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Personal Gadgets

Acer Aspire One 8 9 inch Mini Laptop 1 6 GHz Intel Atom N270 Processor 1 GB RAM 160 GB Hard Drive XP Home 6 Cell Battery Sapphire Blue

Acer redefines mobile connectivity with the Aspire one, a netbook (or mini-notebook) packed with fun and powerful computing features in a diminutive 8.9″ form factor weighing as little as 2.2 lb. Aimed at business professionals, students and world travelers, it offers a choice of operating systems, wireless connectivity, Internet access, built-in webcam and the storage space needed for digital photos. It’s time to simplify your life with the Aspire one.

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One Laptop per Child XO Laptop Give a Laptop Get a Laptop

What is the XO Laptop?
The XO is an impactful learning tool designed and built especially for children in developing countries, living in some of the most remote environments. As such, it has several features you won’t find on any other laptop.

For starters, it’s about the size of a small textbook and made with a rugged plastic exterior. It has built-in wireless and a unique screen that works in full color or black and white to make it readable under direct sunlight for children who go to school outdoors. And finally it’s ultra-low power using only about 4 watts of power (most laptops use about 60 watts). This means, when there’s no electricity, it can be recharged with alternate power sources like solar power.

See a larger view and learn about the XO laptop’s design.

Why Give a Laptop?
Why give a laptop to a child who has no running water? If you replace the word “laptop” with “education” the answer becomes clear. You don’t wait to educate until all other challenges are resolved. You educate at the same time because it’s such an important part of all the other solutions.

The Children
Currently, there are XO laptops in over 30 countries from Peru to Rwanda, and everywhere it goes, the results are the same. The laptops help children build on their active interest in the world around them to engage with powerful ideas. When the laptops arrive school attendance goes up, teachers download lesson plans from the web and kids begin teaching each other how to use the machine. With the XO, kids actually learn how to learn.

Product Specifications
The laptop hardware was designed by experts from both education and industry. This team brought together extraordinary talent and decades of collective field experience to create the perfect machine to help carry out our mission. Built in hardware includes:

• Microphone
• Speakers
• Webcam
• 3 USB memory ports
• SD memory slot
• Game controller

XO comes pre-loaded with free and open-source software. Our commitment to software freedom gives children the opportunity to use their laptops on their own terms. The children—and their teachers—will have the freedom to reshape, reinvent, and reapply their software, hardware, and content.

• Pre installed software activities include:
• Music editing
• Drawing
• Writing
• Recording (includes audio, images and video)
• Basic computer programming
• A simple web browser
• Distance and sound wave measurement

For an even more detailed description of the XO please read the extended product description below visit laptop.org.

The One Laptop Per Child Organization
Founded in 2005 by MIT professor Nicholas Negroponte, One Laptop Per Child has a simple mission: to create educational opportunities for the world’s poorest children by providing each and every one with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, creative, self-empowered learning.

By giving a laptop, you are helping bring education to children in some of the world’s most remote areas.

You are connecting them to each other. To us. To hope. And to a better future.

From Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (photo by Daniel Drake).

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Design
Many years and an infinite amount of sweat equity went into the creation of the XO laptop. Designed collaboratively by experts from academia and industry, the XO is the product of the very best thinking about technology and learning. It was designed with the real world in mind, considering everything from extreme environmental conditions such as high heat and humidity, to technological issues such as local-language support. As a result, the XO laptop is extremely durable, brilliantly functional, energy-efficient, responsive, and fun.

Design factor was a priority from the start: the laptop could not be big, heavy, fragile, ugly, dangerous, or dull. Another imperative was visual distinction. In part, the goal is to strongly appeal to XO’s intended users; but the machine’s distinctive appearance is also meant to discourage gray-market traffic. There is no mistaking what it is and for whom it is intended.

XO is about the size of a textbook and lighter than a lunchbox. Thanks to its flexible design and “transformer” hinge, the laptop easily assumes any of several configurations: standard laptop use, e-book reading, and gaming. The laptop has rounded edges. The integrated handle is kid-sized, as is the sealed, rubber-membrane keyboard. The novel, dual-mode, extra-wide touchpad supports pointing, as well as drawing and writing.

Experience shows that laptop components most likely to fail are the hard drive and internal connectors. Therefore, XO has no hard drive to crash and only two internal cables. For added robustness, the machine’s plastic walls are 2mm thick, as opposed to the standard 1.3mm. Its mesh network antennas, which far outperform the typical laptop, double as external covers for the USB ports, which are protected internally as well. The display is also cushioned by internal “bumpers.”

The estimated product lifetime is at least five years. To help ensure such durability, the machines are being subjected to factory testing to destruction, as well as in field testing by children.

The laptop hardware was designed by experts from both education and industry. This team brought together extraordinary talent and decades of collective field experience to create the perfect machine to help carry out our mission.

It features a 7.5-inch, 1200×900 pixel TFT screen and self-refreshing display with higher resolution (200 DPI) than 95 percent of the laptops on the market today. Two display modes are available: a transmissive, full-color mode, and a reflective, high-resolution black and white mode that is sunlight readable. Both consume very little power: the transmissive mode consumes one watt–about one seventh of the average LCD power consumption in a laptop; the reflective mode consumes a miserly 0.2 watts.

The laptop selectively suspends operation of its CPU, which makes possible even more remarkable power savings. The laptop nominally consumes less than two watts–less than one tenth of what a standard laptop consumes–so little that XO can be recharged by human power. This is a critical advance for the half-billion children who have no access to electricity.

The XO is fully compliant with the European Union’s RoHS Directive. It contains no hazardous materials. Its LiFePO4 or NiMH batteries contain no toxic heavy metals, plus it features enhanced battery management for an extended recharge-cycle lifetime. It will also tolerate alternate power-charging sources, such as car batteries.

A close-up of the XO’s keyboard.

Operating System and Software
The Sugar operating system is a “zoom” interface that graphically captures the world of fellow learners and teachers as collaborators, emphasizing the connections within the community, among people, and their activities. The XO comes pre-loaded with free and open-source software. OLPC’s commitment to software freedom gives children the opportunity to use their laptops on their own terms. The children–and their teachers–will have the freedom to reshape, reinvent, and reapply their software, hardware, and content.

There are no software applications in the traditional sense on the laptop. The laptop focuses children around “activities.” This is more than a new naming convention; it represents an intrinsic quality of the learning experience OLPC hopes that children will have when using the laptop. Activities are distinct from applications, focusing on collaboration and expression. And in order to facilitate a collaborative learning environment, the XO laptop employs a mesh network that interconnects all laptops within range. By exploiting this connectivity, every activity has the potential to be a networked activity.

Some of the unique aspects of the XO laptop’s interface and software include:

• The Journal is an automated diary that keeps a record of all of your activities and the things you create–photos, drawing, writing, etc. You can search for individual items in your Journal or sort the entries by type or date. You can also click on an entry to get a detailed view. Finally, you can resume an activity by clicking on the small gray icon at the far right of the entry. The Journal is also used to access external media (USB thumb drives, etc.), delete files, and access an optional backup system.

The Journal.

Draw activity.

• The Draw activity provides a canvas for a child or a group of children to express themselves creatively. Children can draw free-form images with a paintbrush and pencil, and use the dedicated toolbar to play and experiment with shapes. Text support, image import functionality, and an interactive placement system give children limitless ways to explore their creativity.

• Simple enough to be used by even the youngest ages, TamTam Mini is a fun, powerful way to perform music and play instruments. Designed for older children who are ready to venture into more sophisticated sound design, SynthLab is a mini-lab for acoustic- and electronic-circuit construction.

TamTam Mini.

SynthLab.

What Children Are Saying
“I use my computer very carefully so that it will not spoil. I use it to type, I use it to write, I use it to draw, I use it to play games… I’m using my computer at home to type assignments.” — T. (Primary 4), Galadima School, Abuja, Nigeria

“I like the laptop because I always snap pictures… I snap pictures and I play games; we use… Google [Internet]. I put it in Write and use it in class work.” — S. (Primary 4), Galadima School, Abuja, Nigeria

“Sometimes I play football and sometimes I stay in the classroom… I operate my laptop: I write, draw, and record music… At home, I go turn on the television and record music.” — C. (Primary 5), Galadima School, Abuja, Nigeria

“I think the laptop is very good. It helps us to find some words, like our uncle [teacher] will teach us… The things we didn’t know, we go check on the laptop.” — T. (Primary 6), Galadima School, Abuja, Nigeria

What Teachers Are Saying
“With the laptop we can say that our school is really elevated because the children are really learning more… They see themselves discovering things that they have never been doing before.” — Mrs. M., Galadima School, Abuja, Nigeria

“Pupils go even beyond what I can teach in the class. It’s a very interesting thing to use. I personally have a better idea about teaching… We discovered that giving them time to discover something and to do it in their own way, they feel more happy and they are so excited in using it that, ‘Yes, I discovered it! Yes, I can get it!! Yes, I can do this on my own!!!’ Teaching is getting more interesting and less stressful.” — Mr. O., Galadima School, Abuja, Nigeria

“Some children are naturally faster than the others; we discovered that they go ahead of the class. They can teach their mates that, ‘Look I got it, this is how you do it, this is how you do it, this is how you do it.’ This way the slower children also are catching up. When the children can learn on their own, apart from what they can learn in class, they go faster above their mates in other places.” — Mr. O., Galadima School, Abuja, Nigeria

Frequently Asked Questions

From Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, where 20,000 XO laptops were deployed thanks to the 2007 Give One, Get One program (photo by Carla Gomez Monroy).

Can I load other Linux distributions onto the XO laptop?
Yes. Soon there will be a fedora classic desktop product available via SD card for the XO. Community members are working on Ubuntu and Debian for the XO as well. Please see wiki.laptop.org for more information.

What kinds of power sources can I use with the XO laptop?
In addition to plugging the laptop into an electrical outlet (110-240 volts AC), the XO laptop can be powered by solar energy and human energy. The XO laptop can take a DC input ranging from 11 volts to 18 volts, a range that’s far more flexible than most portable devices. The XO laptop is remarkably energy efficient, using only 10 percent of the average wattage of a standard laptop.

How will my donation be used?
Your donation will be used to cover the cost of manufacturing, sending and setting-up laptops in some of the most remote and isolated parts of the world. This may also include power and connectivity infrastructure, teacher preparation and other technical and educational support.

Why are these laptops going to children in developing nations when there are needy children in the U.S.?
In the U.S., the average expenditure for education is $7,500 dollars per child. In developing countries, the average expenditure is typically less than $300 dollars per child. One Laptop Per Child is initially focused on where the need is most urgent.

Why are the Xs and Os different colors on each XO laptop?
Individual child ownership is a core principle of OLPC. Ownership of the XO laptop by children in developing nations is coupled with new duties and responsibilities, such as protecting, caring for, and sharing this valuable equipment. The Xs and Os are made in 20 colors each, resulting in 400 different color combinations ensuring that each child will have an easily identifiable XO laptop. These colors are mixed and shipped randomly, so the XO laptops cannot be customized.

How do I access Tech Support?
Because OLPC is a non-profit company, we are unable to provide direct technical support. One goal of the project is that children will learn to troubleshoot the XO themselves and subsequently use their experiences to help others. In this spirit, volunteers have created great guides and forums for your XO laptop and its software, which can be found at: support.laptop.org. If you have questions that are not addressed in the troubleshooting section, please click here to send us an email.

Who is the manufacturer of the XO laptop computer?
Quanta Computer Inc. of Taiwan is the original design manufacturer (ODM) of the XO laptop. Quanta is the world’s largest laptop manufacturer and makes laptops for Apple, HP, Dell among many others.

Is my donation tax deductible?
OLPC Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. As such, financial contributions may be deductible for federal income tax purposes. Please consult with your financial advisor to determine the extent of tax deductibility.

What is your Employer ID Number? (EIN)
Our US tax-exempt ID number is 20-5471780.

Message from One Laptop Per Child
The OLPC Foundation is a non-profit 501c(3) organization that is committed to delivering as many laptops to children in developing countries as possible. Due to costs associated with manufacturing, transporting, and setting-up laptops in some of the most remote and isolated parts of the world, we can never predict the full cost of delivering a laptop to a child. Frequently this will include power and connectivity infrastructure, teacher preparation and other technical and educational support. Therefore, given the magnitude of our mission and fulfillment costs covered in each donation, your contribution may advance this mission in vital ways beyond simply supporting the donation of a laptop.

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Gadgets and More

Samsung HL67A750 67 Inch 1080p LED Powered DLP HDTV

Samsung HL67A750 67 Inch 1080p LED Powered DLP HDTV

67″ widescreen HDTV (16:9 aspect ratio) * built-in digital (ATSC) and analog (NTSC) tuners for over-the-air TV broadcasts (antenna required) * built-in QAM cable TV tuner receives unscrambled programs without a set-top box (cable service required) * Cinema Smooth 1080p Light Engine (1920 x 1080 pixels) * LED light engine eliminates color wheel and improves color reproduction * 10,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio *

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Cost Effective Blend of Old and New Technologies
At the new 11/24/3008 prices this projector is a bargain just as hdguru states.

TI and Samsung have really gone all-out in this DLP design to provide the maximum fidelity possible mating the green state-of-the-art LED light source with the long-in-the-tooth xD5 DLP chip.

The 750 series is one of the few displays which scales nicely to either a completely dark or daylight room. The key is the variable power LED light source which also offers the best power efficiency. Many plasmas will heat up the room.

With no spinning color wheel (which typically wears out), the display should be stable and reliable for many years. The cost of ownership should be zero.

My evaluation and recommendations: Use -3 gamma and CNET.com settings. (ok sports -2) . Use little or no A/C power conditioning. Use movie setting for night, standard for evening and dynamic for daytime viewing. Use only the sRGB colorspace setting, otherwise there is too much of an orange cast to skin tones.

The DLP chips native contrast could be better. There is bit of a washout in the dark areas in mixed content bright and dark scenes. This is a limitation of the dynamic iris used in projector light engines. The effect is minimized by setting the picture mode to match the rooms ambient light.

I’ve analyzed several of these 61″ and 67″ 750 displays, and all had an increasing amount of red mis-convergence in the top third as you move away from the center of the screen. Must be part of the design at this price-point?

Hope this factual information is useful in making an informed purchasing decision. Enjoy!

5 Stars Size does matter!!!
67 inches of awesomeness!!!! Best HDTV for the price out there … period. Fantastic picture! I have a 46″ Samsung LCD HDTV that’s a fantastic TV, but I think the 67″ DLP’s picture is as good, and maybe even better than the LCD. Oh, and I paid more for the smaller LCD!

I have a PC with HDMI graphic card hooked to it, and this makes an incredible computer monitor. Visitors are blown away by it. It’s great to have the whole family on the couch surfing the net together, playing games, watching YOUTUBE, watching streamed HD episodes from the networks’ websites, etc. So much better than having the kids alone in their rooms on their computers.

The Amazon experience was great, and the price blew away anything in the stores (Best Buy, Circuit City, etc.).

4 Stars Samsung HL67A750 LED DLP HDTV
The set arrived several days early, and, being cold in PA on Nov 11th, I was told not to plug in the set until several hours had passed–this from the delivery men, who normally would help set up the set. I waited from the AM delivery until about 9PM, when I was sure the set was warmed up. In the meantime, I had hooked up the Blu-Ray player and HDMI receiver to the set, and all was plugged into an AC line cleaner and conditioner. FINALLY: the moment of TRUTH! The picture was wonderful! Good on regular DVDs and satellite TV–although the thin LED sets have the 120 refresh rate and 24Hz capabilities that this DLP set lacks. But on Blu-Ray discs, it is easily the match of my Sony XBR6 in our living room–and that set is only a 32″ (smaller is usually “cleaner.”) HOWEVER, I had an apprehension about ordering something BIG like this from Amazon, as there was one review where the buyer’s set “went black” in ten days, and finally Amazon replaced his set. (I had told the delivery men to let me keep the packaging, “just in case.”) Well, two hours after the set is on, and I am happily engrossed in a Blu-Ray DVD, a message appears on the screen: “CHECK FAN No 2″ I had previously digested the thick manual, and NOTHING in the manual prepared me for this. While I was pondering where this message was coming from, the set shut off–along with the Blu-Ray. I didn’t know whether the Blu-Ray player, the receiver, or the Samsung set off the warning. The next AM, same thing happened. THEN I called Amazon, and they told me to call Samsung, but, if I got no satisfaction, I was to re-call Amazon and they would pick the set up and exchange it or credit it. So far so good. When I had registered the set on-line, I immediately got a 3-month EVERYTHING FREE MAINTENANCE certificate. (The set’s warranty is a year) I called the Samsung number, and eventually was connected to a dealer some 20 miles from my home. The dealer was none too happy that I had bought this set from a huge mail order company, and got me an appointment about a week later. When the repairman arrived, he did NOT have anything with him to repair the set–I had told them the problem over the phone–but I guess he needed to see what really was causing the problem. (By using satellite feed only, it was easy to determine that the problem was a fan in the set.) Anyhow, at the present, I have had the set in my home since Nov 11th, and it has run for all of about 8 hrs. The repairman DID determine that “Fan No 2″ was NOT running, and he would have to order the part directly from Samsung, and not a local wholesaler. That will, I am told, take a week, and then, he will need to get back to me. So, today is 21 Nov., and the set is facing the wall in my “Man Cave” with the back off and all the parts scattered over my cabinet. In the end, I DO think all will be fine, and I will be forgetting this “bad dream” while watching my first football game! But, a word to the wise when one purchases something this complex via mail order only! Luckily, both Amazon and Samsung will stand by it all–and, the price was the main reason I got this set! Amazon had a 24 months no interest on their Amazon Store Card, and, compared to a Sony XBR6 52″ ($3699) and the BEST set out there, bar none: 55″ Sony XBR8 ($6999) it was a no-brainer to get a 67″ set less than half of the XBR6!! And, had I gotten the “6″ and knew that the “8″ was MUCH BETTER, I’d have hated the “6.” So–get a non-120 refresh rear projector, and get a great deal! Just so it EVENTUALLY WORKS!!! Note: this will probably NOT happen to you, dear reader. I truly am snakebit, and my problem–along with the other reviewer who had his set go black in ten days–is most likely NOT indicative of service anybody else will receive. And I state that both Amazon and Samsung are standing behind the set–they truly can do no more, right? Lastly, this is one BEAUTIFUL LARGE TV! The front is glossy black, and it sits on my black 82″ console, with my stereo speakers flanking it, and a small black Bose center speaker in front, barely noticed. Even though it is a rear projector, it is VERY thin–maybe a foot deep in the center back, and one does NOT notice anything but the screen. (The hookup terminals are on the right rear side, so one does not have to crawl behind the set to hook everything up, and the power cord is detachable. The TV left and right speakers are floor standing, next to the cabinet, and my Earthquake Sound sub is off behind a sofa, with the surround speakers (5 of them) around my “Command seat.” When this setup is working on a Blu-Ray disc, you will simply not believe it all!! And, guys” My WIFE LOVED the APPEARANCE, even though she said it was WAY TOO BIG!! In this case, bigger is WONDERFUL!

5 Stars Great Picture - No problems thus far
I’ve only had the Samsung HL67A for a few weeks…but no problems thus far. A few comments:

- HD Picture is amazing.

- Very bright screen, almost too bright (Luckily I can adjust if needed)

- Sound is Adequate, but not as good as my old 46″ DLP in the bedroom. Definitely you will want surround for Movies.

- SD picture is fairly rotten, to be honest. Standard 480p DVDs are great, but the Cox SD signal looks bad. What can you do ?? At 67″ everything gets magnified.

- Startup times are great, and menus are straight forward.

Overall, I am VERY HAPPY. And no Lamp!!! I will never buy a lamp tv again.

Good Luck!

5 Stars Pleased with product and delivery
Ordered on a Thursday; received call from shipping company on Sunday to schedule delivery, well before the promised following Friday delivery date. Delivery came off without a hitch–polite, complete service. The delivery person unboxed, checked for damage, and powered up the unit to make sure it functioned before he left. I did not purchase installation service. I connected the unit into my cable and was operating within minutes. Beautiful picture. I chose Samsung because they still have pip (really side-by-side picture). Internal tuner receives HD. Very pleased with its looks and performance.

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