Cherrypal intros $99 7-inch netbook, Africa

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Cherrypal has introduced what it claims is the world's "greenest" and first sub-$100 "laptop computer". Called "Africa", the device is aimed at developing countries and achieves its low price by using cell phone-like internal specifications.

Features include a 7-inch 800x480 display, a 400MHz processor, 256MB of DDR RAM, 2GB of flash storage, Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity, one USB 2.0 and two USB 1.1 ports, and either Linux or Windows CE. The company says the Africa PC can last about four hours on the included Lithium battery.

Another -- $290 pricier -- system brings a more common feature-set to the table. The "Bing" uses a 13.3-inch 1024x600 display, a 1.6GHz Atom, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 160GB HDD, a 1.3 megapixel webcam, 802.11g Wi-Fi, a card reader, three USB 2.0 ports, and Windows XP. Both systems are currently available through Cherrypal's online store.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/37343-cherrypal-intros-99-7-inch-netbook-africa.html

 

[compdata]

Couldn't get to the websites (maybe too much traffic). But if it really works to surf the web, send emails, and do basic word processing/calculations then this may really help to spread computer access around the world! Wonder if it has flash support thought ? Pretty cool though.

 

[Kibaruk]

Is Techspot doing a review on the Cerrypal Africa netbook?

I would love to read one, have many doubts on the uses this netbook could offer for the unconventional netbook usage

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

@compdata: Yeah, the product pages were working fine when I posted the article. Hopefully they'll be back up soon.

@Kibaruk: TechSpot has no plans to review the Africa netbook at the moment.

 

[slh28]

Not sure how they got away with calling this "Africa"...

 

[Kibaruk]

I'm all into the unconventional use for netbooks, and was just wondering how (if possible) could you set a home server with a linux distro on this with maybe file/printer sharing (After all, it has 2.0 USB you can stick an external drive), just console mode to not stress the ram

What sort of processor this uses? Anyone knows?

 

[Timonius]

well if they keep to a lightweight linux distro they'll definintely keep the price down and maintain a decent performance for the hardware it has. If something like this really took off it will force the major OS companies to rethink their expensive positions.

 

[Kibaruk]

Reading Timonius reply, this does say to companies that it can be achieved, maybe with some better performance at a higher price, with an extra $50 you could do wonders to the system.

Perhaps using a screen as seen on Kindle... aaah me wants one of those screens hahaha.

 

[mattfrompa]

I'd be a little insulted if I lived in Africa and heard a low end product was named after my country...Hmm would would the "America" netbook be like? Obviously it would be widescreen, and much thicker than any other netbook, with impressive but not top of the line specs, and with a registry so full of crap from past "Admins" that it's on the verge of crashing...And CCleaner won't install...

Another note about the "Africa" 400 mhz processor? Really? it's described on the site as being "small, slow, sufficient". I suppose sandwiching slow with two less discouraging words is intended to help? AT 400 mhz, even with Linux on there I'd say it's not even splurge worthy...I don't even like using an Atom processor.

 

[Puiu]

The 100$ one really sounds like a smart phone. It's going to be popular here but in africa it might do really well considering that it is really cheap. It's good enough for music and internet

 

[slh28]

mattfrompa said:
I'd be a little insulted if I lived in Africa and heard a low end product was named after my country....

And I'm sure you've insulted some people yourself by calling Africa a "country". LOL

 

[Kibaruk]

And calling his America lol

Sure, screw the Canadians, Mexicans and so on...

 

[mattfrompa]

And I'm sure you've insulted some people yourself by calling Africa a "country". LOL

oops! I really did mean continent. I swear I'm not like Sarah Palin haha

 

[Kibaruk]

Hahahaha Sarah Plain nice save! XD

 

[Guest]

Cherrypal Africa is a total SCAM! Max Seybold is a liar! Someone needs to tell the truth about this company. Google "Cherrypal SCAM" or check with the Better Business Bureau for the list of complaints. If you order anything from Cherrypal they will keep your money and NOT send you a product!

 

[Guest]

This company has a F rating from the California Better Business Bureau. I could not reach anyone. I ended up getting a good net book online on ebay and I trust the source. This guy Seibold closed his operation in the UK under questionable circustances.

 

[Guest]

Greetings everyone, I like most of you, really wanted to see what the hardware could do, I placed an order over a month ago and no response. I've emailed and called, and the customer services was shady. Shady as in noone responding. So to help you guys air out any grief Max seybold is on linkedin, facebook, and i've read that cherrypal may be on my space as well. He also has a blog http://maxisnow.com/ which is linked to his cherrypal website.

 

[Guest]

First off, I have no financial interest or any other interest in any other way with CherryPal or any of their competitors. I HOPE that all other posters here can say the same thing.

Yes, they seem to be having troubles...but...I don't think they have entered into the "scam" range yet. It sure looks to me more like they did not have their business ducks in a row at the time they should have.

As for the BBB "F" rating...click this link and see what it actually means: http://sanjose.bbb.org/Business-Report/Cherrypal-1000000896. I picked this link up off of the wikipedia entry for CherryPal. It DOES NOT mean that they are a scam. It means that 4 of the complaints (out of 8) that the BBB presented to CherryPal have not been responded too as of yet (the other 4 have been handled satisfactory). Very small sample size, so I am not sure the BBB rating means much of anything...yet. But it DOES mean they need to be watched closely.

As far as insulting anyone with the name ("Africa", "America" or anything else for that matter)...good grief SOMEONE will ALWAYS be offended no matter what the name is.

They might be a scam...but I don't think so...yet. Yes, their behavior is cause for concern and they need to be watched carefully. But what I also know is that there are A LOT of people and organizations that would want such an endeavor to fail. Thus, I see a lot of "THEY ARE A SCAM...LOOK AT THE BBB 'F' RATING...THEY MUST BE A SCAM" on other boards without anyone reading what an "F" from the BBB actually means.

Shame on them for not being ready when they announced the product. Whether it is more or less than that remains to be seen. Definitely "buyer beware"...but I don't think it has been proven to be any scam...at least not yet.

I am actually thinking about plunking down $99 for one of these just to see what it is like...though I would really prefer to have one in my hands before doing so to see what the user experience REALLY is like. Perhaps I'll wait a bit longer to see if I can actually see one first. Either way, the price is such that I personally can't completely ignore it.

Just some thoughts...worth all you paid for them...

 

[Guest]

Placed an order, 3 weeks went by and no computer. Wrote Cherrypal many times. Finally, contacted credit card company and they refunded me my payment. A few days later I heard from Max, he said he was sorry, busy with orders etc. I placed the order AGAIN, three weeks went by, no computer, no response to emails or phone calls. Contacted credit card company again and they refunded my payment. They may be a real company, but they seem to be very bad at their business...