“A Hong Kong-based manufacturer is shipping a Linux-based
ultra-mini PC (UMPC) laptop for only $250 ($180 in volume), which
appears to give it the lowest price yet for a Linux laptop.
Bestlink’s Alpha 400 offers a 400MHz CPU and a 7-inch, truecolor
display.“The Alpha 400 is based on a 32-bit XBurst CPU from Ingenic
Semiconductors clocked to 400MHz. Based on an ‘industry standard’
RISC-based architecture (possibly MIPS?) the chip reportedly runs
Windows CE as well as Linux. It also uses SIMD (single instruction,
multiple data) instructions to accelerate media performance, and
uses an ‘xburst’ pipeline. Fabbed on 0.18-micron technology, it
boasts low power requirements and a small footprint, Ingenic
claims…”