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Lenovo Aims $199 PC At China's Rural Population

Posted by Zonk on Fri Aug 03, 2007 10:31 AM
from the there-might-be-a-sale-or-two-there dept.
The Almighty Buck Businesses Hardware
athloi writes "Lenovo has announced they are gearing up to sell a basic personal computer for 'China's vast but poor rural market'. The pricetag could be as low as $199. 'The new Lenovo unit will include a processor and a keyboard and will use a buyer's television set as a monitor, Chen said. He said he had no details on the processor size or other features. The new PC goes on sale later this year at prices of 1,499 to 2,999 yuan ($199-$399), Chen said. Lenovo is the world's third-largest PC manufacturer, behind U.S.-based Hewlett Packard Inc. and No. 2 Dell.'"
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[+] Politics: Lenovo Looking to Buy Seagate, May Raise Political Concerns 255 comments
andy1307 writes "According to an article in the New York Times, Lenovo has expressed an interest in buying Seagate. This has raised concerns among American government officials about the risks to national security in transferring high technology to China. From the article: 'In recent years, modern disk drives, used to store vast quantities of digital information securely, have become complex computing systems, complete with hundreds of thousands of lines of software that are used to ensure the integrity of data and to offer data encryption.'"
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  • Yea, right (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2007, @10:34AM (#20102073)
    3,000 yuan is like a year's salary for China's poor.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Culture20 (968837)
      And beyond that, they'll not have much use for it. Without internet access, a computer is a tool for the middle and upper classes only (unless you think using a computer at home will making rice farming or sweatshop-working better).

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward
        I think you completely miss which group will benefit from this the most: rural students bound for college. Even in rural communities, most students attempt the college entrance exams. Many are accepted into big universities in big cities. It's quite a big deal, because the village commissions print up and hang banners with the names of the kids from their town who are bound for university.

        The ministry of education already dramatically suppresses tuition costs. Even top universities are usually 1,000 yuan pe

  • Ugh (Score:5, Insightful)

    by afidel (530433) on Friday August 03 2007, @10:34AM (#20102077)
    Almost all SD TV's make horrible monitors. I'd think you'd be better off with a OLPC from a usability standpoint.
    • Not to mention, for US$200 you can get better than an OLPC in processing power, once you discard the display. If they're stuck on getting the price as low as possible, and there are enough TV sets around for people to use them, the proper price point is IMO ~$80.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by ScrewMaster (602015)
      Horrible is relative, and for someone who doesn't have a computer, and can't afford anything better, a TV is much better than nothing. I started out on an Apple ][ Standard back in 1978-79: 40 column video and we were thrilled to have it, although we eventually upgraded to a monochrome monitor and a Videx 80-column card. Does anyone know the capabilities of China's regular broadcast television standards? I would hope that it would be better than NTSC, something on the order of PAL/SECAM maybe. I just threw
      • And have you been frozen in a block of ice since 1979, that your expectations haven't risen?

        • Re:Ugh (Score:5, Insightful)

          by ScrewMaster (602015) on Friday August 03 2007, @11:24AM (#20102829)
          {sigh} why do people persist in ignoring the actual content of a message, and focus instead on whatever detail they can use to deride the other person? If it matters to you, I'm typing this on a dual monitor software development system, so of course my expectations have risen.

          Then again, I live in a country where personal computer ownership is near-ubiquitous, where the only people that don't have a personal computer (or more than one) are those who simply don't want one. But if I were a poor Chinese peasant, who has no expectations greater than what I had back in 1978, that TV-based computer might be considered a Godsend. It's all relative, and that TV display is a one Hell of a lot better than nothing.

          At the rate China's industry is expanding, I would venture a guess that the people who are the target market for this system will eventually have the opportunity to raise their expectations as well. But that takes time, and you have to start somewhere.

      • Does anyone know the capabilities of China's regular broadcast television standards? I would hope that it would be better than NTSC, something on the order of PAL/SECAM maybe.

        Last I heard, China uses PAL.

        • You can generally get a lot more than that. 640x480 is not uncommon for NTSC sets using composite video, and I have a 27" set that will actually run up to 1024x768. Blurry, but readable.

    • Re:Ugh (Score:4, Insightful)

      by fm6 (162816) on Friday August 03 2007, @11:06AM (#20102559) Homepage Journal
      But the OLPC is designed in the U.S. and made in the Republic of China (Taiwan). Now, the People's Republic of China does trade with both countries (even though it doesn't recognize the existence of the ROC) but importing a "computer for the people" from them is politically unfeasible.

      An SD TV makes an OK monitor if you can live with 320x480 4-bit graphics -- and there was a time when many Apple ][ and IBM PC folks did. I'm sure many Szechuan villagers would consider such a setup the epitome of high tech. The problem I see is that nowadays people want computers mainly for connectivity — and making an ultra-cheap PC does nothing to create the necessary infrastructure in China's many rural regions.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by TheRaven64 (641858)

        But the OLPC is designed in the U.S. and made in the Republic of China (Taiwan).

        Some of the components are made in the PRoC, and the designs are all available royalty-free, so they could use them if they want and produce the machines locally. Alan Kay said he hoped that a lot of countries would do this, and produce their own copies locally, supporting the development of a local technological economy.

        An SD TV makes an OK monitor if you can live with 320x480 4-bit graphics

        Why 4-bit colour? TVs are analogue when it comes to colour, so the limit is the quality of your DAC. 24-bit colour on a TV is certainly feasible. The interlacing means you don't want

    • Almost all SD TV's make horrible monitors. I'd think you'd be better off with a OLPC from a usability standpoint.

      You can go back and forth with this, bashing OLPC [slashdot.org]. Of course people are better off with OLPC and Gates will think of some reason he hates this thing, which answers his previous complaints, because it's not going to run Windoze.

  • Not only price but law (Score:3, Interesting)

    by jshriverWVU (810740) on Friday August 03 2007, @10:34AM (#20102085)
    I was under the impression, there was limits on what people could buy in China. A chinese class mate was telling me how you would get slips, that would authorize you the ability to buy 1 computer. But you were limited on how many or what you could buy. So even if you were rich, it wasn't like you could go down to the store and buy 10 computers for a home cluster. Anyone know more on this?

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by suv4x4 (956391)
      I was under the impression, there was limits on what people could buy in China. A chinese class mate was telling me how you would get slips, that would authorize you the ability to buy 1 computer. But you were limited on how many or what you could buy. So even if you were rich, it wasn't like you could go down to the store and buy 10 computers for a home cluster. Anyone know more on this?

      In a capitalism, when stock is limited, prices go up and demand gets lower. In a centralized economy they put you on queu
      • If you were establishing a new government today, which would you prefer? Capitalism or a centralized economy?
        • Definitely some sort of a planned economy. If you give vendors free rein to set the prices of goods, consumers get royally screwed.
          • That's interesting. Whose job is it to plan the economy? For example, how many sets of golf clubs should be put into the economy each year?
        • If you were establishing a new government today, which would you prefer? Capitalism or a centralized economy?

          I personally - aspects of both. Running a country at maximum efficiency is complex. No single rule works everywhere. And even when you setup just the right balance, in 5 years the right balance will be elsewhere. So it's complex. Which doesn't mean politicians are very smart, many of them have no clue what they're doing.

          Of course I wouldn't limit people to buy cars and apartments if they want to, but
          • but centralized economy if done properly has this strange property of lowering crime and fraud

            Really? Where, in the last 100 years or so, has it ever been 'done properly'?

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by E++99 (880734)

        But China today isn't so black-and-white in terms of the economy model. It's a weird mixture of capitalism and communism.

        That's for sure. China itself is far from a centralized economy, although some regions within it may be. Some of the autonomous regions there are more free-market than most Western countries. In the rural provinces, I doubt you'll find the kinds of restrictions you find in the urban areas. You definitely find far more entrepreneurism than you would expect in a "communist country". Yo

    • 1975 (Score:4, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 03 2007, @10:53AM (#20102379)
      Your class mate must be talking about 1975. I was born in 1976 in China, never heard such "slips" for computers.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by sakdoctor (1087155)
      Maybe in soviet Russia you needed a slip authorizing you to buy 1 computer...but not in China.

      In at least 3 medium-large cities I visited these amazing 6+ floor computer stores that puts PC world and anything else in the UK to shame. The choice was amazing, from whole computers to obscure parts, which I would expect to have to mail order in the UK. Bags of dirt cheap OEM hard drives, and quality branded RAM.

      Bottom line, if you have the cash then anyone, Chinese or otherwise can go and buy a pc, the parts to

  • It makes me laugh. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by selain03 (1106181) on Friday August 03 2007, @10:39AM (#20102153)
    It makes me laugh everytime I see someone develop a "cheap" computer with substandard, obsolete technology. The irony is that I can buy a nearly top of the line computer for $199 here in the states. It just takes some smart shopping and rebate forms. Examples:
    http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/749939/ [fatwallet.com] (laptop for $181 after rebate)
    http://www.fatwallet.com/t/18/749936/ [fatwallet.com] (desktop for $180)

    What I'm trying to say is that Fry's should open up a location in rural China.

    • bullshit (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      That's a load of crap. You aren't buying a laptop for $181. You're buying a laptop $459.93 and almost $500 in software. Then you have to jump through fucking hoops and try to cash in on 23 rebates and HOPE you get your $755 in rebates back. You're an idiot if you think that's worth the risk. And then when half your rebates never show up you're out that money.

    • The irony is that I can buy a nearly top of the line computer for $199 here in the states.

      Well, you won't get a good gaming or media computer for that much. But if all you want is a basic web-surfing/word processing beast, then even $200 is too much, unless you insist on something that's brand new.

      But do remember that projects like the OLPC are not just trying to make cheap computers. They're trying to make systems that will be usable in areas with very bad infrastructure: no reliable power, no real netwo

    • I've bought four or five $180-200 desktops from Fry's without any rebate (not including monitors). They're Great Quality brand, and come with Linux preinstalled. All of them are still running, including the one I bought ca. 2002.

  • It should be obvious, but Bill Gate's victory lap was premature [slashdot.org] and I told you so [slashdot.org].

  • The new Lenovo unit will include a processor and a keyboard and will use a buyer's television set as a monitor
    The return of the C64. :-)
    • The Commodore 64 was a landmark in personal computing, I had one tricked out with hard drive, printer, modem (for BBS - there was no internet), Z-80 co-processor to run CPM. C-compiler, Pascal Compiler, and a big stack of game cartridges... When the IBM PC came out I didn't see how it could compete with the vastly superior C64 - groan-
      • No, I'd say the TI-99 holds the title for landmark; essentially the same type of machine being introduced today, but ahead of the C-64 by a few years. I wish I could get it out for nostalgia's sake, but my brother took a hammer to it years ago.

  • I just bought a 163 pc (Score:4, Insightful)

    by josepha48 (13953) on Friday August 03 2007, @10:48AM (#20102295) Journal
    without Hard drive, monitor, keyboard, mouse and OS.

    Essentially there is a mini-itx motherboard with a Celeron CPU for $79. CPU included, add 1G memory for $24 and case for $60, and it came to about $160. I can get a hard drive from newegg for dirt cheap and have a Linux PC for under $200.

    Yeah, the mini-itx celeron system will not be the fastest and it is certainly not a gaming machine, but for a desktop pc to surf the web and all that, it is pretty cheap. I'm guessing if you include a monitor and mouse / keyboard it would be more, but I have that so, this is a realy cheap deal.

    • I'm guessing if you include a monitor and mouse / keyboard it would be more, but I have that so, this is a realy cheap deal.

      There is a surplus of used, decent CRT monitors, at least where I live. All the second hand shops have more then they can sell. Now, certainly, this is probably not the case in China, but here I can go to a Salvation Army store and get a 17" CRT for $9. Monitors and mice can be had for a few bucks as well. If I try hard enough, I can get this stuff for free from Work/Friend/Dumpste

  • Um... seems to me that I can go to Newegg and put together a fairly kick-ass computer (certainly when compared to what Lenovo seem to be offering) for ~$400US. At least OLPC seems worth the price tag, considering what you get. In this case it sounds like a total rip-off. Unless that $399 machine has some really impressive specs (how can it if it plugs into a freaking TV?) this idea blows. Especially when it's marketed toward those with a lower income who will want to get the most possible for their mone
    • Where did you get $399 from? The summary clearly states it's $199. Even $199 is probably well out of reach for your average Chinese farmer, though. Of course, so is most of the stuff they're likely to find on Newegg.

  • China already has cheaper PC's (Score:5, Interesting)

    by John Sokol (109591) on Friday August 03 2007, @11:34AM (#20102991) Homepage Journal
    Gold Leopard King GLK has computers the are selling all over Asia, from China to India.
      These PC retail for the equivalent of $5 US!
      There is only a single chip in a cartridge the rest is just buttons and interconnect, no chips. They have at least 15 models that I have seen.
      They support printers, modems, a mouse, and supports 100 of video games from perfect clones of most Atari 2600, and early Nintendo like Mario Brothers.

      I have been trying to track down this company, there products are in shops everywhere, but there is no Address, website or any information on how to contact the company.
      Even the shop owners don't know how to contact them because there are just people that come around selling then to the shops.

        Model numbers look like GLK-6102, GNC-1133, GLK-5002, GLK-1119, GLK-2012,GLK 98, GLK 1339, GLK 5002
        They also seem to come under many other brand names, and make lower end game clones that are sold here in the US, and even in Walmart China.

        With a little bit more work, they would be able to add a web browser and many other cool apps.
        I would really like to get in touch with this company.

    Here is an example:
    http://famiclone.emucamp.com/goldleopardking/glk.h tm [emucamp.com]
    http://www.museo8bits.com/famiclones.htm [museo8bits.com]
    http://ultimateconsoledatabase.com/famiclones/gold _leopard_king.htm [ultimateco...tabase.com]
    http://n-europe.com/special.php?sid=retro3&page=2 [n-europe.com]

  • This is really just .... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by kwandar (733439) on Friday August 03 2007, @11:35AM (#20103001)
    a updated version of the Commodore Vic-20 [oldcomputers.net] or the Atari 400/800 systems [atarimuseum.com]. Similar price point, and the market in China is 25 years behind North America,so it makes sense
  • The poor in China have these great manufactoring jobs because Mexicans and Latin Americans were viewed upon as too expensive because of $.33 an hour vs $.11 cents in China.

    The middle class already can afford a pc. However I do admit the Chinese are very frugal and save rather than spend their hard earned money. Its fustrating many economists.

    • Well, they should just ship George W. over there. Maybe he can convince them to (ahem) "stimulate their economy" by spending all their hard-earned money on U.S. made products, just like he wants us to spend all of our savings to buy Chinese-made products.

      I think he frustrates economists too.

  • PCs are now cheaper than free (Score:4, Informative)

    by ChrisA90278 (905188) on Friday August 03 2007, @12:09PM (#20103517)
    Here in the US working PCs are free. Or even less than free. A while back a loaded a pickup truck with old computers, CRTs and some printers and scanners and took them to a recycle facility. I effect I paid someone to take them off my hands. Today I still have a couple working computers that are powered down and in storage. I tried giving this stuff to a school (my daughter is in 3rd grade) but the school has a "minimum standard" that they will accept. Basically if it's not a 2Ghz Pentium with a good sized hard drive and monitor and CD/DVD they don't want it. The school has to haul of their old stuff to be recycled too.

    So anyone who wants a three or four year old PC can have on for the asking. and if they work it right can have hundreds of them. All of these are usable and better then the using a TV set for a monitor.

  • I'm sure they'll all be running Spam@Home
  • Now Wal*Mart can charge their own suppliers what we are charged.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by trolltalk.com (1108067)

      Thanks for the memories ... I loved my CoCo2 (16k upgraded to 64k ram) - I learned assembler on that old box. When the CoCo 3 came out, with 128k of ram (which I upgraded to 512k + 3 floppy drives + 2 tape drives + multi-io + speech synth + mouse + touchpad + remote electrical control unit, etc., Microware OS9 + RGB monitor yadda yadda yadda, I was one happy camper. People with their early PCs were stunned! True multi-tasking, a graphical environment, multiple console terminals + multiple consoles per scre

      • Well of course they are assuming that those who would by the system either already have or can afford to buy a TV.

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