NetBook gets a name: 2go PC
The 2go PC.
Those recent pics of an Intel NetBook floating around online finally have an official name attached to them. It's the 2go PC from a laptop vendor named Computer Technology Link, or CTL, according to a spec sheet dug up by Engadget (and it looks suspiciously similar to a laptop we had sitting in our lab last August).
Intended for the education market, the 2go PC clearly has its roots in Intel's Classmate PC platform. That's not surprising, since we told you last August that the low-cost design of the Classmate would, "lead to cheaper, smaller laptops for everyone, although likely not directly from Intel, which wants to stay out of the system-selling business." In other words, Intel would come up with the basic design, but the actual laptops would be, "sold by local OEMs, who offer customized software configurations for the needs of each individual market."
The Intel Classmate
The main difference between the Classmate we looked at last year and the 2go PC/NetBook is the 40GB 1.8-inch 4200 hard drive, as opposed to the Classmate's 2GB SSD hard drive, and the display, which has been bumped up to 9 inches, from 7 inches, but keeps the same 800x480 resolution. Both have a 900Mhz Intel Celeron processor and basic 802.11b/g Wi-Fi.
Take a peek at this vendor photo of the 2go PC and our shot of the Intel Classmate, and you'll see a pretty clear DNA match between the two. Expect the 2go PC to hit the market in the next couple of months, for around $400, and we're sure we'll see NetBook-like systems from other vendors in the same time frame.
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan.
These are nice computers although they should use the largest SSDs (72 GB from SanDisk) and eat the added cost.
And best of all , it will keep people from buying an (overpriced) Apple product.