Classmate PC and Asus Eee at IDF
At the Intel Developer Forum, Intel showed off a device that is designed to enable schools with wireless LAN networking so they can access the Internet. The device is a 802.11 Wireless Access Point and Bridge device made from inexpensive commodity parts. The box has two separate radios, one for the directional radio used for the wireless backhaul bridge and one for the two antennas on the box used for the Access Point.
This is the Asus Eee laptop. The model shown has a 7-inch LCD screen and it's running a fast booting version of Linux. Prices range from $200 to $330 and a basic model with 7-inch display and Wireless LAN capability is $230. Higher-end models will have 9-inch displays.
Asus Eee with lid closed.
Profile view of Asus Eee showing how slim he device is.
This is the Classmate PC from Intel. It will sell for a similar price point as the Asus Eee depending on the configuration. It's more bulky than the Asus Eee but it may be a little more durable.
Some Asus Eee models come with a pen input device that copies hand written notes in to the PC.
Notes can be written using a special pen on plain inexpensive paper. The one down side is that the Pen can't use rechargeable batteries.
The notes and drawings I put on the paper were faithfully transcribed to the computer.
Here's a profile view of the Classmate PC.