My full tower, runs the entire system off of an uninterruptable power supply which reports the wattage it is supplying at any instant. My maximum power usage never exceeds 150 watts, and my usual value is 120 watts. This includes, two internal hard drives, one cd/dvd drive seven usb ports, one external hard drive, one dsl modem, one wireless router, a twenty watt speaker system, and the keyboard, mouse, and monitor. None of which comes with the Cherrypal, and without most of which it will not do anything useful. 

Your power comparisons are like comparing the mileage of a semi-truck to a bicycle. Both unreal and useless.

Thank you for talking about the CherryPal C100. I am linking to this page from my blog, CherryPal for Everyone, at cherrypal dot blogspot dot com. 

I'm told that CherryPal will be coming out with a laptop as well. I agree with using the term "netbook" to refer to this category of machines, appropriate for both the desktop and 
notebook version, the difference being only the built in monitor and keyboard. 

I am excited about how the CherryPal can bridge barriers to people who have not had access to computers or the internet because of money, fear, education or other challenges. I will 
be commenting on my experience of using it on my blog as soon as I get my own CherryPal C100! 

Although it may seem hypocritical to require your own monitor and keyboard for a "portable" device, I can't wait to find out if the comfort factor will outweigh the convenience. You can use CODE CPP206 to get your own CherryPal for $10 less than purchase price at Paypal. 
http://cherrypal.blogspot.com

This + External hdd or NAS box = best torrent machine ever :D

Sounds like an unsustainable business model to me. $250 can't leave much margin on the box itself. And then how do they pay the costs of the online "cloud" system going forward?

Unless they are planning to add a monthly charge *later*. And that would probably peeve off customers who had expected the service to remain free.

Or else... <shudder> it is ad-based...

I somehow get the impression that at $249 it's interesting but not much more, while at $199 it would sell easily, and benefit from a nice hype.

No optical drive and only 2 USB ports. So listening to an audio CD, and unless you have a USB hub, no saving files to a thumb drive.

Nice option though for the kids to surf and play solitaire. :)

Cheers,
John

for general office tasks?

Could it be a small pc for a car/van/delivery truck/ambulance/police/minister/taxi/contractor/surveyor/etc?

I wonder how much energy those servers use? And all the go-betweens to get the data there, rather than store it locally.

Just a thought.