OLPC Reviews
The OLPC XO has become my default always-with-me laptop for around town as well as travel. Why? Keep reading:
It has a great battery life: 3-5 hours, usually. (especially if you turn off the wireless and change the screen to reflective/no backlighting).
The power plug is small (no “brick”), and with additional accessories, you can plug it into a car/airline DC port or to a solar cell. Note that it does not (never has, never will) come with a working “hand-crank” power generator.
The screen is simply incredible. Sure it’s small, but the resolution is crisp, and in black-and-white mode, basically as good as paper - you can read it in full sunlight. Seriously.
The wireless reception is top-notch. The cute little ears serve as extra antennae, and the ability for this little guy to find and connect to networks that other laptops can’t even see is amazing. Mesh networking, if you have some buddies also with XOs, is a different world of collaboration that must be experienced to be believed.
I bought my XO through the G1G1 program last year, and now primarily use it as a travel companion. For me, it serves two primary purposes: internet access and movies. I have made no other modifications to the software other than downloading Opera and Mplayer.
Internet
The XO has one of the best wireless radios I have ever used in a laptop. The range is outstanding, which is useful when searching for a spot to quickly check your email. I chose to download Opera to browse the internet as it provides a more robust experience than the default Sugar browser.
Movies
With a simple download of Mplayer, the XO is capable of playing .avi movies. The screen is better than many comparable netbooks. I achieve battery life of 3-3.5 hours with the screen at full brightness while watching movies.
We have two XO laptops and the whole family loves them.
The best part is that we get double duty out of XO with Fedora 10 on SD Card for the OLPC XO Laptop. With the SD card in, we’re running Fedora - without the SD, the children are whooping it up with Sugar.
I normally travel with my Nokia N800 so that I can keep track of my websites and other business dealings, but the XO is fast becoming a better choice because it’s more durable and I automatically have something for the kids should we find ourselves waiting.
The reason I like Fedora on the XO is because it has a traditional layout. Click in the corner to access applications and folder style directories when saving.
I’ve used the XO laptop for while now. It makes one wonder “Why can’t my work laptop be like this?” The XO has a great display that reads like paper when outdoors. Its Wi-Fi reception is unlike any other laptop’s. The XO “sees” networks you’ve never been able to see before. The camera “just works”. So does the microphone. The XO has a nice battery life, charges quickly and runs for a while. Great features such as extremely fast suspend and resume make it a joy to use this machine anywhere. Just slam the lid shut (yes, you can slam it…its built for kids) and get going. Open it again and resume working. Comes standard with a browser, word processor, chat, and a whole lot more. Need more? Look up http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Activities/All
Additionally, it come with a terrific karma package 
You are doing something good for kids all over the world. I’ve seen some of them. They love their XOs. Its changed their lives. Changed for the better. So, plant some seeds, and see them grow.
If you really dig the XO, Give a laptop and get a laptop. If you really don’t want yet another laptop, just donate for a great cause!
I have a regular laptop, but my XO is what I carry around with me everywhere. It is small and rugged, and after a year of use, the battery life is still phenominal. It is also the only laptop I’ve ever seen usable in direct sunlight. There’s nothing like computing outdoors.
The keyboard takes a little time to get used to, but it is certainly touch typeable. The operating system is unconventional, but very cool. Installing a more “adult” OS like Debian or Ubuntu is quite easy as well.
