(** IMPORTANT NOTICE **) – After posting the ‘review’ below, I was made aware of potential issues with Cherrypal’s business practices. Please read the following post for more details. Questionable Cherrypal Business Practices Post
There is a growing movement in the United States toward frugality, simplicity, and environmentally friendly. Fortunately, companies are starting to take notice and produce products to meet this increasing demand.
Cherrypal laptops are some of the latest examples. Cherrypal offers an interesting line of cheap, simple, green laptops. But don’t mistake “cheap” for “flimsy”. The Cherrypal line of laptops (Africa and Bing) appear to be solidly built and they come with a one year warranty. Let’s take a look at the Africa and the Bing.
The Cherrypal Africa costs $99. That’s right – $99! No, you won’t be creating a presentation on it while crunching numbers in a spreadsheet and downloading your stock portfolio in the background but that’s not what it’s made for. (Note: The $99 version of the Africa comes with Linux. You can get it with Windows XP for $118.)
The specs of the Cherrypal Africa include:
- 400 MHz processor, 256 MB DDR / 2 GB NAND-flash
- 7 inch high-resolution TFT screen
- LAN:10/100M Ethernet Access, WIFI: IEEE 802.11 b/g Ethernet RJ-45
- QWERTY 86 key keyboard with built-in mouse touch panel
- USB port
- SD / MMC card slot (8GB)
- Built-in Lithium battery – time:4 Hrs
- Built-in speaker and microphone
The Cherrypal Africa is a great looking laptop with all the necessary features for checking emails, browsing the Internet, and doing basic computing (word processing, etc.).
The Cherrypal Bing is a great option for those that require a little more computing power than the Africa. The Bing is one of the fastest and most affordable laptops today (in the 13″ screensize product line) costing just $389.
The Cherrypal Bing is a very nice looking machine and is as slim as a runway model! The Bing comes with Windows XP installed and features the Intel Atom N280 processor. Other technical specs include:
- 13.3″ screen with 1280×800 resolution
- 1 GB DDRII memory,
- 160 GB HDD, Intel GMA950 Graphics Engine
- 3 USB 2.0 slots
- SD/MMC/MS card socket
- Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b/g) built-in, RJ-45 Ethernet
- Built-in microphone and dual speakers
- 1.3M Pixel web camera
- Weight 3 lbs
- 5 hour battery life
As you can see, Cherrypal has created a great line of cheap, simple, and green laptops for a growing market segment. In my opinion, it’s a job well done!
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