Intel Corp. and Lenovo Group on Thursday announced the Lenovo Classmate+ PC, a purpose-built laptop designed to improve learning for students in grades K-8. The Lenovo Classmate+ provides schools an affordable, child-friendly complete hardware and software solution. This spring, the Organization of Ibero-American States will deploy the first wave of 158 thousand of Lenovo Classmate+ laptops as part of its Conectar Igualdad 1:1 computing program in Argentina.

The Lenovo Classmate+ PC is equipped with an Intel Atom processor, Ethernet and WiFi Internet connectivity, Windows 7 operating system and up to 250GB hard drive or solid state drive options. It also comes with a 10.1” LED backlit screen, a 1.3 megapixel camera, multiple USB ports and a 4-in-1 card reader to support viewing multimedia. The PC combines a modern design with ruggedness, full PC functionality and enhanced performance. The configurations pass rigorous testing with their drop-resistant exteriors and spill-resistant keyboards.

Based on the Intel Learning Series reference design, the PC will come pre-loaded with the Intel Learning Series software suite, specialized educational software and a variety of teaching resources.

The new Classmate+ PC is a part of Lenovo’s new Learning Environment, a model for how technology in education works in a classroom and 1:1 environment. The Lenovo Learning Environment, which is located in the company’s Customer Innovation Center at its U.S. headquarters in Morrisville, N.C., provides a place to evaluate educational technology, offers professional development resources for teachers and serves as a feedback lab for students testing Lenovo PCs.

The Lenovo Classmate+ PC is available immediately worldwide to qualified education and government customers through Lenovo sales representatives and channel partners. The price of the Classmate+ PC will vary in each market based on regional taxes, tariffs and configuration options.

“Lenovo is the first multi-national company to offer the Intel Learning Series classmate PC for the global education market. We are thrilled to welcome Lenovo to the Intel Learning Series Alliance and to work with them to extend the platforms availability to benefit more students and teachers around the world,” said Kapil Wadhera, general manager of education markets platforms group at Intel.

Since its introduction, more than 3 million Intel-powered classmate PCs have shipped globally.

Tags: Lenovo, Classmate PC, Intel