Charlie Sorrel
Gear

$100 Laptop Now $200

If you're not feeling so flush, you can opt for smaller orders: The new "Give 100+" scheme will cost $300 per unit, and the "Give 1000+" sets the price at $250.Eventually, of course, the price will approach the original $100, but with the delays, varied price models and an unfinished 1.0 operating system, Nick Negroponte's pet project is starting to look a little like Windows Vista.

Fixing the price of the "$100 Laptop" is like nailing down an eel: It just won't stop moving. Now the OLPC can be had for $200, minimum order 10,000, and the buyer gets to choose where the shipment goes.

If you're not feeling so flush, you can opt for smaller orders: The new "Give 100+" scheme will cost $300 per unit, and the "Give 1000+" sets the price at $250.

Eventually, of course, the price will approach the original $100, but with the delays, varied price models and an unfinished 1.0 operating system, Nick Negroponte's pet project is starting to look a little like Windows Vista.

Geekcorps pundit Wayan Vota thinks that OLPC has only got 200,000 orders on its books so far, and says of Nick Neg:

One-hundred dollars was never a realistic price. By starting with an unrealistic price, he reduced his credibility selling the laptop.

Whatever happens, the XO OLPC won't be the only budget box to suffer price-creep.

"$100 laptop" hits $200 [Reuters]

Product page [Laptop Foundation]