$129 Laptop

The title is correct: you can now purchase a laptop for only $129 each plus shipping. There is one caveat however: you have to purchase a minimum of 100 units.

Perhaps you have a lot of friends.

The Impulse NPX-9000 laptop has a 7-inch screen and comes with the Linux OS. It has a 400MHz processor, 128M bytes of RAM, 1G byte of flash storage and an optional wireless networking dongle. It includes office productivity software, a Web browser and multimedia software. It runs the Linux operating system, not Microsoft Windows.

It sounds a lot like the Asus EEE that I described recently in a Plus Edition article. I purchased one of the ASUS EEE $399 laptops recently and love it. A cheaper model with less memory and no video camera is available for $299. I now use it as my primary laptop when traveling. It is the only laptop that I carry unless I am giving presentations. It slips in an overcoat pocket and weighs two pounds so it is easy to pack and carry.

The new $130 Impulse NPX-9000 laptop has almost the same specifications and is less than half the price, if you purchase 100 of them. However, the Impulse NPX-9000 does have less memory and its wireless connectivity is an extra-cost option. At this price, the laptop costs less than some software packages.

The Impulse NPX-9000 laptop should be able to run GRAMPS, a full-featured, free genealogy program for Linux. I don't know if anyone has tried that yet, however.

The $129 laptop is available on Alibaba.com through the online store of Taiwanese company Carapelli Ltd. You can read more at http://www.alibaba.com/product-tp/101509462/World_s_Cheapest_Laptop.html.

Hmmm, anyone want to try for a "group buy?"

Comments

[Mary Ellis]

I'll join in a group buy! Sounds good to me.

Mary

[bobby]

...and so is the reason why i havent gone to linux full time. Its called Legacy. I have no need for windows, and really not wanting to waste money on a windows OS when linux does all for me..... except running my legacy program with no problems.

The laptop is great - but i cannot run my current family tree software.

[Michael Cregan]

Dick, if you want to start a group buy count me in, check with the Genealogy Guys, there suckers for ne gadgets too. Hi Guys

Michael Cregan

[Michael Stephenson]

PAF on Linux with "WINE"

http://www.mcnabbs.org/andrew/linux/paf/

(WINE is an Open Source implementation of the Windows API on top of X, OpenGL, and Unix.)

PAF (Personal Ancestral File) is a nice genealogy program from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is available for download at FamilySearch. For an individual user it works really well. The main problem is that it's Windows-only.

WINE (WINE Is Not an Emulator) lets you run Windows programs on Linux. It does this by implementing the whole Windows API, and considering how unclear the APIs are, it does a really good job. There is an entry in the Wine App DB for tracking the current status of PAF in Wine, though it could use a little updating.

[Rachel Lavender]

I am interested in the group buy for the $129 laptop!
Rachel

[Susan]

Depending on the timing, I may be interested, too.

[Bobbie Soriano]

I want to be counted in. I believe I could force myself to buy one for each of my children as well. How can we loose? Keep me posted.

[Alice]

At $129, count me in!

[Brian]

$129 is rather misleading as the terms quoted are FOB Shenzhen. Which means besides having to buy 100 you also have to arrange for and pay the shipping and import duties from China.

[Carolyn Benjamin]

I'm also interested. Please let me know. This sounds really good.

[Lisa Stanton]

count me in....

[Walter J. Kehoe]

Dick
You can count me in as well.
Walter

[Deb]

The problem with the incompatibility of software with different operating systems is why an Internet based family tree builder is the way to go. You don't have to have a laptop and you don't have to worry about hard drive crashes. You can access yor data from any Library.

[Bobbi]

Hi Dick,

Will you consider forming a group?

Bobbi

[Ed Brzozowski]

I'm interested in the group buy.

[Dick Eastman]

---> Will you consider forming a group?

Sure. Now all we need is about another 90 people...

[Leah]

Hi Dick,
interested if it is indeed capable of running FTM without any problem and you can add memory to it.
If it does indeed come from China than probably not interested.
L

[Zane Healy]

Anyone seriously considering one of these should take a careful look at the specifications. It has a 400Mhz *MIPS* CPU according to the website. MIPS CPU's are not Intel compatible, and It is most likely using a version of the Chinese Loongson CPU http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loongson which isn't even a true MIPS CPU. Simply getting Linux software that will run on this might prove to be interesting. As a MIPS CPU, WINE will not work on it, as WINE requires an Intel compatible CPU.

I have an ASUS eee PC myself, and while I find the keyboard to small, I find it to be excellent. Unlike this, it has built in ethernet & wireless, the flash disk is a larger, and you can run at least select Windows apps via WINE on it (or WinXP itself). Plus I believe ASUS is supposed to be releasing one soon with a larger keyboard and screen.

[Dick Eastman]

Hi Leah,

This laptop runs Linux, not Windows. Therefore, it cannot run Family Tree Maker which requires Windows. The same is true of a number of the other new, low-cost laptops. However, it should be able to run GRAMPS, a very nice (and free) genealogy program for Linux.

The manufacturer's web site lists an address in Shenzhen which I can verify is in mainland China; I've been there several times although my last trip there was more than twenty years ago.

Probably half to two-thirds of all laptop computers come from China, including those from Hewlett-Packard, Gateway, and many others.

- Dick Eastman

[Lisa Stanton]

you can count on 4 people just in my family to join.

[JR]

Dick
You can count on me for one, maybe 2 of these
Jim

[Doris]

Dick,
Please count me in on a possible group buy.
Doris