The $99 Laptop is Here. Is it Worth the Money?

It seems like Netbooks are getting cheaper and cheaper...During Black Friday, several stores were selling them for around $200, and those machines were better equipped than the machines sold for $299 last year. But a $99 Laptop? Now that's ridiculous!

What's even more ridiculous, are the specs on this new machine. Called the "Africa", this new machine from Cherrypal (definitely not a household name) boasts a 7" Screen, 400 Mhz processor, with 256MB RAM, and 2GB flash memory. I've had Palm Pilots with more processing power than that. I'm just saying, the new iPod Touch blows that out of the water with a blazing fast (in comparison) 533 Mhz processor.

Basically, this "Laptop", if it even exists, (I don't know of anybody who's actually seen one) isn't much more than a toy, so I wouldn't get too excited. But it's fun to talk about, and there may be an application for such a computer in the Third World, since it's so cheap and doesn't use a lot of power.

But if you really need a cheap computer, I suggest you wait until after Christmas, i'm sure retailers will be clearing out some real Netbooks that you can actually do something with, for around $200.

Here's the official Press Release:Cherrypal Launches World's First $99 Laptop

New 7-inch Netbook Helps Bridge the Digital Divide; Redesigned Intel N280 Bing laptop features 13.3-inch wide screen; New Cherrypal Open Store Launched

PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Cherrypal, the company that brought the world's "greenest" desktop computer to market last year, announced today that it has officially launched the first $99 laptop computer: the Cherrypal Africa. With a screen size of just 7 inches, the Africa is a mini netbook computer that enables anyone to browse the Internet at an affordable price.

"At Cherrypal, we're extremely conscious of the so-called 'digital divide'," said Max Seybold, the company's founder. "We're constantly looking for ways to bridge that gap, and the Cherrypal Africa is a huge step in the right direction. Plus, everyone who has tried it has absolutely loved it!"

Named after Cherrypal's recent community building initiative in Ghana, the Africa packs quite a punch for its size and price point. The computer runs on a 400 MHz processor and features 256 GB RAM, 2 GB flash memory and can run either Linux or Windows CE operating systems.

The Africa isn't just user friendly - it's also environmentally friendly. From top to bottom, Cherrypal designs all of its computers to consume the least amount of power possible, while using fewer parts than other manufacturers. This saves electricity and keeps excess computer byproducts out of landfills. The company is also aware of its own carbon footprint and relies on wind energy to power its website.

Along with the launch of the Africa, Cherrypal has also redesigned the new 13.3-inch widescreen Bing laptop. Priced at only $389 (including Windows XP), the Intel N280-based (1.6 GHz operation) Bing features 1 GB DDRII memory, 160 GB HDD, 1.3 MP integrated web camera and much, much more.

The Cherrypal Bing and Cherrypal Africa can both be purchased through the recently launched Cherrypal Open Store, which features products designed by Apple, Dell and others. All non-Cherrypal products featured in the Open Store are priced at least 30 percent less than the manufacturer's suggested retail price, but carry Cherrypal's unconditional 30-day money back guarantee.

To browse all of Cherrypal's affordable green machines, visit www.cherrypal.com.

About Cherrypal:

Cherrypal (http://www.cherrypal.com) is part of Tristate Hong Kong Group Limited (http://www.tristatebrands.com) with offices in Hong Kong and Palo Alto, California. Founded in 2008 Cherrypal is the leading vendor in the green personal computer market. Part of Cherrypal is the Green Maraschino cloud computing initiative.

Contact:
Max Seybold
max@cherrypal.com