Finally Got My XO Laptop
written by John Chow
Back in November, I donated an XO laptop to a child in a developing country. As part of my $399 donation, One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) sent a laptop to a child and sent one to me as a gift (it’s not really a gift since these laptops cost $200 each). When I made the gift, OLPC told me they would try their best to get me my laptop before Christmas. That never happen and I was wondering if I would ever get it. Well, Fedex finally delivered my XO Laptop today!
The XO Laptop is a piece of computing history. It’s not available for purchase anywhere in North America. The only way you could have gotten one was with that give a laptop, get a laptop promotion. The unit itself is surprisingly small and I’m sure my Pocket PC has more computing power. The keyboard is not full size and very hard to use. I doubt I would use this laptop for anything more than a conversation piece. It will go well sitting next to my original 3DFX Voodoo Graphic card.
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(10 votes, average: 3.8 out of 5)
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Cool little laptop. What ever happened to the Ruff PC you were going to give away?
I’m still waiting for Ruff to send it over.
I’m probably going to be reviewing both for TTZ, aren’t I?
I can just picture the side-by-side comparison now.
That would make for an interesting review… considering OLPC claims they designed their computer for the rugged conditions of third world countries.
I imagine the reason for the small keyboard is because it was designed for children. Last I heard Intel pulled out of OLPC and claims to be working on an $88 laptop, which is comical considering OLPC is suppsed to be $100 but is around $200 still.
Well it is $100 because, for $200…you get one yourself and so does a child
Double your prices, Nicholas.
You could double up your prices.
Does it blend?
Good to hear that
John, I emailed you a while back, I was asking a question regarding TTZ media, can I use it on multiple sites that I own?
I know this is not the right place to be asking but it seems to be the only place I can reach you.
My apologies,
Kind Regards,
Fabien
You would need to apply for each site.
John I have been using TTZMedia and it still says ‘No Data Available Yet’ and I have not earnt anything.
Can I ask is it actually running?
Nothing as of yet…don’t think John’s received it off the company.
Love the simplicity of the thing. It’s good to see webmasters giving back =).
I agree, it’s a great program for a great cause and it’s nice to see John involved and it’s also great to see that it’s receiving some well-deserved exposure here as well.
Alan Johnson
I guess OLPC stands for One Laptop Per Chow now.
LOL! Good one!
Nice.
Yep, just kind of looks funny! I’m sure kids love it though.
I always thought you had to buy 2 and then they gave you one.
No, if you pay for 2, they give you 4. If you pay for 4, they give you 8. If you pay for 8, they give you 16.
Wait, that’s pizza…
Well you buy 2: They give one to a child…they give you one.
hahaha… 3DFX graphic card… that is excellent.
At least to those who know about and remember the 3DFX graphic card =)
At the end of the video,
“Not only is it a laptop but a….Actually I dont think it does that”
hahaha priceless.
That’s neat. Maybe your daughter can play around on it.
Exactly what I was thinking…
But it’s not intended for adults!
Let Sally play with it; she’ll show you how to use it! 
Yeah thats a nice idea.
Pretty nice
Well done John
what a rip off
You might think its a rip off but donating to good causes is always good.
If the roles were reversed…would you be happy with an XO laptop or none at all?
It is easy to forget that what one person who has a lot considers compared to one who has nothing. I think it is a great program and I think John should be applauded for buying it.
Exactly, there are a lot of people who have taken advantage of this product and the bottom line is that for every two laptops you purchase, one goes to a person who actually needs it and that should always be appreciated.
Alan Johnson
Well you could also give it to your daughter so she can plays with it (at least has a color that kids love..emm I love it too).
love the lappy tho’ the colors are really not that great.
Hurt my eyes starring at that green color.
But never the less, it was nice of you to donate a computer to through the program.
It just looks like a toy
Will you giveaway this Xo laptop ?
Doubt it since he didn’t win it and he also mentioned a place to put it
You never know. The 3DFX Voodoo Graphic card might be in a box getting ready to be shipped to some lucky winner.
That’s awesome John, keep up the great work!
I am wondering, you mention it has very little power,
is this the same Laptop sent to the child, and if so, what can the child who receives one do with it?
Is it of value for the child?
Basically consider yourself as a child in a developing country in the 3rd world…would you be happy to receive a laptop that can connect to the internet regardless of the power it has?
It has enough power for the basics like word processing, spreadsheets, programming, internet access etc… It’s for education purposes and not intended to be playing the latest version of Halo.
Exactly, I am convinced that the people who receive them are very pleased with the fact that they can be used for such applications.
Alan Johnson
You should have a contest for it, John. Maybe some blogger could give it to his/her kid, so they can start their own blog.
I played with the XO during a couple of computer conferences in the Bay Area, and it definitely is a neat little gadget.
Yeah that thing was such a failure. They would have been better off giving people EEE pc’s instead
Hey John, I know this is a little bit off topic and all - but whatever happened to that “secret” project where you were working on another make money online site?
Yes I remember that “secret” project too, what’s the conclusion on that one?
And John also said he’ll give away his iPod Touch to a lucky person who uses his coupon code to buy a page on Million Euro Wiki. Haven’t hear anything on that too. Did I miss it?
Whoa.. Give me one chow…
Cool design…
Basically donate to the one laptop per child project and they’ll give you one.
John,
Don’t know if you are aware that a lot of the design characteristics you find difficult to use are deliberate. Ugly color, low power, tiny keyboard makes it unattractive to adults to reduce it’s value on the black market. They don’t want them being stolen from kids and traded for a profit by putting them in adult hands. The design was well thought out to make them ideal for young kids, but less than ideal for adults. Lots of other design features as well, to keep them in the hands of kids and not adults.
John, next step is to power it up for all of us to see
-Mike
The bottom line is…you helped some kid in a developing country. Good for you. Plus, you now have a “limited edition” collectors item which could be worth big bucks down the road.
I’m sure that being in profit wasn’t one of John’s reasons for taking part in this, it was simply a nice gesture on his part.
Alan Johnson
I got mine a few weeks ago. Its actually a pretty cool little system. It would be great for a young person. I was going to give mine as a Christmas gift but it came in so late.
I’ll likely Just have a contest and give it away on my site. Either that or auction it off on ebay with 100% of the revenue donated to another charity. What do you guys think?
I’ve heard so much about these PCs! In fact, I was watching 60 Minutes and came across the project called ‘one laptop per child’, which intrigued me. OLPC’s mission is to provide a means for learning and self expression to the 2 billion children with little or no access to education by providing them with low cost laptops. The project in my opinion is quite remarkable. It’s great to hear that you bought one. I missed the deadline to get one myself.
Hey John. This might be of interest. I live in Birmingham, Alabama and the new Mayor here has struck a deal with OLPC and OLPC is going to sale/supply the city schools here with these XO laptops for all the students in elementary grades. This is the Mayor’s way of living up to his campaign promise of making sure all city school students would have laptops at their desk. OLPC is selling them to the city for $200 each. While these laptops do serve the purpose, do you think the laptops are sufficient for the classroom? I was thinking of something a little more “normal” for a laptop.
-Dan