XO Laptops for Europeans

Nicholas Negroponte’s OLPC XO laptop is finally making it over to Europe. The One Laptop Per Child Foundation is reviving its Give One Get One (G1G1) scheme for the small, energy efficient notebooks and it seems this year Europeans will be given the chance to purchase one of the laptops and pay for another to be sent to a school child in a developing nation.

The OLPC G1G1 scheme was initially launched last year and there was an overwhelming demand for the XO laptops. Despite the fact that bulk orders didn’t seem to be picking up, people couldn’t wait to get their hands on the OLPC machine, even if it meant buying two and giving one away. Unfortunately production delays meant that the release of the OLPC laptop was delayed, so when it did launch, there was a shortage of the notebooks.

OLPC decided to bring back the G1G1 idea with the help of Amazon back in September, with the program relaunching in November. However, reports say that 27 EU nations will also be able to join in as of Monday, including the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Russia and Turkey.

The idea, we figure, is to boost sales of the XO laptop in the run up to Christmas. With the current financial fiasco weighing on everyone’s mind they’ll no doubt want a gift that they can afford and what better than the hundred dollar laptops? Well, according to the BBC, the laptop will sell for £286 or €313 and that’s for one. Considering the program is called the Give One Get One scheme consumers can double that number for the price they’re actually going to pay to get one of the XO machines.

The OLPC Foundation is running the G1G1 scheme in association with Amazon so you can head on over the e-tailer if you feel like dropping $400/£286/€313 x 2 on an ultra portable notebook that’s inferior to nearly every model in the netbook market.