davidwr's Journal: What belongs in a $100 laptop?

Please link this and post your replies.

We've all heard of the "$100 laptop" destined for third-world countries. But what about poor people in America and other industrialized countries that don't need a laptop?

What belongs in a $100, consumer-oriented computer?

Here is my vision. What is yours?

Typical consumer usage: Web-surfing, printing, composing resumes, educational programs/schoolwork, small-scale spreadsheet/database/small-business applications, Probably nothing more intensive than OpenOffice 2.0. Non-compute-intensive gaming.
Alternative/out-of-the-box uses: firewall, print server, file server, web server, or other dedicated use.

OS: Whatever it is it's got to be $0. Think Linux, BSD, or another popular open-source platform. System should come preloaded. However it must run Windows XP nicely and better if it runs Vista without the eye candy at a reasonable speed.

CPU: 1GHz minimum, 1.5GHz better.

RAM:256MB to keep the Windows users happy.

Internal hard disk/internal storage: 4GB minimum, 10GB better.

Video: As cheap as possible, support reasonable resolutions at reasonable refresh rates. Standard VGA connector.

Modem: 56K with voice and fax, soft-modem to save cost if OS supports it

Sound: Cheap sound with audio in and headphone/speaker-out.

USB: 2 ports minimum. 4 if it adds almost zero cost. User can buy a splitter if necessary.

External, extra-cost items, USB required: keyboard, mouse, printer, optical drives, removable flash media, floppy drive, wired or wireless networking, scanner, serial port, parallel port, fancy audio, and any other external device besides video.

Power supply: Lower-wattage, average quality

Noise: Low, single- or no-fan.

Internal expansion: Limited to replacing HD and adding RAM.

Boot: From internal disk or USB media, including via LAN from bootable USB LAN devices.

Form factor: As compact as reasonable, preferably the size of a modern consumer router.

Power consumption: Shoot for under 100W when system is fully utilized, less when disk or other systems are powered down.

Cost: Under $100 for just the computer. Keyboard, mouse, video, printer, optical drives, and other external devices extra. Cost for usable system: $140 with used monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Add $50 for printer.