I have a feeling that this new laptop is going to be under a lot of Christmas trees this year. Cherrypal has now introduced their no-frills notebook, at a cost of only $99.00! No, that isn’t a typo. The machine really does cost just under a hundred dollars!

The Africa is a very slim and compact laptop sporting a 7-inch screen, 256 MB of RAM, and either Linux or Windows CE. This laptop is perfect for school kids, in my mind, or someone who just needs a notebook to take with them to stay connected. You can surf the Internet, use email and instant messenger programs, and listen to music. Compose documents or spreadsheets and send them off to your workplace or family quickly. Best of all, the Africa boasts an energy-efficient setup.

This laptop comes with a 400 MHz processor, which is more than enough oomph to handle many of the tasks I’ve already listed, and then some. No, you couldn’t use this little device for gaming or video processing. However, the idea is that everyday users can finally buy a laptop at an everyday price.

If you are in the market for a new laptop, is the new Africa something you will be considering? Have you used one yet? If so, I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts on it. Does it work as well as it is purported to? Is it energy efficient? Most importantly – was it the best hundred dollars you’ve ever spent?