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Google 5 seconds. Decent price, rugged, din rail mountable and works at 95 percent humidity non-condensing.

http://www.emacinc.com/rugged_linux_sib

SIB-04000 ...... Standard 400 Mhz Linux Rugged 256/256 SIB USD750.00
SIB-04010 ...... Deluxe 650 Mhz Linux Rugged 512/512 SIB USD885.00
PER-PWR-00061 .. External 36 Watt AC Power Adapter USD 30.00

Hardware

        * Intel ULV Celeron Fanless 400 MHz based SBC
        * 256 MB DDR RAM Expandable to 512 MB
        * 256 MB CompactFlash(TM) Flash Drive Expandable to over 2 GB
        * DB15 Analog SVGA connector & PS/2 Keyboard/Mouse
        * 10/100 Base-T Ethernet
        * Three RS-232 & one RS-232/422/485
        * Two Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 ports
        * 6 General Purpose I/O lines accessible through a Screw Terminal
        * Watchdog Timer
        * Extremely Reliable (No Hard Drive or CPU Fan)
        * DC input Integrated Power Supply
        * Power On/Off Switch, Reset Button, & Indicator LEDs

Options

        * Intel ULV Celeron Fanless 650 MHz based SBC
        * Optional replacement of one 10/100 BaseT port to 1000 BaseT
        * Shock Mounted Hard Drive
        * Additional RAM & Flash Capacity
        * AC Input Power Adapter

SPECIFICATIONS
Hardware

        * CPU: Intel ULV Celeron Fanless 400 MHz
        * RAM: 256 MB DDR SODIMM RAM Expandable to 512 MB
        * Flash: Type II Compact Flash slot with 256 MB Flash Disk
        * Serial: Three RS-232 & one RS-232/422/485 Port
        * USB: 2 USB 2.0 Ports
        * Power Supply: DC Input, 9 Vdc - 30 Vdc; Output, 5 Vdc @ 6A (30 Watts)
        * Construction: Rugged Extruded Aluminum Chassis
        * Mounting: Desk/Wall mount or DIN Rail
        * Dimension: 8.25" (W) x 2.53" (H) x 4.21" (D)
        * Weight: 4.75 lb.
        * Operating Temperature: 5F - 140F (-15C - 60C) (CFD)
        * Operating Humidity: 5 - 95% @ 40C, non-condensing
        * Vibration: 5 grms / 5 - 500Hz / random operation (CFD)
        * Shock: 100 g peak acceleration (11 msec. duration)
        * EMC: CE/FCC class A

So go to MadTux and get a real PC for less. 512MB of RAM, 16x DVD+-RW, 80 GB hard drive, Vector Linux installed, and 60 days of email support for $281.99 with a Sempron 3000+.

There are other models and they can all be configured somewhat, too. What you get from MadTux is bigger and uses more power, but it's a lot more computer for the money. It's also vastly more expandable.

If you really need silent, low-power, and small, this FitPC is quicker than building your own EPIA case but not as fun. There are lots of PC/104 and EBX systems out there that don't cost much more. It appears that this is very similar to what Ampro, Winsystems, Via, and others are already doing, but at a good price. EMAC's PCM-5893 isn't much more in single unit quantities.

It looks like they (Compulab) are making the boards themselves since they are SBC builders. In quantity they probably could get close to these final prices by OEMing the boards and sticking them in project cases.

This PC is actually a rebranding of the ENC-iGLX it seems. You can also buy just the innards from Compulab, too. If you don't mind XScale instead of Geode and can handle 312Mhz, they have a system with 1 ethernet and wifi for $199.

Gumstix is much more interesting IMO, but this is a nice little box as far as PC compatibles go.

But I've been on some web sites where ads are double underscored to tell you it's an ad and if you mouse over it a block of text comes up, but the block never goes away. Ads are a necessary evil. Nothing in the world is free. But ads can't be obtrusive. I find magazines where an article is continued 3 pages later because of a cpl ages of ads or it's continued in the back of a magazine so you have to leaf through ads annoying. I find articles that have an ad in the middle of the text and you have to scroll down equally as annoying.

Ads should also, if possible, be tailored to the current topic. EX: If I'm reading about an embedded Linux project, I wouldn't mind maybe seeing an ad for http://emacinc.com/. However I don't want to see an ad for an enterprise server running a huge version of Linux or MS.

"The componentization of the PC world does not lend itself to a build-it-yourself Mac mini equivalent."

The PC104+/EBX form factor is the closest in the PC world

I think the best thing about PC/104 is the "vendor depth," i.e. how many companies are out there with PC/104 products. If I need a data acquisition card, or a UPS, or an ARINC-429 communications card (for avionics), I can Google and find somebody that sells them. That way I can concentrate on the software and the whole system, not in trying to cobble together the hardware.

• MZ104: One of the most popular SBCs around. Small size and many uses. If you follow the pricing on that page you'll find you'll be paying at least $300/unit for the setup you need.
• PPC-E5: Looks to have almost everything you need, and then some. Unit comes with processor, RAM, disk-on-chip, and even a bundled touchscreeen LCD that fits nicely to the whole thing. It doesn't have USB/CompactFlash/etc.. and it also costs ~$1,000/unit.
• PCM-3350: Made by the same company as the PPC-E5 and actually a better option. 300MHz proc, CompactFlash, onboard VGA @ 1024x768, USB. Slap a screen on this thing and away you go. But, alas, it's still $348/unit and it doesn't come with a screen.
• ViewPad: From ViewSonic. Another all-in-one unit that could probably also work for you. At the time of posting, this unit is going for $200 (a decent deal). But it's only one unit, and it's still twice as much as your mentioned target price.

• MZ104: One of the most popular SBCs around. Small size and many uses. If you follow the pricing on that page you'll find you'll be paying at least $300/unit for the setup you need.
• PPC-E5: Looks to have almost everything you need, and then some. Unit comes with processor, RAM, disk-on-chip, and even a bundled touchscreeen LCD that fits nicely to the whole thing. It doesn't have USB/CompactFlash/etc.. and it also costs ~$1,000/unit.
• PCM-3350: Made by the same company as the PPC-E5 and actually a better option. 300MHz proc, CompactFlash, onboard VGA @ 1024x768, USB. Slap a screen on this thing and away you go. But, alas, it's still $348/unit and it doesn't come with a screen.
• ViewPad: From ViewSonic. Another all-in-one unit that could probably also work for you. At the time of posting, this unit is going for $200 (a decent deal). But it's only one unit, and it's still twice as much as your mentioned target price.

Check out EMAC's page for more info on running Linux. You know with a name like that they must support Linux! ;)

I have no experience with any of the other companies (except that I've been considering Emac).

I have to mention that I've had glorious problems with Tern boards, and I've been personally BS'ed by their CEO, who answered a support call.

He claimed that the reason serial communication was unreliable at 57.6k was that the serial ports on all of my PCs (all fairly new, some Dells) were "non-standard." He claimed I was alone with that problem until later, after some hammering, he told me how a giant client (I won't say who, specifically, let's just say they're incredibly huge and R&D oriented) couldn't get it to work on 100 different computers in their lab. I doubt they had the patience for that.

Then we had a defective board, but hooking it up voided the warranty. We couldn't know it was defective without hooking it up.

There were many other problems, like their built-in timer functions, which were ridiculously inaccurate. A handheld stopwatch timed an 8 second delay to 5.5 seconds. I had to reimplement.

We dumped them after thousands of dollars in replacements and ~5 months of development time.

We went to ZWorld after that. High quality, cheap boards, and an awesome development environment (Dynamic C, with realtime goodness). I reimplemented the software in a matter of weeks.

Not to be negative, or anything. Just a warning. Tern's stuff isn't all that useful for wearable anyway. The core is usually plugged into a larger board with varying components. You can't really mix and match. ZWorld's PLCbus stuff is small and highly modular.

I'm still thinking of trying out the Emac stuff, though.

I was browsing the net the other day and found a great little white paper on how to make a linux baised firewall out of an old pentium computer(With the addition of 2 network cards).
It is pretty sweet addition for any cable modem or DSL line, It allows the user to use the service with an unlimited computers on the inside (well not more than 253).
It was a pretty good way to relive my old P75, but most anywhere you can pickup a pentium 100 for 30 bucks at a garage sale and two 10/100 network cards for 20 bucks each.
http://www.emacinc.com/white_papers.htm


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www.emacinc.com

Under their catagory of SBC PC Addons, they have an item listed as "20 slot Multi-system Rackmount Industrial PC Chassis."

There is no picture, but they can (hopefully) send you the info.