And the march of the sub-$400 notebooks continues. India's HCL Infosystems launched a new line of low-cost computers based on Intel's Classmate PC design. But the HCL MiLeap X and Y Series have a few tweaks and are designed for general use, not just for students. And the low end X series costs less than Rs 14,000, which is about $350 US.

The Y Series is a bit pricier at Rs 30,000 or about $760 US. but it packs Windows Vista Home Premium and runs on Intel's Ultra Mobile platform. It has a touchscreen, Bluetooth, and an 80GB hard drive.

Like the MiLeap X will ship with Linux and a small amount of solid state memory but no hard drive.

The MiLeap computers both weigh less than a kilogram and have 7 inch screens. Both the X and Y series come equipped with WiFI and Ethernet ports for internet access.