Bangladesh launches a $ 130 laptop

Just a week after India unveiled the world's cheapest Aakash computer for just $ 35, Bangladesh also introduced a lowest-priced notebook of $ 130.

This is a cheap laptop built by the Government of Bangladesh to improve the state of information technology and Internet development in the country and is expected to be distributed to students throughout the country.

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Named after the national iconic bird, Doel, this laptop model is jointly produced by state-owned telecommunications company TSS with two private companies.

Government spokesman Shefayet Hossain said: " There are four different versions of the Doel notebook model, the cheapest of which costs $ 130, and the most expensive version costs $ 343. "

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The cheapest version of the Doel laptop is equipped with 800MHz processor, 512MB of RAM and a 16GB solid-state hard drive, along with a 10.1-inch screen with 1024x600 resolution.

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In addition, this version is also equipped with a webcam, SD memory card slot, two USB ports and a webcam. In particular, it works on Google's Android platform, which is only used for smartphones and tablets. This is considered an acceptable configuration for a laptop for only $ 130 to do basic tasks.

Meanwhile, with the most expensive version of Doel equipped with a configuration including Intel Celeron dual-core processor with 2.1GHz speed, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, 320GB hard drive, 14-inch screen resolution HD 1920x1020, DVD drive. There are also webcams, Wifi connections, SD card reader slots and four USB ports. This version of Doel uses Linux.

The price of 343 USD is still considered 'soft' for the laptop model with the above configuration. It is known that there are only 10% of components in Bangladesh's Doel laptop. The Bangladesh government hopes that within the next six months, the component localization rate of this laptop will be 60%.

Bangladesh Ministry of Education is planning to distribute these cheap laptops to millions of poor students and students across the country.

TSS executive director Mohammad Ismail said: ' This is a big step in building the technological age in Bangladesh. When people own cheap laptops, they can connect to the Internet and this will bring a lot of benefits. 'The Bangladesh government is building a plan to' digitize 'the country within the next 10 years.