Simmbook Netbook for Emerging Markets

Mar 30, 2010

IBM and Indian company Simmtronics are marketing their 10" netbook at a cost under $200.

The Simmbook netbook with a 10.1" screen at 1024 x 600 pixels (VSVGA) works with the Atom N270 processor (1.6 GHz and 533 MHz FSB), a GByte of DDR2 RAM (maximum 2 GBytes with a slot) and a 160-GByte SATA hard drive. Along with these are a 1.3 megapixel camera, a 3-in-1 (MMC/SD/MS/MS Pro) card reader (some manufacturers would call it 4-in-1), and three USB 2.0 ports. The 1.2 kilogram device also includes a Kensington locking port, but is rather sluggish in LAN (10/100 Ethernet controller) and wireless (802.11b/g) modes. Preinstalled next to Ubuntu Linux is the IBM Client for Smart Work, with Lotus Symphony and access to IBMs LotusLive cloud-based collaboration tool. Of course, nothing would prevent a user from buying additional Lotus applications.

The product is intended to fill the gap between low cost and performance with its equipment and preinstalled apps. The partners are targeting the product to small businesses, non-profits and educational institutions that cannot otherwise afford computerized collaboration resources. The Simmbook is available through an online order form currently in India, African countries, Thailand and Vietnam. IBM and Simmtronics, who had the netbook certified at Canonical for Ubuntu, are looking for additional partners to market the netbook in other countries at a competitive price.

Related content

Comments

  • Wrong information

    The information in this article is wrong.
    Everyone placing this article have been copying the wrong info without checking the facts.
    The 160G + 1GB RAM is not sub-$200. With shipping and tax the 512MB, 8GB HDD $190 version is actually $270.
    I have emailed IBM and Canonical for some info in South Africa. IBM did not know what I was talking about and Canonical said I had to buy direct from Simmtronics (incl the tax and shipping).
    So please stop proclaiming this netbook as sub-$200 for the 3rd-world.
comments powered by Disqus
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters

Support Our Work

Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

Learn More

News