One Laptop Per Child

A $100 laptop – with a tablet screen, video camera, microphone, a graphics tablet, game-pad controllers, and a memory-card slot ? Yes, this is the dream of One Laptop Per Child to develop a very low-cost, high-potential, extremely rugged computer for the two billion educationally underserved children in poor countries. And the dream comes true OLPC unveiled their dream machine XO in October.

 

XO provides regular wireless Internet connectivity as well as mesh networking, and its system software takes up one-fifth of its 1 GB of flash memory storage. The majority of the laptop’s programs can be shared on the mesh network it supports. The XO comes close to the initiative’s original vision of a $100 laptop (it currently costs $200 ) and in November the computer will be offered for sale to the public in industrialized countries for two weeks through OLPC’s “Get 1, Give 1″ program. Under the program, a consumer pays $400, which covers the cost of one XO laptop–complete with tax deduction–for the consumer and one for a student in an impoverished country. One more reason to be happy – XO is built from free and open-source software.

Configuration : (Details can be found here )

• 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.
• CPU: 433 Mhz AMD Geode LX-700@0.8W CPU
• Memory: 256 MiB DRAM
• Storage: 1 GB SLC NAND flash ;MMC/SD Card slot available
• Battery: : 2 or 4 cells LiFePO4; or 5 cells NiMH .
• Average Power Consumption : 2 watts, compared with 60 or more on a typical business laptop. That’s one reason it gets such great battery life. A small yo-yo-like pull-cord charger is available (one minute of pulling provides 10 minutes of power); so is a $12 solar panel that, although only one foot square, provides enough power to recharge or power the machine.