Everyone, DON'T install Pepper for OLPC onto your XO! It doesn't support the track-pad or the keyboard. Also, if you install Pepper, you can't reinstall Sugar. Believe me, I just pretty much bricked my XO I got yesterday in the mail.

I can not wait for mine btw you can download the sugar os from there site to reinstall it. good luck to you.

Installed Sugar from "there" (sic) site. Didn't work. All instructions followed and it still booted into Pepper w/o support for mouse or keyboard.

Tyler,

Oh. My. God! Get yourself to the OLPC News XO Help Forum asap! http://olpcnews.com/forum/index.php?board=20.0

It's here! I am a Day 4 G1G1-er and it arrived this evening/ Fedex dropped off on a Saturday evening at about 6:30 PM.

I got it talking to my wireless router, but first I had to turn on SSID transmission. It doesn't seem to want to talk to the router if the SSID broadcast isn't enabled, even if I've already connected. (I'll experiment with that some more later, though, just to be sure.)

It is a little slower than I'm used to, but I wasn't surprised by that after having read other people's comments on the computer's performance. The battery did arrive fully charged. The box it came in was smaller than I expected, and I do believe that had we not been home, it could have been safely stood up between our storm door and our front door without difficulty.

Someone with wisdom put a shipping sticker over the green laptop logo on the side of the box. The other sides, with the 1, the right-arrow, and the child logo are all visible. If there was one part of the box that it was prudent to cover, the picture of the laptop would have been my first choice.

I already posted to my blog with it, as a test to see how that would go, and it worked fine. So this is my second internet post via XO. I hope we see tons more such posts from other new users ASAP.

Got mine today, Me likey, notable, range of the wireless beats my latitude from work and I am liking the video recorder. We have only begun to play

Just got mine in Washington DC -- I ordered a few hours into day 1. Dropped off at my apt. bldg. by FedEx. Never got any emails -- no receipt, no shipping notification. I had called in twice and sent one email asking for clarification. Email never answered, phone calls yielded two different tracking numbers for my order. I was told a receipt would come with the computer, but there isn't one. (Hope I don't get audited when I claim a tax deduction for the G1G1 donation.) Amazing how small it is -- the pictures don't do it justice. I'm charging it overnight and will try it out tomorrow...

Just another data point. I ordered via paypal on Friday the 16th in the afternoon. My wife stumbled over the box today (Dec 15) coming in the house in the afternoon.

Our location is TN.

BTW - I would advise against putting a big sign outside your house annoucing you have a laptop coming...

AN

Donna: That is too cool that you typed your comment on your XO. I'm so jealous but happy for you and everyone else who got their XO already. I seriously can't work out a rhyme or reason for how the XOs are being sent out.

I just spent the day at a coffee house where I ran out of battery on my MacBook and had to plug in. I Twittered about how I sure wished I had a low-power laptop with loads of great power-saving features! :P

Anyone else on the west coast get their XO?

I ordered mine 6:00 am est on day 1. Still no package when I called fedex... :(

Hi Wayan and All

-- You mean, put out your big-ass sign so you can then spend the next half hour figuring out how to open the Green Device? (Unless, I suppose, you have children or grandchildren under the age of of ten or so, who will be able to do it for you . . . . )

};->

Love

Martin

Sigh...waiting for my G1G1 in Buffalo, NY. I think nature is working against me...

Still waiting for my day one order in Chicago. I'm so close to the Libertyville send out that if I had a car, I could drive there... fairly quickly. Yet no package. :(

I won the lotto and my http://s4xton.com/1647/one-laptop-per-child-xo-laptop/ XO Laptop showed up yesterday.

(it stripped my url!)

http://s4xton.com/1647/one-laptop-per-child-xo-laptop/

Just to back up whats being said, no announcement on mine showing p either, it was in the rental office waiting for me, glad I went to check...

I ordered the first day, at 6:06AM. I got my confirmation emails from and from Paypal. Not only hasn't FedEx anything in the pipeline for me ... but when I call LaptopGiving they claim I never ordered. No record of my name, email, or Paypal transaction id. They say I have to take it up with Paypal. Paypal says I have to take it up with LaptopGiving.

Daniel - OUCH! I will be calling FedEx Monday morning to see what is what. I too was in on the first day first hour. I assumed it would be here "when it arrived" but some of the stories have me worried.

I am a first day buyer. Just called FEDEX and my XO will be here on Tuesday via FEDEX Ground. Since no signature is required they will just leave it outside if I am not here. That's why I am not using my real name ;-) FWI I live near Dulles Airport - big Fedex shipping center there

My order was at 6:04 a.m., IIRC, but it's not here yet. I even had a neighbor watching for it while away from the delivery address (near Harrisburg, PA) this weekend, but no luck. Monday? Tuesday? :)

timothy

I'm a day one doner with nothin'
Half the day two pwople got thiers....and most of them got CATS too.......Or so it would seem (Judging by the photos).

I am going to try an call Bright Star tomorrow...I am getting worried...I should have ordered mine Friday I would have probably have gotten yesterday...so much for being a first minute day 1 donor :(

Daniel, were you actually charged, or did the charges for the laptop never go through?

It seems that the shipping and general distribution for the laptops is extremely confused. As another piece of advice for those who still haven't ordered, I should add that one shouldn't use a shipping address that is in any way unusual or might not validate with Fedex's address validation system, *even if Fedex has never had a problem delivering to the address.* I used my university office address, where I've had many packages delivered via almost every courier without incident, and yesterday received an email requesting another address as the one I provided 'didn't validate'.

I don't understand why I wasn't told this last month (I ordered on the first day), instead of after the laptops started shipping, and also don't understand why the distributors seem to be rejecting addresses that don't validate even though a failure to validate doesn't mean that the address isn't valid. I expect many university students will be very frustrated with this; I know at least one House at Caltech had planned to order several laptops, and will probably be quite surprised.

UGH! I was a first day buyer, I just got my XO and it's DOA! No charge light, nothing. ARGHGHGGHG

I live in Colorado Springs, CO, and will be receiving mine on the 19th. Just confirmed it with Fedex.

I couldn't wait...
I called FedEx to see if I was getting the package soon. They sent it to the wrong delivery hub. Rats! Now they have to put it on a truck today (Monday) to get it to the right hub and then put it on a truck for delivery. Maybe this week, perhaps? Aaarrrrrrggghh!

Can anyone help me? I bought 2 of these at 6AM on the 1st day. I paid with Paypal and that's the only confirmation that I received by e-mail.

It took 2 weeks later of phone calls, but I got a confirmation number from the Laptop Giving phone number 70000XXXXX.

Haven't received any updates and Fed Ex Ground doesn't have anything in their system. My Last name begins with "T" and the shipping address is in NY.

I'm very frustrated. Thanks for any help.

For those of you who have called Brightstar, any advice on how to reach them, what questions to ask, a good number at which to find a person?

I just called Federal Express; they have no deliveries listed for my address (for my day one G1G1 XO :)), but I'm trying not to panic as yet.

timothy

Did anyone recieve a shipping/tracking email? I am a day 1 donor and this is driving me nuts!

I am a day one donor first minute in fact...I called Bright Star and he said that tracking numbers won't be provided. I called OLPC and they said my order is processing and if I ordered it on the 12th it will be delivered between Dec 14-24 once again!! Does anybody know what's going on?

Another "me too" for anxious day 1 donor that's still waiting for delivery. Last name S and located in Seattle, WA.

I had to call to change the shipping address (it defaulted to my billing address via Paypal), and I'm wondering if that may have thrown a wrench into the works. It's definitely not a conspiracy of the cat people, @jimsteckbauer, as I've got two. ;-)

I actually don't mind waiting -- I'm more nervous that the laptop has already been delivered to the billing address, and promptly stolen off my front porch. I live in a up and coming neighborhood, as the real estate agents like to say, and anything that was left unsigned for at the house is sitting on a shelf at the pawn shop right now.

The FedEx telephone number, 1-800-463-3339, worked. I'm told my XO will arrive in Eugene, Oregon on Dec.20. It was ordered on Nov. 12.

Herman: You lucked out then ;) FedEx doesn't have anything for me, yet! However, I'm *hoping* it comes in the next few days rather than much later than that.

timothy

Thanks for the FedEx number. They have nothing for me. Was a 1st day donor. I'm not sure what the problem is. Going a bit nuts about no response/info from the OLPC people.

My mom got hers today, mine is scheduled to arrive tomorrow (I called FedEx), and my partner's is scheduled to arrive on Thursday. Actually, FedEx just told me that one is coming tomorrow and one on Thursday, so I have declared that the one delivered tomorrow is mine (he does not know this yet).

All three of us live in San Francisco, and my mom was the last to order hers. Apparently ordering first doesn't necessarily mean you get one first.

Day 1 Donor in Sunny So Cal. No XO yet. Gnawing off limbs in anticipation, so if it arrives this week I should still have a leg and a couple fingers left.

Got mine today in Granada Hills Ca..

I have the same experience as a few people above. I ordered on day 2 via Paypal and only received an email confirmation from Paypal.

Never received any confirmation or email from laptop giving. Finally after several phone calls, messages, and emails, I received a confirmation number last Thursday.

Called Fedex, but nothing has been shipped my way (Bay Area, CA) as of yet.

Ordered mine 11/14 and just called FedEx. They said a package is in the mail for me to be delivered tomorrow from Brightstar

Very excited.

Same as Nick S in Seattle - 1st day donor with address/PO box issues. Nothing on file at FedEx as of today @ 5:00 PST. They also managed to FUBAR my FedEx address and dropped the business name, so I'm trolling the office complex (of 20+) every day to check to see if it's come in to, say, the Walgreen's next door!!! laptopgiving.org has told me I could TRY and call BrightPath, but would not give me their phone number. ARGH. And, boy, I've alerted the planet about my package, so I assume I'll be a G1G0 donor. All kinds of fun.

I got mine today! I am in South-Central Indiana, in the boonies; the FedEx truck even braved our long, icy drive to deliver it. I've already been into the Sugar control panel (decided to change my nickname, right after setting it for the first time!) and have messed with a few of the applications. Most of it is pretty straightforward, but I'd definitely recommend reading the "Getting Started" FAQs.

I've also been online with it, but that took some doing. I followed all the instructions for connecting to my Airport Extreme (wireless N), which included changing from a WPA encrypted network to WEP; I even tried dropping security entirely (the network still showed up with a little lock on the icon, and asked for a password). Tried the trick with creating a hexidecimal key from the network name and the password -- that's an "official" suggestion, there's a link on the getting started network FAQ -- but it still didn't work. I finally gave up, attached an old Belkin Wireless G device the Airport via Ethernet, and the XO immediately connected. I'm hoping that's just a temporary solution; suggestions would be very welcome!

Other discoveries: Standard Mac and PC key commands all seem to work, at least with the applications I tried. Handy to know you can use control-a to select all, control-c to copy, control-v to paste, etc. At one point, I couldn't figure out how to get out of the web browser (it seemed to have frozen up) but control-q exited it quite nicely.

The trackpad is a sore point; it really doesn't work very well. Seems like I kept ended up back in the lower right-hand corner, no matter where I was trying to go. The four-finger salute does work, but you have to hold it for, oh, probably the count of 10 before it does anything. A drop of moisture throws off the calibration; a cat hair did the same. Also, it seems as if brushing against either of the side pads (where IS that stylus?!) also throws it out of calibration. Good news, though: I plugged in an Apple Pro USB mouse, and it worked perfectly. Don't know if the same would be true of a PC mouse (don't have a PC, so I can't test it) but I'd guess it would be the same. So you aren't stuck with the buggy trackpad, which is good because it seems almost un-usable.

Final observations: The keyboard is big enough for touch-typing (I'm a woman, but don't have tiny, dainty hands!); the screen is bright and clear; the sound isn't too bad, considering the tiny speakers (there's some pre-loaded music to listen to); they did pre-load various useful items, such as a wikipedia, a dictionary (I believe), etc., all accessible through the web browsesr. The browser's zoom tool works great, it enables you to see the whole page (width-wise) which is something I've wished for occasionally on conventional browsers. The browser asks you if you want to view ads and such that are powered by Flash -- not with annoying pop-ups, you just click on the space where the Flash programming resides to load it -- and the ones I looked at worked fine. So there's really a lot packed into that little package. I bought this one for myself (I'm a woman, in my 50s, and not a programmer but not computer illiterate, either) and I think I'm going to love it. It will do what I want it to do, without all the bloatware, and it's even cooler than it looks in the photos online. And I think third-world kids will catch on very quickly, whether they are coached in its use or not. At this point, I am VERY impressed!

Oh! I forgot to mention (got carried away!), I ordered fairly early on the morning of the first day. Didn't call FedEx until today, and they told me it was on the truck "out for delivery"! As long as they have an address they can look it up for you. I didn't get an email with a tracking number, and they did leave it sitting on the porch. So it's definitely good to know when it's coming.

wow Cindy, that was a good write-up. I'm looking forward to mine now.

I emailed service@laptop.org and mentioned that I am a first day donor and was getting worried that other first day donors weren't receiving their laptops either yet. They told me:
"Our deliveries are on schedule, and nothing looks to be wrong on your order. We do apologize for any anxiety you have experienced."
I guess this is a good thing. I'll try FEDEX again tomorrow.

got this email from OLPC after fedex said they had nothing in the system for me and seemed annoyed I asked them to check for packages without a ship date or tracking number:

"Please visit our website at http://laptopgiving.org/en/shipping-information.php to view our shipping schedule. Once your delivery window arrives you can track your order at https://www.fedex.com/AltRefTracking?cntry_code=us. Please have your confirmation number ready.

OLPC

Donor Services"

don't know if this will actually work...still said nothing in the system for me, but maybe it will be helpful to others.

Another sunny So-Cal FDD who is feeling left out. Called FedEx tonight...my XO will arrive in 2 more days. Who knows how they decided to distribute them, but I'm relieved to know it is in the system and on its way. Thanks to Nick for the phone number.

Thanks for the info Abby. What confirmation number are they referring to?

After starting to get worried about my xo delivery being "in the system," I called once more this morning and it is on it's way tomorrow. Another glimpse of victory for a first day donor! Keep the faith!
P.S. I'm in NYC by the way

I order about 30 seconds after the bell rang on Nov 11, but no XO for me yet. I'm near LA on the West Coast, and my last name starts with M.

As so many have said, there's no rhyme or reason to the order in which the little critters are delivered!

I will simply die if mine arrives bricked.

Many thanks to the commenter who warned us all about Pepper. Hope you've managed to recover after all!

Yay,

So I called yesterday and FedEx was unable to find a package, called today and my package is due to arrive tomorrow, originally shipped Friday. I ordered in the first 2-3 hours of the g1g1 program and am located in Texas for reference.

Got mine a day early! Fedex said it would be delivered on the 19th, got it today!!

CA first day 15min donor. As per FedEx expected delivery is Fri 21st. Looks like orders are getting filled in at BrightStar even if somewhat randomly.

First day donor from the Baltimore area who ordered within the first three hours.

When I got home late this evening I saw a small brown box sitting in my foyer. At first I thought it must have been something my roommate ordered since the box looked too small to house the XO. Looks can be deceiving though. As it was the XO delivery box and the laptop is far smaller than I imagined.

Looks like my roommate was around for the delivery or simply brought it inside from the porch. Whoever put on the delivery stickers covered up the laptop icon with one of them. As simple a gesture as that is, I think it really does help obscure what's inside for those who don't know.

Setup was fairly easy though I had to set my WiFi router to discoverable in order for the XO to connect to it. The WiFi reception on this laptop is pretty good. It can see for more than my Mac laptop can see. The black and white mode is pretty impressive as well. The trackpad did give me a little trouble after using it for about 30 minutes. Almost as though it were ultra sensitive.

Come Wednesday I'll spend some time looking into how the various apps work so that I can show my nieces how to use it.

I have just been on hold for 1 HOUR with laptopgiving.org just to find out whether they have sent it or not. I got an email about an error (?) in the shipping address but then got no response for over a week when I replied by email.

Dreadful customer service!

Has anyone in Canada got one yet? I ordered early the first morning, but other than a paypal email have heard nothing since. I'll need an alternative for Christmas morning if it doesn't arrive soon.

I received an Email last night from OLPC Customer Care (service@laptop.org), titled: "Coming soon: Your XO laptop".

I received our laptop on 12/13 (ordered 1st day, first 30 minutes).

Although the email was quite late, the email provides a reference point for those of you who may be missing your order and it also gave me some comfort that the package didn't just arrive in thin air (although it felt that way).

Your order reference number:

You can track your shipment on the FedEx web site http://www.fedex.com/Tracking

Your FedEx tracking number:

Has anyone looked at the "official" wiki lately. They have a comment on the ask a question page that says BrightStar is putting off the shipments to Canada because they don't have any experience with shipping to Canada. ?????

I did not recieve any email at all but it did show up today. First day donor. Called about 8 AM.
I don't have any info about the hot spot. Anyone know about that?

First Day Donor from Seattle. Just found
it on my doorstep!! One VERY cold XO,
I'll think I'll let it warm up before
I try anything.

My account has still been debited only $399.

Is this usual? I would think LaptopGiving would deduct shipping expenses at the same time.

Could this be why I'm not in the FedEx queue, though I'm a first-hour donor?

To 'take my money please' - you must have ordered by phone. as far as I can tell nobody who ordered by phone is going to be charged shipping and everybody who ordered online on paypal will be. which doesnt seem fair to me too.

Finally!!!

Ordered two at 7AM, first day. Just got them today, Dec19th from Fed Ex.
Same as a lot of others... no notification of shipment, no tracking number, no signature required, in wonderment of how some 'non first dayers' got theirs waaay ahead of me.

Still, happy to get them before Christmas for the kids. Hoping the much deserved donees get theirs in a timely fashion.

Note, mine was delivered in very vanilla packaging. No XO or OLPC markings anywhere.

Has anyone in Vancouver received theirs? I'm leaving for the Peruvian Amazon tomorrow and would love to bring the XO with me. I ordered on the 15th, however, and fear that my chances of receiving it in time are nill. *sigh*

Shipping info email also has instructions on activating T-Mobile Hotspot access :

To learn more about T-Mobile USA's offer to provide one year of complimentary access to T-Mobile HotSpot, click here. Please note that to activate this offer, you will need to enter your Give One Get One order reference number:

The Eagle has landed in Latham, NY. Have been waiting for the FedEx truck since it left the depot at 6:31am. Received the OLPC "Coming soon.." email at 8:31pm and the XO showed up at 8:50pm. Will have to stake out a few busy wireless spots this week and spread the word with some of those great fliers.

My XO finally came! No emails from Brightstar, but the little box was waiting on the step for my wife when she came home from work.

Click the URL to see my unboxing pics!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/watmough/sets/72157603513617247/show/

Too exciting! Are we all just a bunch of kids or what? Yes, from my cold hands these XO's will be pried, to gift to my girls... but till then.... this is just too cool. They do not know about this gift, however we have talked often about the OLPC project and open source and... just too much. What a great idea!
PS: Can anyone recommend external dvd writers to work with this?

I got the email too. after the laptop was delivered. I'm not there, so I hope the laptop still is when my cat-sitter shows up tomorrow. *crosses fingers*
I can't believe I have to wait until christmas eve to play with it! and then i'm leaving the country. I might be making an OLPC shaped space in my bag for Prague...

Got my two this morning (the 20th) in one big box. The package was supposed to be delivered the day before according to Fed-Ex, but showed up this morning. I ordered one hour after the official start time in the morning (forgot when that was).

I ordered my XO via PayPal at 8 A.M. Eastern time on the first day. I was sad to receive an e-mail this morning from the OLPC foundation stating that I will not be receiving my notebook by December 24th but rather that I will receive it sometime before January 15th. Obviously, they are not shipping the notebooks in the order in which the orders were received.

I did play with the latest XO software last night by running it in the VMWare Player emulator. It was neat to see the software running, but the sound did not work which was a major disadvantage. The Web browsing worked but I missed having a tabbed browsing experience. The next thing that I would like to figure out is how to download the Flash player and how to download the additional activities mentioned in the OLPC Wiki. I wish that they had an easy way to install a complete copy of the XO software on a traditional notebook with somewhere near the same ease of installing Fedora.

Ordered 11/24/07, arrived yesterday, 12/22/07!

A great surprise because I got email on 12/21/07 saying it would not arrive by 12/24/07. Unfortunately, we are away for a few days and not their to enjoy it, but my neighbor promises to take good care of it until we return.

Meanwhile, we can enjoy that warm glow of giving all over the holidays.

Way to go OLPC!