're all so tech-savvy and we look down on a piece of kit like this. I'm not trying to have a go because my initial impression at it too was "lol what a joke" but I guess theres a market out there for it...

Anyone here ordering one, I'd rather have a sub £99 laptop from ebay - specs will be much better and should run Linux no problem

broclo

Yes it is a bit bulky and low spec, yes you can get a second hand one on ebay, but you never know if there may be problems etc.

As a single mum with no help from family and ex atall...it does mean that my teenage son will not have to wait till christmas till he can have his own laptop. He can of course use the one I am on now, but having his own will be wonderful for him to have privacy. Plus after all, in the area I live in, he is the ONLY child to not have his own, in his class. Because I spend money on fresh decent food, instead of garbage, my shopping bill is high and he always looks smart etc, so money can only go so far. Therefore he could not have one this christmas aswell as other things he wanted.

Because of this offer, I can now buy him a laptop, he will not have to wait and if he hates that much, he can swap with mine.

Although he will not, because he will be grateful, children without alot always are. These are designed for children like him. This will make his year.

sb44

broclo wrote: »

Yes it is a bit bulky and low spec, yes you can get a second hand one on ebay, but you never know if there may be problems etc.

As a single mum with no help from family and ex atall...it does mean that my teenage son will not have to wait till christmas till he can have his own laptop. He can of course use the one I am on now, but having his own will be wonderful for him to have privacy. Plus after all, in the area I live in, he is the ONLY child to not have his own, in his class. Because I spend money on fresh decent food, instead of garbage, my shopping bill is high and he always looks smart etc, so money can only go so far. Therefore he could not have one this christmas aswell as other things he wanted.

Because of this offer, I can now buy him a laptop, he will not have to wait and if he hates that much, he can swap with mine.

Although he will not, because he will be grateful, children without alot always are. These are designed for children like him. This will make his year.

:T

I have to admit reading this has just brought tears to my eyes.

As a one income family I totally know where you are coming from. Virtually all of my daughters clothes come from our local Help the Aged shop (I make sure I only buy either new or as new clothes as they only charge 40p for kids stuff!) as well as her books (she is aware of were her clothes come from and it doesn't seem to bother her - this may change as she gets older). Toys and games etc are mainly bought from Home Bargain or offers on the internet.

However, she has always taken care of her toys, books and most look like new even after a few years.

They do appreciate things more and don't expect much.

She is the only one in her class without a Nintendo DS and although we could have afforded one for Xmas we couldn't justify paying £100+ for one item as small as that.

I managed to get her a cheap 2nd hand laptop off ebay for £40 which is really basic but useable but she would be over the moon with a new one.

JMC39

tr3mor wrote: »

Apart from the screen resolution which is absolutely hopeless for the web. In 6 months time loads of companies will be releasing versions with decent screens so I'd wait if I were you.

Thats exactly what has stopped me getting one as yet. As soon as one is release with a 12" 1024x786 screen, I will grabbing one!

whoever

Looking at the specs here - http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/02/20/elonex-100-laptop-specs-leaked this wouldn't really tempt me at all. I think it is just too underpowered. Don't get me wrong, if someone can't afford to get onto the internet, then this is a great way to get started. On the other hand, if someone wants this as a 2nd machine, I think it will just disapoint as it just won't compare to their primary machine.
I am writing this using the Asus Eee PC (4 GB version). For £220 I think this is a much better deal (spec wise) and if you can afford it I would go for this.

norm_diploom

whoever wrote: »

Looking at the specs here - http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/02/20/elonex-100-laptop-specs-leaked this wouldn't really tempt me at all. I think it is just too underpowered. Don't get me wrong, if someone can't afford to get onto the internet, then this is a great way to get started. On the other hand, if someone wants this as a 2nd machine, I think it will just disapoint as it just won't compare to their primary machine.
I am writing this using the Asus Eee PC (4 GB version). For £220 I think this is a much better deal (spec wise) and if you can afford it I would go for this.

Agreed - I'm also writing this on an Asus, which I've used virtually every day since getting it. My kids say they would rather have one of these than a conventional laptop because of the portability and the "cool factor"