OLPC [UPDATED: Don't forget the Asus Eee PC!]

[bluebomberman]

They're opening up the One Laptop Per Child program to the public (sort of) (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/24/business/worldbusiness/24laptop.html?ref=technology):

The marketing program, to be announced today, is called “Give 1 Get 1,” in which Americans and Canadians can buy two laptops for $399.

One of the machines will be given to a child in a developing nation, and the other one will be shipped to the purchaser by Christmas. The donated computer is a tax-deductible charitable contribution. The program will run for two weeks, with orders accepted from Nov. 12 to Nov. 26.

Who's buying one?

[gotzero]

I think I would be more inclined to just give one. Hopefully that will be an option, and then corporate matching would be a little easier too!

[mkrishnan]

Mmm, I kind of want one. :o

[bluebomberman]

I think I would be more inclined to just give one. Hopefully that will be an option, and then corporate matching would be a little easier too!

They're accepting $200 donations straight up via Paypal.

http://www.xogiving.org/

(Look on the right side of the page.)

[gotzero]

Thanks. I feel like an idiot for not looking at the page. I feel like last time I looked at the OLPC they were not soliciting individual donations, following the line of thinking that they would be purchased only by governments.

[bluebomberman]

Thanks. I feel like an idiot for not looking at the page. I feel like last time I looked at the OLPC they were not soliciting individual donations, following the line of thinking that they would be purchased only by governments.

Don't feel stupid. I honestly don't think the donation page has been up for more than a half-day, actually.

[maestrokev]

As a parent, I'm keen to buy and donate but the problem is knowing whether it will catch on or become another Rubik's Cube fad.

[bartelby]

Thanks. I feel like an idiot for not looking at the page. I feel like last time I looked at the OLPC they were not soliciting individual donations, following the line of thinking that they would be purchased only by governments.

It's a new thing. As Govs have to spend $47m in one go on the computers, they're probably having trouble having takers...

[andiwm2003]

As a parent, I'm keen to buy and donate but the problem is knowing whether it will catch on or become another Rubik's Cube fad.

rubiks cube fad?:confused:

anyway, i kind of want one and bookmarked the link. i think about buying two and give one to my 7 year old nephew.

of course one could buy one for $399 and sell the one you get for $499 to the typical ebay moron...........

[GavinTing]

Now be fair! I still buy Rubik cubes! I think this is more of a collecters item, like the old Apple IIs, eh?

[scienide09]

Thanks for posting this, bluebomberman. I've signed up for the email reminder from OLPC about the program, and will give it some thought.

[mkrishnan]

I am kinda sad that it didn't end up shipping with the wind-up crank, though. It doesn't have one, does it?

[andiwm2003]

I am kinda sad that it didn't end up shipping with the wind-up crank, though. It doesn't have one, does it?


i signed up for their e-mail reminder. it seems not to be clear what model you get though. the specs say color screen or black and white screen, there are different battery types and they don't mention the crank. i would love to get one with the crank. since it has wifi and usb it should be quite nice for text editing, reading pdf's and email.

and sitting on a plane in business class and the cranking up the green laptop and doing some work would be priceless!

and after all somebody somewhere gets a laptop and maybe an education and a future. i absolutely support this idea.

[mkrishnan]

and sitting on a plane in business class and the cranking up the green laptop and doing some work would be priceless!

I know. That would be the best! :)

The OLPC website now just discusses one screen -- a 1200x900 dual-mode screen that has a transmissive / backlit mode (1W) and a reflective / sunlight-readable mode (0.2W). But what exactly this computer would look like has been in a state of constant flux.

I really do hope that they work out a way to start selling these at moderate profit in the US to help bankroll their charitable efforts. These things sound like a tremendous amount of fun.

Although much better if they have a hand crank. :D

[Dybbuk]

I honestly don't have the cash, which is a shame because I think this thing is awesome.

It's too bad I'm such a young guy (18) because I'd totally love to get this for my hypothetical children. :( The mesh networking and social aspects of it are particularly adorable.

I know that the purpose of this project is to help the third world, but I wish they would release it commercially here for a bit cheaper, then take the profit and put it towards more OLPC's. Also, I imagine that this volume of production could reduce costs.

[bluebomberman]

Okay, I'm going to try to answer people's questions, since I've also been a little frustrated by the official site's lack of clarity:

An AP report states (http://www.kotv.com/news/national/story/?id=136515) that the first 25,000 orders will be guaranteed to ship in time for Christmas.

According to two (http://laptopmag.com/Features/Hands-On-with-One-Laptop-Per-Child-XO-Laptop.htm) writeups (http://laptopmag.com/News/Notebooks/Why-Do-The-Kids-Get-to-Have-All-the-Fun.htm) by Laptop (warning - site has horrific Flash ads):


the keyboard is rubberized and spill-resistant (but the keys are built for small fingers, so might not be good for adult-sized hands)
the Sugar OS (a customized Red Hat Fedora Linux) is pretty good, if a bit slow to switch applications
the screen has two modes for indoor vs. outdoor (sunlight) use
640 x 480 webcam, mic, SD card slot
a screen that can fold over the keyboard to resemble a tablet PC or e-reader, but no true tablet PC touchscreen functionality
resistant to heat and physical damage
solar panel charger (it's pretty wide - solar's all about surface area) and some sort of big (as big as the laptop) pull cord attachment that you can crank - no idea what it looks like, I will look for photos
no crank on the laptop itself
802.11 b/g wireless networking - "mesh networking" to connect to other computers as well as direct Internet connections - emphasis on collaboration, such as piecing presentations collaboratively
touchpad and stylus - stylus said to be laggy at this point

Solar panel as pictured by Laptop:
http://laptopmag.com/NR/rdonlyres/etopimzvoabebkrubzlkbrr2frc55ggaqnvosud3ldunx4eyym5hyejft7esys2dnb4o6yq5srjdrl/olpc8i.jpg

Laptop magazine just put up another review here which is substantially more negative. "My 8-Year-Old Reviews the OLPC XO (http://www.laptopmag.com/Review/My-8-Year-Old-Reviews-the-OLPC-XO.htm)."

Not really sure what to do, personally. I really would like a $200/$400 portable mini-writing thingie, but judging from the 8-year-old kiddie review, there's some real sacrifices in speed and software stability (web pages aren't too speedy, video performance not so hot, and the system had to be rebooted after two hours because of degrading performance and an unresponsive keyboard - the reviewer compared it to the days of dealing with Windows 95 computers...)

[zap2]

My grandparents are big on donating to 3rd world nations...hopefully when I send them this, they'll buy one for me, and feel good for donating one!

[bluebomberman]

Okay, here's a pic dating last year for a prototype pull-string attachment. I think the aim is to get 10 minutes of juice for 1 minute of labor.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/images/negorpower400.jpg

EDIT: Engadget has a link to a supposed review (http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/10/olpc-reviewed-by-a-twelve-year-old/) from a 12-year-old dating a few months back. The review is overall positive, but speed and stability are real problems.

[bluebomberman]

David Pogue has a pretty glowing review (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/technology/circuits/04pogue.html) of the OLPC:

So the laptop uses a new battery chemistry, called lithium ferro-phosphate. It runs at one-tenth the temperature of a standard laptop battery, costs $10 to replace, and is good for 2,000 charges — versus 500 on a regular laptop battery.

The laptop consumes an average of 2 watts, compared with 60 or more on a typical business laptop.

There's a ton of hardware innovation in the OLPC, but the software remains an issue for me.

I switched to Macs 3 years ago primarily because of Mac OS X - I don't know how much tolerance I'll have for a computer whose software performance isn't fast and stable.

Oh, and for all those grownups wanting an OLPC for their own personal use:

The membrane-sealed, spillproof keyboard is too small for touch-typing by an adult.

[mkrishnan]

I'm still fiending after one.... :o

In fact, if XO Giving is providing me with a way to buy the yo-yo power crank, count me in for the $400 program in November. :)

[bluebomberman]

David Pogue's video demo of the XO laptop. (stream (http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=6ffd976ed367bacae4171dd4999d36431c84b0f5))

There's also an iTunes podcast (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=210818527) version. The individual video hasn't shown up yet on iTunes, but you can get it by subscribing to the podcast. (That's how I got it.)

[disconap]

There's a ton of hardware innovation in the OLPC, but the software remains an issue for me.

I switched to Macs 3 years ago primarily because of Mac OS X - I don't know how much tolerance I'll have for a computer whose software performance isn't fast and stable.

Just because something is open source doesn't mean it isn't fast or stable. Ubuntu is a killer Linux OS that is both those things. Not sure what the OS is on the OLPC, pretty sure it's specific to the program, but it may still very well be excellent.

[bluebomberman]

Just because something is open source doesn't mean it isn't fast or stable. Ubuntu is a killer Linux OS that is both those things. Not sure what the OS is on the OLPC, pretty sure it's specific to the program, but it may still very well be excellent.

If you had bothered to read the reviews that I linked (http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=4232758&postcount=16) to (http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=4278630&postcount=19) in this thread, you'll see that my fears of slow and unresponsive software is based on actual experiences with the machine and not based on my personal bias against open-source software.

(Typed on Firefox 2.0.0.7.)

[disconap]

I didn't say you had a bias, I said that it wouldn't necessarily be slow or clunky. No need to be snippy.

[mkrishnan]

Anyone thought any more about this? I'm really leaning towards making an experiment of using one for a year.

[ravenvii]

Just wondering, but if the OS sort of sucks, could you just get rid of it and throw Ubuntu on it?

[mkrishnan]

Just wondering, but if the OS sort of sucks, could you just get rid of it and throw Ubuntu on it?

I think there have been demos of Ubuntu running on it, yeah. It's actually also already running Linux, FWIW -- the native OS is a derivative of Fedora Core. The OS it actually comes with is rather interesting, although it can't do everything. And since most of the ones sold in the US are going into geek hands, it's a pretty safe bet that Ubuntu will be available almost immediately on it.

[Royale w/cheese]

I have wanted one since I first heard about it. Count me in for one, uhh, two. The Pogue review only cemented it for me. I love/hate that guy!

[mkrishnan]

Haha, I know exactly what you mean. :D

Also it occurred to me that if I want to really go full throttle on the experiment, selling my iBook would basically finance the XO for me as well as the donated XO, with just a little cash thrown in.

[bluebomberman]

More news: production delays (http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/24/olpc-xo-hit-with-production-delays/).

Don't bet good money that you'll actually get your XO-1 laptop before the end of the year.

[bluebomberman]

Those of you considering a purchase of an XO laptop for personal use might want to take a closer look at the Asus Eee PC, which has been getting pretty decent press (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071105-game-changer-asus-eee-pc-a-win-for-intel-and-linux-at-microsofts-expense.html).

Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220244) and a few other places has it, and some of the big retail chains might have it in time for the holidays. One concern I have is confusion between different flavors - there might be multiple flavors with more RAM, more or less storage, Windows preloaded, etc.

[mkrishnan]

Yeah, it's pretty, and it's nicely specified for its price, but it's nothing particularly *special*. I had wanted the XO more for the concept than anything else. The delays are unfortunate... I have to think carefully on whether I want to try to get a space on the 12th.... Thanks for the link to that article.

EDIT: Yes, it's very confusing regarding EeePC models. I can't even really tell which of the models Newegg is carrying. It seems like a nice device for them, though. I hope it goes well. It would be more compelling if it had more battery life, like if it could push into the 5-6 hour range. Although the little tiny charger is a definite plus.

EDIT2: Well, after some digging and reading and thinking, I decided I did actually want to try the Asus Eee... So I ordered one from Newegg, which should come in tomorrow. It looks like XO is actually on target still, even with their production delay -- they sent out the reminder e-mail reiterating their Give 1 Get 1 program, and sweetening the pot with a year's free donated T-Mobile hotspot access. But, the XO weighs quite a bit more than the Eee, and it still seems too much of a moving target. I'm still very interested in it, though!

[andiwm2003]

just to revive this thread: who ordered a xo laptop from the one laptop per child program for $399?

http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/give-one-get-one.php

i'm just about to order one (ot two howerver you count). however they don't tell you the exact specifications that you get though.

does anybody know the details?
any problems to expect with a rev. a machine?
any programs out there to connect/sync with my mac?

thanks, for any input!

btw: i'm only interested in this program, not in alternative/better laptops. i want to support the olpc.

[themanfromvlad]

Hi everyone,

I've used the OLPC twice now for work-related purposes. Any adult thinking about getting one for themselves should stop right now. This computer is not made for adults. It really is a perfect first computer for a child, I would say from age 5-10. I think a North American teenager over age 12 would become frustrated with this laptop.

The XO is designed to run one application at a time, anything more than that and the computer just doesn't run very well. It does have a fully-featured web-browser, but the text editor is very very basic. There's one GB of hard drive space (although you can add an SD card) so you wont be watching movies or listening music much.

Keep in mind that the XO laptop was designed for children to use in learning environment. The WiFi features and Mesh networking add significant value to this computer, but if you're not in a classrooom or school house surrounded by more XOs, they are pretty useless. The machine is very rugged, you can pour water on the keyboard and drop it without really worrying.

And don't think about buying this and then putting it on eBay. eBay is one of the founding sponsors of OLPC and has put the kibbosh on any XO-related auctions.

[mkrishnan]

Well, it seems that they did not end up selling out in fifteen minutes after all. I note that they are not promising delivery before the holidays at this point, although all indications are that they have truly begun volume manufacturing.

I wanted to get one as an experiment / toy, but ultimately decided not to do so. Maybe sometime in the future.

I did actually end up getting an Eee, which is quite far from perfect but very nice in many ways, and entertaining me greatly.

andiwm2003, I believe they are sticking with the fairly detailed specifications here:

http://laptop.org/laptop/hardware/specs.shtml

At least, I didn't hear there were any major changes. A few of the pieces still seem to be close to vapourware right now, though, such as the hand crank.

[andiwm2003]

hm.....

$399 for a toy is a bit much. on the other hand it's something for my nephew as a starting computer...............

i'm torn because $399 is half of a used macbook. so it's expensive. and the fact that they are still available means that a lot of people think they are expensive.

well, there are two weeks left to think about it.

[gotzero]

I donated instead of getting an OLPC for myself, as I did not really see it suiting my needs.

Now I am looking at the EEE PC. My interest in the EEE has increased greatly since it is coming to light that there may be an expresscard slot. If I can put my Verizon broadband card in it somehow, then I plan to buy one. Can anyone confirm this, and if so, send me a PM as not to divert the thread? Thanks!

[andiwm2003]

I donated instead of getting an OLPC for myself, as I did not really see it suiting my needs.

Now I am looking at the EEE PC. My interest in the EEE has increased greatly since it is coming to light that there may be an expresscard slot. If I can put my Verizon broadband card in it somehow, then I plan to buy one. Can anyone confirm this, and if so, send me a PM as not to divert the thread? Thanks!

well, part of why i want the olpc is that it is supposed to be very robust. so i can take it with me to the beach:D

you could also leave it in the car. eventually there should be a lot of simple productivity software. basically a kind of pda with a large screen.

[mkrishnan]

Yeah, the OLPC is very durable compared to the Eee or anything else. Amazingly durable, from the David Pogue video!

The Eee would be very usable to a new user with basic needs who didn't need to use software. There are lots of things that are buggy or limited about the software that challenge more advanced users, but it generally works quite well for the basics. Boot time is amazing. Firefox, OOo, Pidgin, etc, all work great (GIMP and Audacity too, if you install them, and pretty good web cam in Skype if you install a beta). It can run several programs at once without difficulty. It's really rather impressive, considering it cost about $35 more than what I got for my 4-year-old iBook.

(Incidentally, an internal cellular card won't go into the Eee without modding it -- there is probably space, but you'll probably need to be willing to use a soldering iron... I think people have had some success with external ones, as well as with USB->BT adapters and phones under XP.)

[rdowns]

I just got an email about this. I think I'm going to take the plunge and donate one and give the other to my 5 year old nephew.

This is also a nice perk....


Additionally, T-Mobile is offering donors one year of complimentary access to T-Mobile HotSpot locations throughout the United States, which can be used from any Wi-Fi-capable device, including the XO laptop.

[blipstutter]

I wish there was a program set up to provide these to children here in rural neglected parts of the US.

[mkrishnan]

I wish there was a program set up to provide these to children here in rural neglected parts of the US.

What's to stop you? Set one up.

[andiwm2003]

ok, i did it. now it's waiting for the shipping!

how do i get the t-Mobile hotspot access?

Payment Details

Transaction ID: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Item Price: $399.00 USD
Total Shipping: $24.95 USD
Total: $423.95 USD
Order Description: G1G1 program donation
Buyer: XXXXXXXXXXX


It may take a few moments for this transaction to appear in the Recent Activity list on your Account Overview.
Business Information

Business: OLPC Foundation
Contact E-Mail: paypal@laptop.org

[HowEver]

Shipping is $35 to Canada.

Oh yeah, ordered under the "give one get one" program!

[andiwm2003]

Shipping is $35 to Canada.

Oh yeah, ordered under the "give one get one" program!

well, that is not too bad. i paid via paypal but i got only a payment confirmation from paypal. nothing from OLPC itself. do i have to worry?

how do you get the t-mobile hotspot access? does that work for canada as well?

UPDATE: got mmy xo laptop and its totally exciting. it.s a toy, but a serious one.
looks cute, internet works fine. i'm writing this on my xo. together with the one year t-mobile hotspot access for free a great deal.

the keyboard is a bit small and rubbery, it's not fast but extremely well buildt. together with a 4GB SD card it will be my favorite .pdf reader and websurfing machine that you can always leave in your car. kind of a large pda.

the Give 1 Get 1 deal is still on i think. so guy's: go for it! and i support the idea of OLPC to the fullest.

andi

[robanga]

I also got my OLPC mid part of this last week. I had ordered it on the first day that they were available on the give one/get one program.

Its really an amazing product considering the price. you can tell a lot of thought went into the industrial design. The ruggedness alone, it is not an easy feat on low cost products. The OS is basic and really pretty straight forward. The inclusion of the SD Slot is great, slap a 4GB card in there and away you go. The real test is on Tuesday when I give it to my kids for Christmas. There seem to be a lot of upcoming open source applications that the foundation is approving for use on the product.

Networking is simple and straight forward, the camera looks fine and the microphone records wonderfully. They are apparently doing a program where a kid in the US can connect with a kid in another country that also uses the laptop to "share in the learning" community. That sounds interesting.

Its a good cause and its a neat looking little computer.