Android laptops: The $200 price is right, but the OS may not be

When Intel said recently that its Bay Trail chips will power a wave of $200 touchscreen laptops, the company wasn't talking only about Windows.

Those $200 notebooks will predominantly run Android, Intel Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer David "Dadi" Perlmutter told CNet. Windows laptops could reach the $200 mark, but that “depends on how Microsoft prices Windows 8,” Perlmutter said. “It may be a slightly higher price point.”

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David "Dadi" Perlmutter at IDF 2012.

An earlier report by The Wall Street Journal claimed that Microsoft may slash licensing costs for small, touch-equipped notebooks. The lower cost of Windows, combined with lower resolution requirements and low-end Intel processors, could make for some cheap Windows 8 devices later this year.

Even so, Android laptops will likely be even less expensive, because Google doesn't charge a licensing fee for the operating system.

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Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036451/android-laptops-the-200-price-is-right-but-the-os-may-not-be.html#tk.rss_laptopcomputers

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