$150 Linux Laptop for the Masses 434
Xemu writes "Inspired by Negroponte's laptop for children, the Swedish company Medison is now taking orders for their US$150 Linux laptop, the Medison Celebrity. The laptop is a 1.5 GHz Celeron M 370 with 14 inch screen, wireless network and it comes with Fedora Red Hat pre-installed." Update 2035 GMT by SM: As many readers have pointed out, the more you dig into the details of this company the more fishy it starts to seem. I would suggest any potential buyers be wary on this one.
It may be fraud (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:It may be fraud (Score:5, Interesting)
Battery life and other points... (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm seriously interested in buying one of these guys. Not that I can't pick up an old laptop and install Linux on it, but I don't think I can pick up a laptop with all new components for $150.
Also it's guaranteed that all the components work/play well with Linux. That's a good feeling.
Re:It may be fraud (Score:3, Interesting)
Good idea (Score:3, Interesting)
From the website:
*Intel® Celeron® M Processor 370 (1.5 GHz, 90nm, FSB400, 1 MB L2 cache, uPGA478)
*14.0" WXGA (1280x768) TFT
*40 GB hard drive
*6 cell lithium ion battery
*64-bit wide DDR data channel, One 200-pin SODIMM socket, supporting DDR 333/400, 256 MB Expandable up to 1GB, based on SODIMM Modules
*One changeable 2.5" 9.5mm(H) HDD, Supporting Master mode IDE ATA-33/66/100/133 (Ultra DMA), One changeable 12.7mm(H) CD/DVD Combo
*VIA PN800 integration, Shared Memory Architecture up to 64MB, 128 bit 3D graphic engine, Support analog monitor pixel resolution up to 1920x1400, Support two displays dual view
*A4 size keyboard, Built-in Touchpad with scrolling function
*AC'97 2.2 Compliant Interface, 3D stereo enhanced sound system, Sound-Blaster PROTM Compatible, S/PDIF Digital output (5.1 CH), 1x Built-in Microphone, 2x Built-in Speakers
*3x USB 2.0 ports, 1x External CRT monitor output, 1x Headphone jack, 1x Microphone jack, 1x S/PDIF output jack, 1x RJ-45 port for LAN, 1x Line-in jack, 1x DC-In jack
*1x Type II PCMCIA socket
*10/100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet on board, 802.11g MiniPCI Wireless LAN
*Full Range 65W AC adapter - AC input 100~240V, 47~63Hz, DC output 20V, 3.25A, Removable 6-cell Smart Li-ion battery pack, 4000/4400mAh
*Kensington® Lock
Those specs are actually pretty close to what my OEM ThinkPad A31 was, when it was shipped. Although I upgraded the RAM, those specs are otherwise still pretty close, and that laptop still runs XP incredibly smoothly. While I'm not saying people should put XP on this thing, using a Windows product as a benchmark for smooth performance is generally a good way to determine how well linux will run on a machine. Considering the integrated wireless card, "pre-installed office and multimedia applications", and the DVD player, this thing seems like an ideal machine for someone on the go who doesn't want to worry about their equipment too much.
It's also a perfect way to learn linux, if you don't already have an old(er) computer lying around you can toss the OS onto. I will probably buy it for that exact reason. Now if somebody would just do something about that website so I don't worry I'm getting ripped off by some scam artist with poor web writing skills...
Re:Smells fishy... (Score:5, Interesting)
Come to think of it, maybe that should have been the first warning.
Re:It may be fraud (Score:2, Interesting)
Links from Engadget that people posted:
http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/02f0dac25c029c5
http://www.ukdata.com/company-credit-reports/NORD
http://www.companiesgate.co.uk/KEN-ERIK+LIMITED.a
http://www.companiesgate.co.uk/HG+SHIPREPAIR+LIMI
Check the address of the companies in question. Is there any doubt that this is a scam? Nope.
Re:Wish it had more details (Score:2, Interesting)
Look at what the advertisers appear to pay:
Of course, this doesn't make it true, the ads could be fake, and not paid for by those companies at all, just to make it look genuine. In fact, now that I look at it, all five ad images are hosted on the website itself, with simple URLs, not on some other site, or with a really long URL, like usual with ads.
This business smells.
take this off slashdot (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Battery life and other points... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:It may be fraud (Score:3, Interesting)
Now, knowing all that, looking at the price compared to the shipping times, I guessing that they are waiting until they get the order, waiting until thy get enough orders to get the discounts and then placing them all at once. And probably because of the discounts, they probably have to take delivery, customize them and then ship the stuff to their final destination. And they probably are a small startup with limited funds and cannot afford to sit in unsold merchandise for long periods of time.
Now, if this is unexceptionable to you or not, is a decision you will have to make. But it doesn't automatically mean fraud. There are logical reasons for the time frame of 4 to 6 weeks. Even if you don't find it acceptable for a company you are willing to do business with. I won't buy parts from that dealership any more, but these guys tell you from the beginning how long it will take.
Working on talking to them live (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:No phone number! (Score:4, Interesting)
Medison Europe Limited
27 Ruffets Wood
Gravesend, Kent
DA12 5JQ England
Heres the google maps link [google.com].
For a company that claims "... from Brazil to California" and doesn't even have an office in Sweden... it has to be a fake.
Have you tried to place an order? (Score:1, Interesting)
One interesting thing is the shipping. They say it's free - but the "method" is listed as "Scandanavia".
I was attempting to get a total price.
But they ask for credit card data before showing a final price.
I shop a *lot* online and I've never once come across and order process like this one.
Hell, they could just be trolling for credit card numbers.
I hope this article gets deleted or at least flagged as a scam.
Re:It may be fraud (Score:5, Interesting)
http://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/ [apple.com]
vs
http://www.medisoncelebrity.com/legal/privacy/ [medisoncelebrity.com]
(for instance, check the 'kids' sections)
$189 Asus Laptop (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Medison? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:It may be fraud (Score:3, Interesting)
They either have a lot of faith that this is real (or likely they don't yet realize it's a scam). I'm going to e-mail my CSR when I get home and ask them if this is a scam using them as a gateway. That should alert them enough to check it out closely, or possibly put a hold on some of the funds.
-nB
Re:Smells fishy... (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes it did. I clinked to thier website and read the spec and instantly posted Scam.
Negroponte & co can't hit $150 selling much simpler machines by the million lot and as a non-profit operation to boot. This machine is supposed to have a 14" TFT HD res screen vs the oddball cheap screen on the OLPC. This machine has both a hard drive and DVD drive while the OLPC has a dinky flash drive. The OLPC is coming out of the most lowball Chinese factory in the contract manufacturing business so there are NO more efficiencies to wring out of the price to give these unknown guys a way to offer more for less.
Do the math people. When somebody offers you a new laptop for less than the display and drives cost when delivered by the shipping container while they give every indication of being a showstring operation that can't build a decent webpage or do their own e-commerce it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Scam.
Like all good scams though, it preys upon a weakness in the victim. They might be crooks but they are good con artists. FAQ question #1 was where a good percentage of
"#1. Q: Why is the laptop much cheaper than other laptops?
A: We see this from a democratic point of view where we believe everyone should be able to afford to have a laptop. The other reason is that we have our own plants where we assemble our laptops."
And you guys were all like; "Yea, everyone should be able to afford a laptop man, like it's a Right or something. The Man is just ripping us off to feed insane Corporate salaries and fat cat shareholders. These are just some hoopy froods sticking it to the System!"
Okay, I'll bite... (Score:3, Interesting)
Question & Answers (kind of?) (Score:2, Interesting)
----8http://www.cint.se/debatt//ShowPostFlat.aspx? PostID=62603 or http://www.sweclockers.com/forum/showthread.php?s= &threadid=696980 [sweclockers.com] where these letters and answers are mirrored.
"1&2. How could you lower the price so much compared to the price of
3000 SEK that you mentioned in http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.100914 [www.idg.se] ?
1000 SEK is quite a bit lower. Why did you change the idea from not selling directly to customers as you staded in http://www.idg.se/2.1085/1.100914 [www.idg.se]
1&2) It is true that we went out in the first article on IDG.se telling
that the price for the end consumer would be around 3000 SEK. That is
because the companies we were discussing with wanted to have a big
profit on each laptop sold to the end consumer. Since we at Medison
believe it is better to offer a laptop so that everyone can afford to
buy a laptop, we decided to offer our Medison Celebrity to a very good
price where we have very, very low margin so that everyone can buy a
laptop rather than giving too high profits to other companies and have
less computers sold to the end consumers."
So the involved companies would just suddenly agree on not making any or have an extremely small margin?
----
"3. Why is this last change and sell-start rushed is such a way? I.E
companys started in just a few days, contracts created in so such
short notice that most of the companies you mention on your site
doesn't know anything about you?
3) There has not been any 'rush', but actually has been carefully
planned over some time. Any kind of registration of company name or
domain does not show wether a strategy is planned or not in a company.
This kind of information can instead be done on purpose to not reveal
to competitors what is going on. But then again, Medison has no
obligations to answer what its strategy is and therefore any kind of
interpretations made by people outside the company."
I would call it either a rush or a failure that the companies listed on your website dodn't know anything about you at first. Which one do you prefer?
----
"4. Why is your company adress sharing the exact same address as
several hundred others?
4) Medison is registered, as many other companies both in UK, USA or
any other European country on an address shared by many companies.
This is quite normal. Let me give you an example. In a high sky scrape
building with 41 floors, all of the people living there have the same
address. We do not see our common shared addres as something strange,
but rather normal."
I wasn't asking about why A company would have it like that. I was asking why YOUR company had it like this. Let me ask the question in another way: Would I correctly assume that your address stated on your site is just a forward or P.O Box like address, and that you don't really have any office in UK at all? If that is the case, do you have any office at all, and what would the visiting address be?
----
"5. Why do a serious company use a hotmail adress to register their
domain? Why is the phone number in the same registration going to
some random person in Malmö and not the registrar?
5) In USA it is VERY common that business people use a hotmail address
or yahoo address together with their business e-mail addresses. It is
common to do so as an insurance to not miss any important e-mails in
case a mail server would crash. Since the companies offering Domain
names have no rules that say a person or a company cannot use a
hotmail address when they register, then we don't see what relevance
your questions has. If the domain company has not updated their client
Re:The other laptops are made by communists (Score:3, Interesting)
I am not trolling for "converts." Rather, I am just letting people know the truth of the matter. I have no other agenda, and I do not care at all if I am irritating some. In my opinion, it was the perfect context for a quick correction and explanation. What better time could there be than when the fallacious interpretation is staring everyone in the face?