Cheap PCs: Number of $400 Notebook PCs Is Rising

Can you trust a PC that costs less than $400? Yes, you can, provided you understand what you're getting and what you're not. It's becoming clear that 2008 will bring a flood of new notebook PCs that cost less than $300. (Amazing to think you can buy a PC or a nice dinner for two in NYC.)

Let's look at a few that are available now:

Everex and Zonbu

Everex, a maker of PCs, and Zonbu, creator of open source applications, partnered to create a low-cost ($279) notebook that runs GOS, a version of Ubuntu Linux.

Last summer I used the Zonbu applications on a stand-alone Zonbu Linux box that the company sells. I loved the software applications, but the Zonbu overheated and crashed quite often. The Everex notebook combined with the Zonbu apps makes more sense.

The notebook is energy efficient and has reasonable storage and memory: 512MB of RAM and an 80GB hard drive. It's got an energy-efficient processor, Wi-Fi, and a CD/DVD player. I got to play with the notebook a few weeks ago and found it to be a mixture of impressive and not-so-impressive. It looks old and clunky, a generation behind the new sleek designs. But the same great applications—everything from document processing to photo management—were all very usable, and the word processor can now work offline as well. The Zonbu service, which includes storage of your documents on their servers, is an additional $14.95 per month, so factor that in to the equation.

One of Zonbu's competitors is the Asus Eee ($399) that's included in The Last Gadget Standing roundup at CES. It's another Linux-based PC; Dory Devlin highlights the features in a recent post. Chris Null loves the 7-inch screen (if you can work in that small an area), and commends the 4GB flash and 802.11 connectivity as wise choices. The machine ships with OpenOffice.org 2.0's work apps, including documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. All can be saved on a USB drive and worked with on a Windows PC. There's also a file-manager utility, a PDF reader, a Notes app, and a Thunderbird email client.

The Intel Classmate is a PC designed to deliver computer power to kids in developing countries. In that vein, the case is ruggedized, but lightweight. It relies on an Intel processor and has a 7-inch LCD screen, like the Asus, but small in the hands of children seems more appropriate. It comes with 1GB of RAM if you're running Linux or with 2GB if you opt to run Windows XP. Cost is $200.

Finally, there's the OLPC, the laptop created for kids in developing countries who desperately need access to the information age. When last I looked, the OLPC was being offered in a two-for-one configuration at a cost of $399. It uses an interesting double technology that lets you set the display for black and white (good in bright sunlight) or in full color mode. The 802.11 connectivity offers an added pinch of social networking for OLPC users. OLPC also runs a selection of Linux applications.

What do these four machines have in common? They all cost under $400 (with $400, you can buy two OLPCs). They all use free and open source software. The cost of open source software is minimal, and using Linux instead of relying on an expensive Windows license lowers the price, too. They all use flash memory, which is now affordable.

Finally, OLPC may not have been the perfect computer, but it was the perfect price. Just knowing it could be done spawned this movement.

I would not count on these machines as my only PC. Even kids will find limitations, as you can't play Windows video games or listen to your iPod on most of them. If you do simple word processing, web surfing, and even multimedia viewing, you're in the right space.

If anyone has experience with any of these and wants to share, we're all ears.