Comments on: OLPC XO – a quick look

By: Tam Hanna, Site Founder

Tam Hanna, Site Founder — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:01:39 +0000

Hi Folks,
I am glad to see that all of you are that active discussing the machine. However, I am unfortunate to tell you that I no longer have access to one.

So…I can tell you more about my personal experiences…but can’t really speak more about the XO.

Best regards
Tam Hanna

By: philpalm

philpalm — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 19:14:34 +0000

I have to answer my own questions…
#

* Keyboard layout pictures: international, Thai, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, West African, Urdu, Mongolian, Cyrillic, Amharic;

# Gamepad: Two sets of four-direction cursor-control keys;
# Touchpad: Dual capacitance/resistive touchpad; supports written-input mode; ALPS Electric Dual capacitive/resistive touchpad;
# Audio: AC97-compatible audio audio subsystem; internal stereo speakers and amplifier; internal monophonic microphone; jacks for external headphones and microphone; Analog Devices AD1888 and Analog Devices SSM2211 for audio amplification;
# Wireless networking: Integrated 802.11b/g (2.4GHz) interface; 802.11s (Mesh) networking supported; dual adjustable, rotating coaxial antennas; supports diversity reception; capable of mesh operation when CPU is powered down; Marvell Libertas 88W8388 controller and 88W8015 radio;

By: philpalm

philpalm — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 19:03:24 +0000

Out of the box it is bare bones. Similarily a palm device out of the box is not too business oriented.

Some questions, Will it work with higher GB SD cards, any limits?

Any particular WiFi quirks, like wap and web and bandwavelength?

Will it ever be bluetoothed? Maybe by SD card that has bluetooth?

Will it be English, German,Russian, or French languaged?

By: Alexander Gratz, Administrator

Alexander Gratz, Administrator — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:07:38 +0000

I think I wouldn’t like the keyboard.

By: tumarabalar.com

tumarabalar.com — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:38:31 +0000

what about Simon

By: Tam Hanna, Site Founder

Tam Hanna, Site Founder — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:10:52 +0000

Hi Folks,
I am very sorry – can’t say much here…

As for the design…I am very frustrated with its keyboard(typing this at a midrange LogiTech keyboard) and also the handle…it is IMHO WAAAAY too big!

Best regards
Tam Hanna

By: Aquarium

Aquarium — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 16:31:39 +0000

Hello Simon,
thank you

By: Ruslan

Ruslan — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:05:38 +0000

OLPC contains full-fledged Linux OS inside. So, you should be able to install the same software Asus EeePC uses. However, battery life should be huge comparing to EeePC. Though I never touched one, I, personally, like OLPC design very much

By: Tam Hanna, Site Founder

Tam Hanna, Site Founder — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 13:04:09 +0000

Hi Simon,
thank you so much for talking back!

As said – the OLPC is innovative. However, some people I know planned to buy one instead of the eeePC – and this is just what I wanted to say with this article.

Best regards
Tam Hanna

By: Simon

Simon — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:42:20 +0000

Why don’t people just get it? The XO is no business laptop. It’s built to be robust and easy to repair. It’s designed for children who have never used another operating system before, perhaps even have not learned to read and write yet. It’s ideal for school children to lug around (that’s why it has this handle), not for executives shirt pockets. It’s interpreted OO code top to bottom that is optimized to be easily understandable and extendible. Comparing it with a Palm smartphone or an EeePC, which is just a cheap laptop with standard software, just doesn’t make any sense.