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Best Affordable Computer Options

February 20, 2008 | Author: Travis | Filed under: Geek, Volunteering

Currently I am doing research for both Volunteer Visions and New Earth on affordable computers.

Below are the cheapest pre-fabricated computers that I could find. They all run on Linux based operating systems.

OLPC XO $200-400

http://www.laptopgiving.org/en/explore.php

The XO is the flagship of cheap laptops and the supposed educational messiah to 3^rd world nations.

Although it costs double the originally estimated $100, it is unquestionably awesome and price will continue to drop as more orders pour in.

The current problem for non-profits and caring individuals is that you can’t designate where the laptops go unless you buy at least 100 laptops.

The pricing scheme:

Give 100+

$299 per laptop

Give 1000+

$249 per laptop

Give 10,000+

$199 per laptop

You can Give a Laptop to unspecified child for $200. The company decides where that laptop goes.

If you wish to purchase a single laptop for yourself, it will cost $400. The $400 cost covers 1 laptop for yourself and one for a child in the third world.

For contact about sending 100+ laptops, email givemany@laptop.org

Asus EE PC $300

http://eeepc.asus.com/global/product.htm

For a chronicle for the geek love affair with this small retail computer: Digg and Asus: A Love Affair

It comes with a variety of options to make it even more awesome.

Everex Cloudbook $400

Everex’s CloudBook features the same 7 inch 800×480 resolution screen as the Eee PC, similar built-in speakers, and 802.11b/g wireless internet that the Asus Eee PC has. The people at Everex opted for a 30 gb hardrive rather than a 4gb flashdrive and has a better webcam.

It runs on Googlish Linux and is a direct competitor to the Asus.

Zonbu $99*

http://www.zonbu.com/home/

Zonbu requires a subscription to their data storage service if you want the cheaper computer. Costs for 50 GB continuously backed up is $15/month.

Kuro Box $149

http://www.revogear.com/

These cheap comps are better as mini-servers, but their low cost merited inclusion.

Vector Linux $149

http://store.madtux.org/product_info.php?cPath=57&products_id=311

Everex $199 gPC

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=7754614

The lauded Green PC (not Google PC) is a straightforward desktop sold through Walmart. It is deeply integrated with web applications and features and

It has been hard to find in stock since its release date and has been received favorably (with the exception below).

The PC Mag editors gave the gPC a 1.5 out-of 5 rating, while the readers gave it a 1 out-of 5 rating. Quote:

“The gPC is not the alternative to Windows or Mac OS X it’s cracked up to be; it’s very frustrating to use.”

http://www.gadgetell.com/tech/comment/everex-gpc-a-not-so-nice-review/

Shuttle $199 Linux PC

It will have an Intel Celeron processor, a 945GC chipset, 512MB of memory and either a 60GB or 80GB hard drive. I won’t have an optical drive or a PCI Express slot. It looks happy and comes in different colors.

Cool, Affordable Laptops Coming Sometime Soon:

The Sinomanic Tianhua GX-1C is a specially tailored subnotebook for Mainland primary and secondary school students in China using China’s proprietary Loongson I (Longxin) CPU. The device is designed to both introduce young students to computers, and as an educational aid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinomanic

The Digital Textbook program was announced by the Education Ministry of South Korea on March 8th 2007, the program intends to provide for all Korean schools by 2011.

Ink Media >$300

http://www.ink-media.com/Ink-Unique.html

Looks almost too good and cool to be true.

Intel Classroom

www.intel.com/intel/worldahead/classmatepc/

I can’t find order or pricing information on it.

Mary Lou Jepsen, the founding Chief Technology Officer of One Laptop Per Child compares OLPC’s XO-1 to the Classmate in an interview at Groklaw:

“Classmate is more expensive, consumes 10 times the power, has 1/3 the wifi range, and can’t be used outside. Also, the Classmate doesn’t use neighboring laptops to extend the reach of the internet via hopping (mesh-networking) like the XO does. So not only is the XO cheaper than the Classmate, the XO requires less infrastructure expenditure for electricity and for internet access.”

The cost of getting the desktop to the target country has to be factored in, along with the cost of the monitor. Monitors vary greatly in cost. You can buy a new CRM monitor for under $100

Newegg Search

You can also find a new LCD monitor for around $150.

Alternatively, you can always find a used laptop. Using Ebay/Craigslist, you should be able to find working laptops that are in decent condition for around $200- $300, that often come with an older version of Microsoft Office. Either you can wipe it clean and install Linux and have a speedy, dependable computer.

Best Linux Options for beginners:

To those who don’t know, Linux is a free operating system (like Windows or Apple OSx) that is largely driven by developer and user communities working on their own own time. It is not any more difficult (and often is claimed to be easier to use) than Apple or Windows.

Linux can be freely modified, used, and redistributed by anyone.

Below are some great places to begin with Linux:

Google Operating System (aka Goobuntu): http://www.google.com/linuxrepositories/index.html

Ubuntu: http://www.ubuntu.com/

Check out some awesome features that can be added in the below video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC5uEe5OzNQ

Redhat: http://www.redhat.com/

Redhat is collaborating with OLPC to provide an affordable open source laptop to children in 3^rd world nations.

For amusing commentary, on the Linux world, read Fake Steve Jobs. Use the following search to find his posts on Linux users:

Freetards

Sample freetard quote:

“Windows is unprotected sex. Linux is using a condom, the pill, a vasectomy, and the Berlin wall.”

Also Cool:

Wizzy Digital Courier is a project to distribute useful data to places with no Internet connection. Primarily for e-mail, it also carries web content (stored locally in a web cache). http://www.wizzy.org.za/

Data normally carried by the dial up telephone link is instead physically carried by a mobile computer between the end user’s location and a high bandwidth data drop to the Internet.

Delivery mechanisms are by overnight dialup, taking advantage of special calling rates outside business hours, or USB memory stick. The USB stick uses the UUCP protocol, carrying information to and from a better-connected location - perhaps a school or local business, which acts as the dropoff for Email, and fetches web content by proxy. The email and web content is re-packaged as a UUCP transaction, and ferried back on the USB stick.

The project site offers a bootable CD image that lets users install Wizzy Digital Courier onto a computer, erasing what is already on the computer and installing a new operating system (a modification of CentOS Linux, itself a derivative of Red Hat Enterprise Linux) along with all of the Wizzy content.

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