The Laptop Project has delivered their first XO machines, the famed “$100 laptops”, faster than previously expected, to a school in Uruguay, after Brazilian beta testing.

XOs are RoHS-compliant for safety. They run on a 366MHz AMD Geode GX, and burn only two watts of power (only 0.2w in outdoor ‘reflective’ mode). XOs include 128M RAM and 512M flash storage, dual USB ports, built-in camera and microphone, a membrane-covered keyboard and trackpad/stylus pad, a 1200×900 7.5″ color screen, and an integrated mesh wireless router. Charging of the non-toxic NiMH batteries is not only by AC power, but also by crank, pedal, or pull-cord for use off the power grid. Although they have not yet reached their $100 price point, Laptop Project organizers expect economies of scale will let them reach that level of affordability soon.

I saw several of the bright green machines, up and running, at Linuxfest NW late last month. Laptop Project participant Jesse Keating shared his presentation to the conference, in PDF form. You can see them, too, through videos (also here).

Atop the Linux operating system is a unique GUI, Sugar, which is task-oriented, not application-oriented. A mailing list is available for potential developers, who can see more detailed specifications here.

Do you think your children, or grandchildren, will be using something like the XO, or a more conventional laptop for learning? Do you see yourself using it? And, will they ever reach that $100 price point? Join the discussion.