5 ms·

You can buy Toshiba Satellite 15.6" with 4GB Memory and 500 GB hard drive for $229 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-satellite-15-6-laptop-intel-celeron-4gb-m

You can buy Toshiba Satellite 15.6" with 4GB Memory and 500 GB hard drive for $229 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-satellite-15-6-laptop-intel-celeron-4gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-jet-black/7351008.p?id=1219265947912&skuId=7351008&st=categoryid$pcmcat247400050000&cp=1&lp=1 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-satellite-15-6-laptop-in...

sspiff 12y ago
This made me think, at what scale is this project happening? I'm guessing a lot of companies would be willing to give you discounts or perhaps even free machines (buy one, get one free?) to get the positive PR by being associated with this kind of thing.
- html5web 12y ago
  I was also surprised by this price!
- mojombo 12y ago
  We've currently funded 146 laptops over the last few months, but we'd love to be distributing thousands every year and are currently in conversations with a variety of companies to see if we can get sponsorships going. That would potentially allow us more flexibility around what machines we use.
  - lukeschlather 12y ago
    Are the low-end Chromebooks subsidized by Google? I'm surprised there aren't Ubuntu models at similar price points.
    - mojombo 12y ago
      I've heard rumors that this is the case (at least for the Acer C720), though I can't confirm it. I did call Acer to speak with a sales rep and learned that Acer's cost to produce is nearly $250 (if their information can be trusted), so it seems that someone is subsidizing the cost.
  - krrishd 12y ago
    You guys should work with CodeDay (http://codeday.org http://codeday.org) and StudentRND (http://studentrnd.org http://studentrnd.org) to help students at the CodeDay events learn how to code even if they don't have laptops! Maybe sponsor one of the local events with a certain number so they can open up registration to kids who otherwise couldn't come due to the lack of a laptop.
mojombo 12y ago
Yep, that's not a bad value, but $30 extra is still quite significant to us, and the smallness/lightness and battery life of the Chromebooks is hard to beat.
- MBCook 12y ago
  I'd pay $30 to know I couldn't accidentally wipe my laptop by pressing the spacebar on boot.
  - mojombo 12y ago
    Touché. Though, to be fair, it's hard to "accidentally" do it, as there is a subsequent confirmation screen. The problem is one of ignorance, upon first receiving the laptop, and not knowing how to boot into an operating system. Once that's been settled, then it's perfectly safe and convenient to use.
bluedino 12y ago
The Chromebook is smaller (nice for a laptop), has better build quality, and is much faster with the smaller SSD. Also, you can get a refurb Toshiba Chromebook for $140 on NewEgg right now http://slickdeals.net/f/7113172-13-3-toshiba-chromebook-refurbished-celeron-2955u-13-3-1368x766-16gb-ssd-140-after-40-rebate-free-shipping-visa-checkout?v=1 http://slickdeals.net/f/7113172-13-3-toshiba-chromebook-refu...
shazow 12y ago
I just stumbled on this: http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-acer-116-chromebook-with-14ghz-dual-core-processor http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-acer-116-chromebook-with-14g... $129.99 for a refurbished 11" Acer Chromebook. Crazy.
- mfkp 12y ago
  Came here to post this - seems like a great deal.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- heywire 12y ago
  Thanks for posting this, just picked one up. I've got the Samsung Chromebook (running crouton), which is great, but I would like to have something x86 as well...
- mehrdada 12y ago
  This guy seems to have a big inventory of them for $120: http://sacramento.craigslist.org/syd/4584307735.html http://sacramento.craigslist.org/syd/4584307735.html
dublinben 12y ago
That Toshiba represents just about everything wrong with inexpensive laptops. It's large, heavy, has a terrible screen, slow HDD, poor battery life, and underpowered CPU.

sspiff 12y ago

This made me think, at what scale is this project happening? I'm guessing a lot of companies would be willing to give you discounts or perhaps even free machines (buy one, get one free?) to get the positive PR by being associated with this kind of thing.

html5web 12y ago
I was also surprised by this price!
mojombo 12y ago
We've currently funded 146 laptops over the last few months, but we'd love to be distributing thousands every year and are currently in conversations with a variety of companies to see if we can get sponsorships going. That would potentially allow us more flexibility around what machines we use.
- lukeschlather 12y ago
  Are the low-end Chromebooks subsidized by Google? I'm surprised there aren't Ubuntu models at similar price points.
  - mojombo 12y ago
    I've heard rumors that this is the case (at least for the Acer C720), though I can't confirm it. I did call Acer to speak with a sales rep and learned that Acer's cost to produce is nearly $250 (if their information can be trusted), so it seems that someone is subsidizing the cost.
- krrishd 12y ago
  You guys should work with CodeDay (http://codeday.org http://codeday.org) and StudentRND (http://studentrnd.org http://studentrnd.org) to help students at the CodeDay events learn how to code even if they don't have laptops! Maybe sponsor one of the local events with a certain number so they can open up registration to kids who otherwise couldn't come due to the lack of a laptop.

mojombo 12y ago

Yep, that's not a bad value, but $30 extra is still quite significant to us, and the smallness/lightness and battery life of the Chromebooks is hard to beat.

MBCook 12y ago
I'd pay $30 to know I couldn't accidentally wipe my laptop by pressing the spacebar on boot.
- mojombo 12y ago
  Touché. Though, to be fair, it's hard to "accidentally" do it, as there is a subsequent confirmation screen. The problem is one of ignorance, upon first receiving the laptop, and not knowing how to boot into an operating system. Once that's been settled, then it's perfectly safe and convenient to use.

bluedino 12y ago

The Chromebook is smaller (nice for a laptop), has better build quality, and is much faster with the smaller SSD. Also, you can get a refurb Toshiba Chromebook for $140 on NewEgg right now http://slickdeals.net/f/7113172-13-3-toshiba-chromebook-refurbished-celeron-2955u-13-3-1368x766-16gb-ssd-140-after-40-rebate-free-shipping-visa-checkout?v=1 http://slickdeals.net/f/7113172-13-3-toshiba-chromebook-refu...

shazow 12y ago

I just stumbled on this: http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-acer-116-chromebook-with-14ghz-dual-core-processor http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-acer-116-chromebook-with-14g... $129.99 for a refurbished 11" Acer Chromebook. Crazy.

mfkp 12y ago
Came here to post this - seems like a great deal.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
heywire 12y ago
Thanks for posting this, just picked one up. I've got the Samsung Chromebook (running crouton), which is great, but I would like to have something x86 as well...
mehrdada 12y ago
This guy seems to have a big inventory of them for $120: http://sacramento.craigslist.org/syd/4584307735.html http://sacramento.craigslist.org/syd/4584307735.html

dublinben 12y ago

That Toshiba represents just about everything wrong with inexpensive laptops. It's large, heavy, has a terrible screen, slow HDD, poor battery life, and underpowered CPU.