Portland’s Intel is releasing a new low cost laptop for students: Classmate PC

There’s an interesting article in the Portland Oregonian today about Intel releasing a new low cost laptop for students called the “Classmate PC“. This laptop is scheduled to be sold in April of 2008 and will sell for a retail price of $300 to $500; much lower than the still high price of many laptops.

They are competing with the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) organization which sells a simlar laptop. These computers are designed for the millions of third world students currently becoming part of the global net for the first time.

A Portland based company, called CTL corp., is selling the Classmates in the US under the name “2go PC” which sells for $400 to $500 depending on the software installed on it.

The spill proof keyboards and Linux or Windows XP operating systems were field tested right here in Portland including Buckman Elementary School.

Classmates are not only for students but are also targeted at adults who want a portable, spill proof, low cost laptop that does not have all the bells and whistles of a regular laptop. They are marketing them as somewhere between a Blackberry-type smart phone and a full scale laptop for users of the wireless world. They have a 9 inch screen so you can see more than with you iPhone but still weigh 3 pounds and are a bit more cumbersome to tote around, but they have a handle which makes that carrying easier to do. This cross between a smartphone and laptop is being called a “netbook”.

Personally I think it is a great idea. I really want a portable, low cost device that I can use on Portland’s currently free wifi service but so far they are either too small or too big. This netbook may be just what I need to go mobile citywide.