The ultraviolet light that bathed the Intel stand at CES made it difficult to capture any video without the use of a couple of arc lights (maybe it was aiming for that inner city supermarket lavatory look), but we did our best to shoot some footage of the new Classmate PC reference design that was on show.
The new Classmate PC has a clamshell tablet design, so that kids can use it both as a traditional laptop and as something to scribble on. Intel doesn't actually manufacturer the Classmate PC and its reference design is intended as a blueprint for other OEMs to work from. One has already picked up the new design though, and CTL Corporation had its new 2go Convertible Classmate PC on show at the Intel stand.
As shown in the photos, the 2go Convertible looks a lot like CTL's previous Classmate PC, the 2go model IL1A, but it's a touch smaller. In fact its size and shape is similar to Asus' newly announced Eee PC T91, though it's a good deal more rugged. Despite using a hard disk rather than SSD, it can withstand a 50cm drop to the floor and has a liquid resistant keyboard.
The 8.9in, 1024 x 600 screen is obviously touch-sensitive, but the traditional resistive touch sensor can detect and ignore the pressure of anything but a stylus or fingertip — handy for kids who are prone to resting their whole hand on the surface they're writing on.
The 2go Convertible's specification is otherwise pure netbook: an Intel Atom N270 processor, 1Gb of RAM, 802.11b/g/n and a six-cell battery with a claimed five-hour battery life. It costs $499 in the US, but there's no news yet on UK availability or pricing.
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