Hands on with the Classmate PC 2

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By David Fearon in Shanghai

Posted on 4 Apr 2008 at 09:19

Intel has unveiled the new version of its laptop designed for education and emerging markets.

Dubbed merely the second-generation Classmate PC, the differences with the original are minimal but they're a direct result of pilot trials in 70 schools covering 30 countries worldwide, according to Intel.

The device still has a chunky, rounded design, but remains lightweight at 1.3kg. The biggest obvious difference is in screen size, with a new 9in screen replacing the 7in version of the first generation device, although the 7in display will remain an option.

The only other significant change is the addition of a webcam, which Intel's Lila Ibrahim claims has been added after the pilot schemes: "We found the students wanted more interaction, more collaboration."

The remainder of the specification is more or less unchanged, and surprisingly it doesn't feature an Atom processor: this will be coming in a later revision. For now it still sports the same 900MHz CPU as the previous version.

Intel isn't selling the Classmate PC directly - it supplies to resellers for software customisation, added support and warranty deals. The company is claiming a lot of success though, and although it won't give precise numbers, it's suggesting serious shipping figures: "We've been in a run rate of tens of thousands of units per quarter, and this quarter we're in the hundreds of thousands of units".

Ibrahim also gave very broad hints that a number of resellers are in the process of bringing the device to Europe, naming ECS in particular as one whose plans seem to be in the advanced stages.

"We've been talking with several PC companies in Europe - with ECS - we cannot make that announcement for them [but] they will be ready for shipment and launch," she said.