Student Laptops - Netbooks in Education

The perfect student laptops are small, light and cheapthan a kilo. The Eee PC 2G Surf is also marketed as
- exactly what a netbook is. Mini laptops werethe RM Asus Minibook for educational establishments
originally designed for educational purposes, therewithin the UK.
smaller size and relatively low cost ideal for schoolsThe One Laptop Per Child Foundation's XO laptop is
and students.specifically designed for education, in rugged
However, studies show that 70% of the netbookconditions where power and connections aren't
market is likely to be consumers. None the less, therenecessarily readily available. The OLPC is a charitable
are mini laptops specifically developed for education,foundation which delivers XO laptops to children in
most child-orientated models weighing less than a kilothird world countries, in doing so providing them with
and being no bigger than the average textbook.an education.
The first netbook produced, the Asus Eee PC 701 isIntel, the chipmaker, have produced the Classmate
available in several different variants. The '2G Surf', isPC as part of the 'Intel Education Initiative' and 'Intel
the lowest spec and cheapest model available in theWorld Program' where Intel spends $100 million a
entire Eee PC range, but is still very good value foryear on training, teaching and providing resources for
money, retailing at beneath £200.teachers and students - to produce the next
The Surf models in the Eee PC 701 range comegeneration of innovators. The Classmate PC is a
without the inbuilt webcam and have a slightlycommercial product, designed with similar specs to
derated battery fitted. None the less, they still comethe XO laptop, although aimed at second-stage
with either Windows XP or Linux, Intel Celeron Mdeveloping countries who can afford to buy student
Processor, 512MB of memory and over 40laptops.
pre-installed applications and yet it still weighs less