World’s Cheapest Laptop?

This could be the case in more ways than one, really. LinuxDevices.com is reporting the announcement of Bestlink’s Alpha 400 Linux-based micro-lappy. The tiny device, which is retailing for US$219, is based on an Ingenic Semiconductors 400MHz Xburst CPU which is fabbed on a 0.18 micron process, meaning it likely runs pretty cool and for a long time if the battery is large enough. Otherwise, it features 128MBs of RAM, a 1 or 2GB SSD, an SD card slot for additional storage, and two USB ports of unspecified speed. There are various additional ports for audio and mouse (PS2?). Finally, the Alpha 400 sports a 7″ 800×480 display with offers True Color, which LinuxDevices notes is generally considered 24-bit. I won’t go into details about wireless access, since none is included. Sadly, Bestlink doesn’t specify which distribution is installed on the device, though they say its based on the 2.4 kernel. You can buy now from their website. To add it to your shopping cart, click on the Products link and click the PC (1) link in the left column. That will add it to the cart, though I didn’t go any further.