Sol laptop marine edition

Read: What is LTE? These panels produce enough juice to power the laptop directly from the sun, or to recharge the battery in two hours. This part of the equation is actually somewhat feasible: Solar panels can produce around 10 watts per square foot, and a laptop with those specs probably consumes around watts.

On the software side of things, the Sol runs Ubuntu. Other than that, though, and the almost unbelievable list of specs, we know almost nothing about the Sol. The Sol is being targeted, unsurprisingly, at developing countries that have lots of sunlight, such as Ghana in Africa. With a cellular modem, the Sol could really be quite a boon for villagers that are miles away from the nearest internet connection. As you might have guessed, the array's removable so that the laptop can still harness the power of the sun while it's sitting comfortably in the shade.

A cable connects the two components and transmits solar energy from the array to the device itself. Unfortunately, the cable's only roughly While the detachable array works as promised, charging via solar power might take more time than the company says. David Snir, Sol's creator, says you should only have to expose the device to "good" light think: clear sky, overhead sun for 2.

But, I've had to leave the laptop under a really bright sun for five hours from 10 AM to 3 PM to get the battery gauge to 75 percent. I live in the city, though, and the surrounding walls and houses might have blocked the sun from reaching the solar panels at one point or another.

According to Snir, the best way to position the array is to have it directly face the sun in the horizon in the middle of the day. Besides the chintzy feel, another testament to Sol's low-end price is its middling performance. The laptop worked fine with my WiFi connection, but lagged considerably while I was browsing the internet, especially when I was loading YouTube videos. It also crawled while I was using the pre-installed LibreOffice apps and generally stuttered too much to pass muster as my main workhorse.

To be fair, the device's manufacturer Canadian company WeWi Telecommunications sent me a unit meant for beta testing, which is different from the production version that will be shipped to buyers. For instance, this model is rated for five hours of runtime my test unit only got two and a half hours, though , while the production version promises seven hours.

The two models also have different processors. To better compare them against each other, check out the table below. By the way, if you've heard of Sol, but haven't seen these specs, it's because WeWi hasn't published them anywhere before. Another thing to keep in mind is that while the The device's touchpad is also not as responsive as I'd like. Still, it's not a bad choice for the price, though its main selling point is definitely that solar array. So, if you always have access to electricity, this won't appeal to you.

That said, I believe that Sol will serve its target audience well. Adventurers and researchers can simply pop the array open wherever they are when they're ready to use the laptop. Meanwhile, students and teachers in emerging markets can read educational materials even if they live in remote places with no electricity -- they can even replace Ubuntu with any OS they want.

In the future, Sol might add divers and undersea researchers to that audience list, as WeWi plans to release a Marine version that can be submerged underwater for up to 50 minutes. But for now, the company's focusing on bringing the current model from Ghana and Kenya to other places, including the Philippines, Thailand and South Africa.

There's no need feel left out, however: Sol will also arrive in North America by the end of the month, and those fond of the great outdoors will be able to get one straight from the laptop's website.