With a 7-inch display and solid-state hard drive, the Intel Classmate PC is clearly designed to withstand greater wear and tear, with a thick ruggedized plastic shell. While the Classmate isn't currently available to individual consumers, the technologies reflected here will likely filter down to consumer systems, leading to cheaper, smaller laptops for everyone, although likely not directly from Intel, which wants to stay out of the system-selling business.
This mini laptop shares many physical traits with the $399 Linux-based Asus Eee PC. The Classmate starts at $225, and for around $350, you can get one set up like our review unit, preloaded with Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003--both software packages specially configured to fit onto the tiny 2GB flash hard drive.
The Classmate PC looks more like a toy than a laptop computer, with a thick, plastic chassis with rounded corners that's designed to keep important parts far from the outer edges of the machine. The keyboard is water-resistant, and the entire body felt solid and unyielding. Even the back of the lid, which is covered with a thin, flimsy piece of plastic on many laptops, felt rugged. The system has a removable snap-on cover, made of thick leather, which doubles as a handle.
Typing is comfortable for little hands than those of a grown adult. The round touch pad is unusual but easy to use but you couldn't use the edge as a scroll zone. The 7-inch display, again like the Asus Eee, has a resolution of 800x480.
The Classmate PCs come with the client software, while a teacher with a full-featured laptop runs the host software. From the host laptop, the teacher can monitor the students' work, send text messages directly to the Classmate PCs, transfer work on one student's screen to all the other systems on the local network, or even remotely "silence" the Classmates, turning off their screens.
Ports and connections are spare on the Classmate. You get two USB ports, an Ethernet jack, headphone and mic jacks, and that's about it. Surfing the Web was a breeze, but opening multiple Web pages and office documents at the same time will slow the system down a bit.
The Intel Classmate PC is aimed at students in developing countries. It is an intriguing attempt at a low-cost laptop. We love the rugged design, but the small 2GB hard drive doesn't leave a lot of room for growth.
Specifications:
- Recommended Use: Education
- System Type: Notebook
- Built-in Devices: Keyboard, Touchpad, Microphone, Stereo speakers
- Processor: Intel Celeron M 353 / 900 MHz
- Installed RAM Size: 256 MB
- Hard Drive: 2 GB
- Display Type: 7 in LCD passive matrix
- Max Resolution: 800 x 480
- Audio Input: Microphone
- Input device type: Keyboard, Touchpad, Digital pen
1 comments:
What system does it run? IS it compatible with microsoft and able to run programs such as word?
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