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Indian Company Shows Off Sub-$200 Laptop

Posted by timothy on from the progress-toward-the-negroponte-device dept.

geo_2677 writes "The Indian company which came out with the Simputer has now come with a PC which cost roughly INR 10,000; that's just about US $200. The project was backed by the Indian government R&D department Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)." Geo2677 points out an article on the low-cost computer at hinduonline.net and another at the Times of India, and writes "The new PC is Linux-based and has office applications, a browser and audio/video capabilities. With a keyboard that can be rolled up, it looks pretty sleek. A U.S. company is already using it in pilot projects, and many more have shown interest. The Indian government hopes that this will push the PC revolution to the masses. It aimed for home users and small businesses/shops. The PC penetration in India is very low, at a measly 13 million, due to the high costs involved."

15 of 318 comments (clear)

  1. The PC penetration in India is very low by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The PC penetration in India is very low

    That's because it hurts a lot.

  2. Ok, so, no storage... by garcia · · Score: 4, Informative

    It will have no hard disk but will have built-in memory and facility to plug in memory cards for any storage over and above that provided for in the built-in memory. It will not have games. High-speed computing is ruled out. The reasoning is that "while adding to the cost, these are of no use to many users.''

    The one link is slashdotted already and the other doesn't say how much memory it has built-in. Yeah, it's sub-$200 until you realize that you have to pay another $150+ for a decent sized memory "stick" (or two or three).

    1. Re:Ok, so, no storage... by GweeDo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "but will have built-in memory"

      More than likely it has some built in CF memory or something like that. Even if it is only 512MB...for Word docs and web browsing how much do you need? I would bet the apps are in some form of flash memory or something (similar to a PDA) so no worries there.

      --
      Unstable Apps: Our Android Apps Don't Suck
    2. Re:Ok, so, no storage... by garcia · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Even if it is only 512MB...for Word docs and web browsing how much do you need?

      Well, if you had read the non-slashdotted article:

      Vinay L. Deshpande, chairman and chief executive officer of Encore Software, told a press conference the system would have the essential features of a conventional personal computer: everyday applications such as word processing, spreadsheet, personal information manager, e-mail and web-browser. It will play music and movies, have text-to-speech conversion facility and built-in local-language support.

      Movies and music on 512MB? Get serious. As I said, you will likely be shelling out 150+ for memory. I found it VERY suspicious that they were touting the price when they aren't including any storage space.

      $199 doesn't impress me with slow specs and no storage.

    3. Re:Ok, so, no storage... by GweeDo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      While 512MB isn't gonna work for movies, it is fine for music. I have a 512MB iPod Shuffle and love it. For features like that they probably intend for you to sync it with a desktop.

      If you are someone with NO computer at all in India right now do you really think no movie/music support is the end of the world?

      --
      Unstable Apps: Our Android Apps Don't Suck
  3. interesting by tont0r · · Score: 5, Insightful

    after watching a few "internet PC's" drop off the face of the earth due to the fact that it was $300 and all it did was internet, it would be interesting to see how well this actual PC would end up doing. $200 for basically something that can do work processing, internet, music?(not sure since they didnt specify what they mean by audio...) but still. thats a hell of a deal. and big surprise.. it came from india :).

    1. Re:interesting by harrkev · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If history is any indicator, this will bomb. I have seen more than a few "sub-(one/two/three)-hundred-dollar" systems. They are eventually built, greeted with millions of yawns, and soon disappear. What makes this one any different?

      --
      "-1 Troll" is the apparently the same as "-1 I disagree with you."
  4. Also featured on public radio by DaveInAustin · · Score: 5, Informative

    The radio show Marketplace has a http://members.aol.com/adnascar/thepark.html> story about the same machine. Not much details in the story. It doesn't mention linux, but says "it doesn't do windows".

    --
    --- http://davidnehme.blogspot.com
  5. Tandy 100 reborn? by stm2 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Looks a lot like the Tandy 100. I still have one, last time I used was 4 years ago to take some notes abord a ship. Even if have more than 20 years, is still useful. I think this "notebooks" is conceptually based in that machine :)

    --
    DNA in your Linux: DNALinux
  6. their website here: by t0mhannen · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.ncoretech.com/mobilis/index.html with pics and info

  7. Free, for only $24.95 month by gelfling · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Can you imagine the American version of this? There would be two versions; free + 24.95/month for internet service or the Premium version $400 + 99.95 month including phone, iTunes and a hundred other things you don't need.

    India will eat our lunch because they stay focused on the goal instead of stupid glittery Paris Hilton tech like we do.

    1. Re:Free, for only $24.95 month by GIL_Dude · · Score: 4, Funny

      They won't eat my lunch; it is a McDonald's hamburger...

  8. Numbers numbers numbers by mattmentecky · · Score: 5, Informative

    First off, not to nitpick but the title of the article is misleading. The laptop is not sub-$200, 10,000INR is $230 http://www.xe.com/ucc/

    The PC penetration in India is very low, at a measly 13 million, due to the high costs involved

    Although a $230 laptop is great for people in developed nations unfortunately it is still in the realm of high cost for someone in India.

    http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ us.html
    The GDP per capita in America - $40,000

    http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ in.html
    GDP per capita in India - $3,100

    For someone in America, hell a $2,000 computer would be 1/20th of income, while a $230 computer in India is 1/13th.

  9. Re:Interesting.. by harrkev · · Score: 5, Informative

    Back in my day, I remember having 640x480 and being grateful for such high-resolution graphics.

    You are spoiled by today's systems. So am I. I run 1600x1200 every day. But if you run 0x0 every day because you don't have a computer, 640x480 seems beautiful.

    Don't forget that people used to do useful work on a 80x25 mono screen without graphics. No photoshop, but good enough to word processing to drive a daisy-wheel printer. This thing is bound to be at least as powerful as a Pentium-120. And a Pentium 120 (with 24MB and a 1.2Gb HD) got me my Master's degree by running Matlab and Protel.

    --
    "-1 Troll" is the apparently the same as "-1 I disagree with you."
  10. Re:Interesting.. by ajnsue · · Score: 5, Funny

    Yeah - well back in my day we didn't have your fancy monitors. We just had raw leads sticking out of the back of the computer - we would stick'em on our tongues and have to interpret the output bit by bit. Sure it it hurt sometimes - sweating in pain, working a slide rule to figure out the trickier images. But thats the way real men did it. Zero's and Ones my boy - Zeros and ones