# The $10/Rs. 500 Sakshaat laptop is here



## gforce23 (Feb 3, 2009)

*static.ibnlive.com/pix/sitepix/02_2009/cheap-laptop-313.jpg

India's government unveiled the jointly-developed "$20 laptop" today. Dubbed Sakshat, which roughly translates as "before your eyes", the laptop is slated to ship in six months, with specs as follows: 2GB of storage, WiFi, Ethernet and 2 watts of power consumption. There's still no information about the screen size, RAM or processor. 

Some folks are also still skeptical as to whether a laptop can really be produced at such a low cost, since most LCDs alone would put it over budget.

The laptop itself won't be subsidized, but the government will shoulder 25 percent of the cost of broadband for colleges, and there will be free e-learning textbooks available to students online.

SOURCE


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## iMav (Feb 3, 2009)

Hot babes.


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## victor_rambo (Feb 3, 2009)

FCUK! I can't believe it!
Its Govt. of India...and just look at the babes carrying that laptop :shocked:


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## gforce23 (Feb 4, 2009)

^^LMAO at the level of testosterone in this thread.

Anyone know the purpose of those tacky buttons on either side on the display?


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## victor_rambo (Feb 4, 2009)

gforce23 said:


> Anyone know the purpose of those *tacky buttons on either side on the display*?


I noticed those buttons only when you pointed out


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## Faun (Feb 4, 2009)

I want the middle one...;D


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## victor_rambo (Feb 4, 2009)

T159 said:


> I want the middle one...;D


If you can, take all the 3!


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## ionicsachin (Feb 4, 2009)

I wonder if it can open a "Crysis" wallpaper bitmap also


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## Tech.Masti (Feb 4, 2009)

Is it possible to run linux or win ME , office 97?


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## victor_rambo (Feb 4, 2009)

^prolly, yes!


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## gxsaurav (Feb 4, 2009)

I will take the model in black color ...

Seriously, this thing is too underpowered & small for any real work. If Indian government does wants to make something useful for everyday work then better sign a deal with Qualmcom for there Snapdragon platform for nVidia for there Tegra SoC. Yes, it might sound insane for me to advocate ARM but here is the thing, Snapdragon & Tegra got some serious potential when it comes to small such devices. For a device such small & light work, they should rather prefer to ARM architecture with a custom built Linux for this particular thing, with a touchscreen Tablet PC like device (this form factor has some really good advantages) to which bluetooth keyboard & mouse can be added or a Simple USB 2.0 port with an addition hub & 10" screen size...

U know what...this just gave me an Idea of how it should be. Let me try making a device like that in 3ds Max.


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## naviarora2007 (Feb 4, 2009)

oh great news....

I will buy 2-3 these laptops for my family 

CBSE


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## jatt (Feb 4, 2009)

अब सरकार laptops से लोगों का खून चूसेगी यार,यह नया तरीका है


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## Dark Core (Feb 4, 2009)

Look at the Photo, looks like the OS is XP or Vista


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## Coool (Feb 4, 2009)

T159 said:


> I want the middle one...;D





gxsaurav said:


> I will take the model in black color ...



Me to want the middle one....but competition badjaarahe hai.....
so, I'll take left one....


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## gforce23 (Feb 4, 2009)

I'm guessing the laptop uses removable SD cards for data storage with the main OS running on a ROM, going by the 2W of power consumption.



gxsaurav said:


> Seriously, this thing is too underpowered & small for any real work.


How do we know what's powering that thing? For all we know, it could be running a Core i7 EE subsidized by Intel.


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## gxsaurav (Feb 4, 2009)

Core i7 needs more electricity to run


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## Pat (Feb 4, 2009)

Lol! What a joke! The pic posted in the original article shows a HCL MiLeap and not "Sakshat"!

*images.google.co.in/images?um=1&hl...n-US:official&q=HCL+mileap&btnG=Search+Images

See for yourself guys..Infact, the netbook in the second babe's hands clearly shows the name "HCL" 

Here's some news on the real (and dumb if I may add) thing:
*timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hyderabad/10-laptop_proves_to_be_a_damp_squib/articleshow/4072417.cms


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## Cool G5 (Feb 4, 2009)

Pat said:


> Lol! What a joke! The pic posted in the original article shows a HCL MiLeap and not "Sakshat"!
> 
> *images.google.co.in/images?um=1&hl...n-US:official&q=HCL+mileap&btnG=Search+Images
> 
> ...



Thanks for the correct link.
This is a dampner.


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## comp@ddict (Feb 4, 2009)

victor_rambo said:


> FCUK! I can't believe it!
> Its Govt. of India...and just look at the babes carrying that laptop :shocked:


Yeah, those babes and UPA govt. don't quite match.

I wud be amazed the lappys do half as good as one of them mite do in maths.


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## amitava82 (Feb 4, 2009)

> This whole fiasco was compounded by a few factors: deliberate misinformation by people close to the project, the complete and utter incompetence of the Indian press (we still don't even have a solid idea what this thing is) and the eagerness of Western news outlets to believe that such a product, which would have been dismissed as totally impossible if announced here, was inexplicably plausible because it was coming from the mysterious foreign land of India. Whatever the case, there is no $10 laptop, and there probably never will be—at least not from these guys.


So true.


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## MetalheadGautham (Feb 4, 2009)

Completely agree.

As I said before, India can never be another China when it comes to manufacturing things cheaply. Atleast they created a 150$ laptop on ARM architecture and a 200$ laptop on MIPS architecture.

*At its best, the Indian Govt. can make a 10$ mobile phone.*


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## kumarmohit (Feb 4, 2009)

I think it will look and work the Digital diaries of olden days!


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## Pathik (Feb 4, 2009)

Pat said:


> Lol! What a joke! The pic posted in the original article shows a HCL MiLeap and not "Sakshat"!
> 
> *images.google.co.in/images?um=1&hl...n-US:official&q=HCL+mileap&btnG=Search+Images
> 
> ...



Correct. I am amazed no one caught it. The original Sakshat lappy wasn't even released. Just another announcement was made. Every tech blog is now criticising it. And it's $30 now.


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## sam_52136 (Feb 4, 2009)

Wow this is just truly awesome, if this is a success then one day soon India will never be called as illiterate.

India Rockzzz!!


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## gopi_vbboy (Feb 4, 2009)

he he now UPA vote bank strategy for Grabing n00b techies
Nice move my UPA!!...Nice babes 2


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## RCuber (Feb 4, 2009)

I am interested in this device  .. will buy immediately irrespective of the OS, RAM etc etc..  for me even a 500 MHz processor will do


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## iMav (Feb 4, 2009)

Pathik said:


> I am amazed no one caught it.


That's becasue no one was bothered about the laptop in the pic, but was looking at the beautiful people carrying the laptop.


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## gxsaurav (Feb 4, 2009)

iMav said:


> That's because no one was bothered about the laptop in the pic, but was looking at the beautiful people carrying the laptop.



he he, U know us very well


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## topgear (Feb 4, 2009)

> Originally Posted by T159
> I want the middle one...;D





> Originally Posted by gxsaurav
> I will take the model in black color ...






Coool said:


> Me to want the middle one....but competition badjaarahe hai.....
> so, I'll take left one....



LOLZ.....  

I doubt if they know what they are holding in their hands.

These are laptops ? I think this things are minitops 



Pat said:


> Lol! What a joke! The pic posted in the original article shows a HCL MiLeap and not "Sakshat"!
> 
> *images.google.co.in/images?um=1&hl...n-US:official&q=HCL+mileap&btnG=Search+Images
> 
> ...



Nice work mate....Pointing out the truth


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## Cyrus_the_virus (Feb 4, 2009)

WTF is going on here???

Who the hell posted an HCL MiLeap pic and claiming it to be the $10 laptop? Are you not updated with the truth?

The $10 laptop was just a pathetic attempt at publicity by some morons at Vellore Institue of Technology. The truth is out, read Today's paper if you want to know that it is not a laptop but just a god damn external storage device with pre-installed software that works when you plug it into a laptop!

Here is the link to online edition of today's Times of India : Click Here

Sad to know the extent of which these incompetent wannabe engineers studying outdated electronics and computer science textbooks which is still the only thing available in our education system will go to gain publicity. These guys seriously need to take a break and get real and buy and read atleast Digit(Not saying it's of any use) once to know that there are far more realistic and happening things in the world.

PS: I'm not shouting, I'm just awed by the incompetence of these guys thinking everyone else in the world is a fool and they are the smart ones!!


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## topgear (Feb 5, 2009)

Hey, Guys Look at here what I've found :

*$10 Laptop is Huge Disappointment*
2:50 PM - February 4, 2009 by Jane McEntegart



> News did the rounds earlier in the week about India’s supposed $10 dollar laptop. The laptop reportedly costs $20 to manufacture, but according to India’s Secretary for Higher Education, large-scale production runs would see the price in half by the time it hits consumers.
> 
> The news no doubt had Nicholas Negroponte and the lads over at the OLPC foundation quaking in their boots. The XO Laptop was already getting its ass kicked by the barrage of netbooks that hit the market shortly after its launch and Intel’s rival educational notebook, the Classmate PC was winning over governments and filling more classrooms than the OLPC’s laptop.
> 
> ...



Source : *www.tomshardware.com/news/India-10-laptop-launch,6961.html


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## infra_red_dude (Feb 5, 2009)

I won't downplay the Govt. I think its a good move, at least a start!  Whether $10 is feasible or not is a different thing what matters to me is that Indian Govt. look the matter about education seriously for once


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## comp@ddict (Feb 5, 2009)

HERE's the REAL NEWS:

*Rs.500 laptop turns out a laughing stock*
 Tirupati: Crushing all expectations, the presumed head-on-head competitor to MIT's $100 laptop, the Rs.500 ($10) laptop was unveiled to be a laughing stock. The 'prototype' of the device with two GB RAM inaugurated at Tirupati was declared to be a mere computing device and not a laptop.

"How can just a computing device bridge the digital divide and make access to computer literacy affordable to the masses? Where will poor students get computers to jack this gizmo with? Will Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) provide computers and internet connectivity in rural and remote areas? There is no clarity among the officials themselves," a Professor from Sri Venkateswara University told The Times of India. Designed by students of Vellore Institute of Technology, scientists in Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, IIT-Madras, UGC and MHRD, the computing device was nowhere near to MIT's $100 laptop. It was a device that comprised of a hard disk with e-books, e-journals and relevant educative material through the 'Sakshat' portal.

The so called laptop even appeared to be smaller than the normal laptop with 10-inch length and five-inch width, making many heads to rethink on the definition of a laptop. There was also a buzz that it's a 'Nano-top'. Earlier, officials said the price was working out to be $20 but with mass production it was bound to come down to $10 (Rs 500) and thus become affordable for every student in India.

*www.siliconindia.com/shownews/52047


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## MetalheadGautham (Feb 5, 2009)

Charan said:


> I am interested in this device  .. will buy immediately irrespective of the OS, RAM etc etc..  for me even a 500 MHz processor will do



Its just a box which connects with a laptop. Allows you to surf the net or something like that.


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## hsr (Feb 5, 2009)

~ teaching notes ! ~ waht abhot tceahcing ?


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