Lenovo and
Intel have teamed up to offer the Lenovo Classmate+ PC, a rugged notebook for
students in kindergarten through the eighth grade. Built to stand up to the
challenges of young users, they feature spill-resistant keyboards, rugged
exteriors and built-in handles, giving the notebooks a sturdy clamshell
appearance.
The notebooks
come preloaded with Intel's Learning Series software suite and, the pair said
in a March 10 statement, "specialized educational software and a variety
of teaching resources." The notebooks additionally feature 10.1-inch LED
backlit displays, Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system, a 1.3-megapixel
Webcam, storage up to 250GB and solid-state drive options, multiple USB ports
and a 4-in-1 card reader for viewing multimedia.
“Lenovo is the
first multinational company to offer the Intel Learning Series classmate PC for
the global education market,” Kapil Wadhera, general manager of Intel's
Education Markets Platforms Group, said in a statement. “We are thrilled to
welcome Lenovo to the Intel Learning Series Alliance and to work with them to
extend the platforms' availability to benefit more students and teachers around
the world.”
Kicking off
the device's deployment, this spring Lenovo will ship 158,000 of the Classmate+
laptops to Buenos Aires, as part of a one-on-one computing program through the
Organization of Ibero-American States.
More than
simply a rugged little notebook, Intel says it contributed years of
ethnographic research in education to the PC's development. For its part,
Lenovo has a Learning Environment division in North Carolina that reportedly
evaluates educational technology, offers resources for teachers to help them
develop their skills and provides feedback to students testing the PCs.
“As the
fastest-growing PC company in education, we are committed to creating education
solutions that improve schools' efficiency, as well as leading initiatives to
evaluate how technology can measurably improve learning outcomes,” Michael
Schmedlen, director of Worldwide Education at Lenovo, said in a statement.
While
available now, the notebooks can only be ordered by qualifying educational and
government customers though a Lenovo salesperson or channel partner. Described
as "affordable," the notebooks' pricing nonetheless wasn't disclosed
by the pair, which said it will vary by market, regional taxes and
configurations.
Lenovo
competitors Hewlett-Packard and Dell also are in the education market and have
each launched fairly rugged netbooks for young learners.
In February,
HP further expanded its offerings for the segment with the HP Digital Learning Suite. Made up of six components, it includes a
tablet-like device called the Sketch; a Pocket Whiteboard—a vaguely
ruler-shaped device that extends whiteboard functionality to surfaces such a
wall or desk; a MultiSeat t150 thin client that enables 10 students to share a
single host computer; a rolling Presentation Station 1000 cart, that stores
just about everything a teacher could need; and a 20-notebook Charging Cart.
An HP
executive described the suite as a solution to "better prepare students
for whatever environment they'll face—in school and out."
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