The One Laptop Per Child project has a noble goal: to digitize the developing world. You can now buy your own OLPC as long as you buy two — one for yourself and one for a needy child. Well, Laptop got their hands on one and they not only reviewed it, they gave it to an 8-year-old who pronounced it “fun.”

The device, called the XO, exhibited quite a few problems but was very usable. The touchscreen wasn’t enabled and the trackpad was a bit off. The 7-inch screen, while readable in sunlight, was also fairly low-rent.

Clearly, OLPC designed the laptop to be usable in multiple environments and under limited budgets. At $188 — double that if you’re going to buy it here — it’s an impressive piece of machinery. Hopefully the problems will be fixed before they wing their way across the world.

My 8-Year-Old Reviews the OLPC XO [Laptop]
Hands-On with One Laptop Per Child’s XO Laptop [Laptop]