Note: The Cheapest Laptop covered in this article is known as Aakash Tablet today. You should also consider reading Aakash Review and ACi Icon 1100 review.
The cheapest Laptop for students in India will be out soon. After 6 year of efforts by the Government, the first cargo will be introduced this month. Launched under the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), the device will cost only Rs. 2,200. The Government of India is seeing this product as a revolutionary change in the field of higher education. The laptop is designed and manufactured in India itself while keeping in focus the study methods and requirements of the students taking higher-education here.
According to the HRD Ministry, the product is low-cost access-cum-computing device. Currently, an order of 1 lac laptops has been placed by the ministry which will be availed in next 3-4 months.
3000 laptops will be given for free trail to each state through which they’ll reach the higher-education students. The first batch of 10,000 laptops will go to IIT Rajasthan this month. The improvements will be made if the product comes out to be defected or erroneous.
As the current order placed is of only 1 lac units, the total price including all the expenses is coming out to be Rs. 2200. In future, as the orders increase, the price may go down to around Rs. 1500.
I guess, the laptop has very limited features and support when compared to a modern one of it’s category, let’s see how much it lives up to the expectations of the students.
Specifications:
- Display: 7″ Touch Screen
- Network: Wi-Fi Network
- Serial Ports: 2 USB
- Battery Backup: 3 hrs
- Memory: 32 GB external HDD
- Additional features: Solar charge support, A/V output support, 2G shock. Can work fine in the temperature from 0 to 48 °C.
Software:
- YouTube playback
- Flash Video, MP4 AVI Support
- S3 Audio Codec
- Video Streaming, Video conferencing
- MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Open Office, PDF support
- ZIP, RAR Support
- Remote Device Management
Update: The Govt. of India has launched a Tablet device “Aakash” instead of a Laptop on October 5, 2011. Most of the features that are mentioned above are missing in this Tablet PC. Still, it is expected that a laptop will also be launched in 2012 carrying all these features. Read the complete Aakash Tablet Review. Also see our Tablet PC buying guide.
Yes you are right, It will not be offering many Features.
Yeah, it can’t beat other reputed companies who are in the business and competing like hell.
Thanks for commenting :)
when do you think the common man in mumbai will have access to this wonder.
Till September, I guess.
good info. I was also wondering about the competetiveness of this low-cost laptop. I recently say new models and colours launched by Sony, and you should see on faceboo or other forums how people are cary about these machines. There are other top players also. So what will happen to this laptop. Who will buy this latop in front of feature-rich options.
Ya, Government of India is freaking around some cheap gadgets which are not good enough to fill the loops. The laptop is not going to compete even the least popular brands in the country, not by any means.
Thanks for sharing your thought Vedic.
Is it true? Have it all the features as other laptop?
But I have some serious doubt whether this cheap gadget is going to compete with laptops of reputed brands.
Nowadays netbooks from brands like Acer, Asus, Lenovo, Sony, HP and Samsung are available at a range of 10,000 to 20,000. Will this device be as fast as a netbook? Will it have even 512 MB of RAM? Which processor does it run on?
In my opinion its better to go with reputed brands and buy an Intel Atom processor based netbook.
Hi Priyanka!
Yes, cheaper is always doubtful when it comes to expectations and comparisons with other popular brands with awesome features. This gadget can’t be trusted on quality and features we expect in an ideal in the class.
r all students are getting this one or only iit students and when it will avelable
@bikash
It depends on Govt. of India. No one knows actually, when they’re going to make it available publicly.
which laptop under rs30000 would be best for me. (I am a school teacher) pls help.
You should see Samsung RV518 which is costing just under 30000 INR right now. It’s basic features are Intel Core i3 processor, 15.6″ screen, 3 GB of RAM and 500 GB HD. Asus K53 – series K53SC and Dell Vostro 1450 are good alternatives with similar configuration, where the latter (Dell Vostro) costs around Rs. 28000.
Acer Aspire 5755 is also going popular and performing good for one of my friend. It costs around 27000 INR with almost similar features.
After making selection of one of these laptops, don’t forget to read it’s online reviews. Also try seeking offers at the stores and showrooms in this festive season to get discounts and gifts.
Sir, can you please tell me wether is there any goverment scheme which hepls a student finantially to buy a laptop or a computer.
I am a first year BCA student based on manipur.