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12-23-2013, 09:29 AM
Each week Ross Rubin (http://twitter.com/rossrubin) contributes Switched On (http://www.engadget.com/tag/switchedon?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&ncid=rss_semi&utm_campaign=Engadget), a column about consumer technology.

http://hss-prod.hss.aol.com/hss/storage/adam/95402d3f56540f7c1edf37858d34385b/12-27-07-xo.jpg (http://www.engadget.com/2013/12/19/switched-on-whats-become-of-the-100-laptop/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&ncid=rss_semi&utm_campaign=Engadget)Back in 2006, at the height of interest in the One Laptop Per Child-fueled $100 computer, I embarked on a quest (http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/12/switched-on-the-100-laptop-challenge-ebay-style/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&ncid=rss_semi&utm_campaign=Engadget) to find such a device on the market -- with a catch. Since there were no such computers readily available in retail channels, the search was conducted via eBay for used, but still-capable PCs that cost less than $100. (It was a lot easier to find one that ran Windows than Mac OS.)
The past seven years have seen a lot of changes in the broader personal computing market. The Hisense Sero 7 LT (http://www.engadget.com/2013/05/23/hisense-sero-7-lt-pro-tablets/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&ncid=rss_semi&utm_campaign=Engadget), which arrived at Walmart earlier this year, exemplifies the kind of product that can now be considered the "$100 laptop" for the American mass market. Since then, others have followed. What it delivers, though, varies widely from what we thought such a device might look like.
Filed under: Laptops (http://www.engadget.com/category/laptops/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget), Tablets (http://www.engadget.com/category/tablets/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget)
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