Via launches low-cost PC in South Africa

The Mecer Education PC, its no-frills name, will be powered by the 1.5GHz Via C7-D desktop processor, an energy efficient model which promises not to strain Africa's delicate electrical infrastructure.

It's available at most major retail stores in Southern Africa right now and works with a number of operating systems, said Via, including Windows XP Starter Edition.

What's in the box though? The PC sports, along with the Via C7-D processor, the Via CN700 Digital Media IGP Chipset, a Via UniChrome Pro 2 graphics processor, a single 3.5-inch IDE / SATA hard drive and up to two gigs of DDR2 400 / 533 SDRAM. Optical drives are optional, but a 5.25-inch CD or DVD can be fitted.

The price of the device has not been announced and Mecer's web site seems to be going through some ill-timed maintenance. µ