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Super Tiny Espresso PC
OscarMeier writes "ArsTechnica has posted an article about the Espresso PC. 0.5kg light, it is a fully featured i810e Celeron or PIII system including everything and the kitchen sink (VGA out, NTSC out, USB, PS/2, 12 GB Hard Drive, up to 256 MB RAM, docking 24X CD w/ floppy). " must... resist... temptation... if only it had a battery.Check out the manufacturer's site for more information.
Fear not! The expansion slot connects to the docking station.... which has a USB port! ;)
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HELL-OOO portable server! =) Just plug 'er into the wall and the 'Net and you're good to go. If something goes wrong, plug it into the TV and pop the keyboard on. (Wiggling with excitement) AWESOME!
David E. Weekly
David E. Weekly
Code / Think / Teach / Learn
h4x0r for
Seems to me the only thing missing from this unit is a kicking 3D card. Lan parties would never be the same after this baby hit the streets, all you would need is a monitor farm.
I'm looking to build a new game system, and I would love having one that fit in my backpack.
actually i think you're getting more if you're not getting windows, but yes, you're correct. :)
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No really, punning aside if I take the screen, keyboard and other 'external' junk off my IBM Thinkpad 600E what I'm left with could probably be packaged inside a mid-sized cell phone. With a little ingenuity it could be crammed inside a package small enough to be just a fat spot in the power cord. What good is a tiny PC if you have to rely on someone leaving a monitor and a keyboard laying around?
But not everyone does that. There are a lot of people who need a portable computer, but don't need to pay for, or carry, a relatively large laptop just so they can have a screen and keyboard.
They drive to and from work, don't lie in bed ignoring the beautiful woman next to them while they read Slashdot, maybe don't even turn on a computer at home if they don't have to. (Deviants!)
My client has a bunch of "support notebooks" that people carry home to be able to dial in if necessary when they're on call. Something like this would be much better -- they could take one of these home in their pocket and connect it to their own monitor and keyboard when necessary.
There are huge advantages to being able to have the same setup at home and at work -- having your e-mail, your bookmarks, various files, etc. -- but if you only ever work at your desk (at home and at the office), why not just set up a monitor/keyboard/mouse at each location and shuttle the CPU back and forth?
No, it's not a replacement for a laptop for those who use a laptop creatively and in varying locations, but it is an alternative for those who simply need their data in more than one regular location.
P.S., this isn't a new concept. Going back about 8-10 years, there was a computer called (iirc) the Brick sold by (iirc) Ergo (if you've got one, I'd love to have one in my collection!) that was basically the same thing, albeit much larger. And going back even further, computers such as the Apple IIc were touted as "portables", but you needed a monitor at each location.
Stupid people will be persecuted to the fullest extent allowed by law.
No no no, don't think portable screen:
Think headset.
And one-handed chording keyboard in the pocket.
You'll look like a perv, with your hand moving in there, but you can live with it.
Does it run Linux? FreeBSD? InsertYourReligionHere?
To find out, I started here: the manufacturer's website
What I expected was to spend a few minutes digging around, finding what chipsets it used for various components, comparing with the hardware compatibility lists for my particular sect of Penguin Worship
What I did not expect to find was, in big bold purple letters, "Run Windows 2000/98/NT, Linux".
Not once, but twice. (Although not so big and purple the second time.)
It's also got an S-Video port, which purports to support both NTSC and PAL, and comes with an adapter for composite video output.
And 3D sound.
And 4mb of video memory, support 1280x1024x16.7M and 1600x1200x256.
Yikes. This thing is damn near perfect, considering it's not a Transmeta processor.
Hell, it's more powerful than my server. In fact, I ran an ISP once on far less box than this, serving thousands of customers.
For your information: AWE (http://www.awe-gmbh.de) will be the German distributor of the Espresso PC. I talked with them yesterday, they will start shipping it in May.
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You may like my a cappella music
I'm sorry, but you're pulling this out of your ass. Is it possible you're right? I guess. But you have absolutely no way to prove this, and you are wrong about some of your statements. There is nothing random about the selection of the pilot on your flight, nor, for that matter, the rest of the pilots up in the sky with you. They are carefully selected professionals, who generally take their jobs very seriously. If they don't, the FAA is all over them like white on rice. They have sophisticated radar, and accident investigations to prevent repeated errors.... I could go on. Compare this with driving: No one on the road is tested or screened worth a damn (at least not in the US). So what you have is essentially random drivers next to you on the road. If a driver has a demonstratably horrible driving record, you're lucky if the DMV even confiscates their license. What more is many of these supposedly suspended drivers still drive. Add to this 18-wheelers, and truckers who are not quite all there (ever seen some of those double logging trucks in washington state?), soccer moms in 4 ton SUVs on the cell phone driving 20 miles over the limit swerving into the opposing traffic, pot holes, blind free way onramps, etc. I could see your arguing this if you live in like bummfuck north dakota (where you can be virtually alone on a road), but if you live in a major city, it is really hard to deny the risks.
I am a good driver. I am defensive driver. I live in philly. I know I increase my safety significantly, but having driven on I76 and numerous other roads often, I know that I only have so much control. I've seen little imports with absolutely no escape route (sometimes it simply is impossible to avoid, other than not driving at all) get crushed by truckers. I am not foolish enough to think that even my driving is safer than flying on a major jet airliner (as opposed to those commuter and charter flights)
OK,
With an Ethernet <-> USB adapter and a cheap LCD screen this would make a v. cool portable net appliance...
Going around the world? Road Trip? Take this baby with you (and a digital camera). Upload the pics from the camera via USB. Muck about with your pics on the mini PC, then upload them at a friendly Internet Cafe (which would have to provide an ethernet port...)
I agree with Rob tho' It really needs a battery.
Just remember folks, I've copyrighted the idea of Internet Cafes that provide a large screen, power and an ethernet or USB/net port to plug these guys into...
Saying that, In a couple of years we'll have these things a tenth of the size built into rucksacks. Mmmm, PC, USB, GPS, WebCam in a rucksack? Geek-tastic!
:-)
----- Documentation is worth it just to be able to answer all your mail with 'RTFM' - Alan Cox.
Imagine if it could make a double espresso AND browse the web at the same time. Now that'd be perfect PC for caffeine addicts like me.
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GroundAndPound.com News and info for martial artists of all styles.
So basically you can carry this beastie around and plug it into any video display and compute, but you still need a keyboard (and probably a mouse). So: does anyone make a compact, collapsable keyboard like the ones for the Handspring and Palm?
I recall seeing a minimouse somewhere...
Kevin Fox
Kevin Fox
This thing is crying for a HMD and Twiddler :)
It might be just a tad clunky, hard to tell from the pictures, but I think I could live with it.
The people who make my tiny keyboard (PFUCA) also make a small server called the netbox running Linux. The company website has pictures of Linus checking out clusters of them.
Here's the coolest feature (from the "config and order" page):
Choice #3 for "Operating System" is: None - pre-formatted HD only (-$83)
Yep, people are starting to get it. Not only do I want to be able to buy a "blank" computer, but I want to PAY less when I GET less.
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Linux MAPI Server!
http://www.openone.com/software/MailOne/
(Exchange Migration HOWTO coming soon)
You know where I found the Espresso? I found it in an ad in this month's Computer Shopper.
ArsTechnica has posted three out of the last four things I've sent them. /. hasn't posted any of my story suggestions, and given their preference for reruns, I didn't even bother.
Rack up the hits, ArsTechnica. You've earned them!
This is not a troll, it's a genuine complaint. /.'s overall quality has sucked hard lately.
You heard it second at /.!
Make a functioning desktop PC out of laptop components and this is what you get.
Take a small laptop, remove the screen, the battery, and magically fit in a CdRom (orDVD!) drive...
Very intelligent - now if they made a battery that was about the same size that you could attach to the unit, and then a portable screen that could be hooked up, etc, you could have a really nice modular laptop system - Think Lego!
adrien cater
boring.ch
Point and Grunt
does anyone know of other small stuff to go with this thing?
Palm bought a foldable keyboard design from a company called Think Outside which, if it could be hooked up, would be the perfect companion from something like this.
A portable display??? Anyone? Teeny LCD?
OK, then Sony makes these goggle things - but they seem really expensive...
And then, outside of lugging around a car battery, anyone know of any nice power supply solution that might work with this thing?
VST makes a firewire RAID that can run off powerbook batteries (or maybe just as a backup source???) So something might be hackable by a skilled and brave geek with a soldering iron...
Break the 1 box tyranny of laptops! Think modular. break it up into seperately usable parts. I wish that my powerbook screen was detachable and could be used with my linux box, for instance. Why have two screens on my desk?
this type of thing is definately the future. why make things big???
adrien cater
boring.ch
Point and Grunt
I work catering to local goverment agencies that are either hampered by too little IT support or too much "support" from IT departments that are more focused on managing their own workload than anything else. Selling computers into this market is a nightmare; they are accustomed to buying equipment though -- lab stuff, field equipment, even aircraft. But buying computers and especially servers seems to create a huge and irrational decision process.
When we switched from the Newton to the Palm Pilot, making sales was like night and day, because the pilot was perceived as equipment -- not information technology.
Ditch USB and put a PC card slot in these guys and they'd be a godsend. In fact, I'd put wireless network cards in the (look ma -- no LAN!) and configure the server and all the workstations as cute little appliances. Hell, I could even fly this under procurement specifications for NT or Novell everywhere and deploy on Linux if I wanted to.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
This may be what you want...
http://www.directron.com/bookpc.html
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
all we need to do is work out how to get an ethernet adaptor hooked up to it and....
The only Good System is a Sound System
Oh well, I guess the best Idea is to buy a Pocket EPC, take the guts out of it, crack open the Monorail, take the guts out of that and combine them in to a Frankestein computer....
o/~ It's a B movie, it's a B movie show o/~
Well, if I ever get money to start a project, that is... ;_;
All the creatures will die, And all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai. (Jubai, 1605)
On the order page, you can select Win98, Win2k, or a blank drive. Nice to see =)
Cheers,
Rick Kirkland
I think that's its better use. You have AC, have mic, have sound... (I think in a voice controled mp3 player i saw in freshmeat..) And when you wan to load it, just take it with you to home and plug it thru USB or parallel to your linux box. PERFECT!!!
Other use (almost here in spain with expensive connections) is take it to work and download anything to it using the FAST T1 connection...!!
Pretty gooood.
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That's the time harvesters,that's the time to be care
get back all this people, so ostentatious and arrogant.
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That's the time harvesters,that's the time to be care
get back all this people, so ostentatious and arrogan
All prices include insurance at replacement value and are for shipments within the Continental US.
Cost of overnighting bare Espresso: $11.36
Cost of overnighting Dell Latitude: $27.19
Cost of overnighting Dell Optiplex G1: $62.71
But the real acid test is this: Overnighting round trip from a regional office, in this case Toronto.
Cost of overnighting bare Espresso: $26.92
Cost of overnighting Dell Latitude: $58.12
.sig: Now legally binding!
Does that mean I can play games with it to LAN parties easily?
:)
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
The system seems to be extremely well-endowed considering it's size, but what is it trying to be? A portable computer? A replacement for a tower PC? Even with all it's features, it's still no match for a desktop computer that can have 384 megs of RAM, extra expansion slots, harddrives, etc. If it's trying to be a portable computer, then the problem of a seperate, portable display comes up. Personally, I wouldn't want to carry my computer and screen around separately...
BUT IT'S SO COOL!!!!
www.code-fix.com
12 gigs of mp3's.... YUM! Get one of these and slap it in the glove box (so it doesn't get all hot back in the trunk). Add in a small keyboard and one of those little 9" LCD TV's for a monitor (don't need a high res screen just for mp3's!) and a trackball... run BEOS so it boots up in 20 seconds and is ready by the time I get my seatbelt on! This is gonna rule!
That sounds pretty cool -- it can run Linux too.
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Stephen C. VanDahm
Seriously, I agree with you; it's great to see the option, and great to see it priced where it ought to be. Now if they would just make a non-intel, non-apple version with a G4 cpu! That's another sort of choice I'd like to see more of.
See what I've been reading.
If you think this is cool, you might also like this miniature all-in-one PC. It uses the ~1 watt (read: convection cooled) MediaGX from National Semiconductor (originally by Cyrix). It doesn't have as much computational muscle as the Espresso, but there are a lot of applications that don't need a 400-500MHz Celeron (i.e. a router/firewall/mini house server). Plus this one comes with built in 10/100BaseT.
CVS is teh suck. Use Vesta instead.
Of course, the Book PC may be small, but it's still much bigger than the Espresso. Way cheaper, though.
This is only a very bare bones system unit. The expansion unit gives it exchangeable disk drives but you need to provide your own keyboard, monitor, and mouse (unless unlike me you like touch pads). This means that it is a very portable computer as long as you have all the peripherals at each end.
Also it seems to me that it is missing one or two items. I would have expected a 100baseT RJ45 socket for networking at least, and possibly a modem. I realise that these are possible through the USB but networking and/or on-line access are essentials these days and it is strange they are not part of the core product.
Gamma Testing - Where testing is extended to the full user community (AKA Shipping the Program)
According to the Product information on the Manufacturer's Website Linux is already an option as the operating system. It is just iBuyPower who do not seem to be offereing all the options (There is also a DVD).
Gamma Testing - Where testing is extended to the full user community (AKA Shipping the Program)
PS - WTF is that little black area on the front? They make it look like a tiny little LCD screen, which I know it is. So what the hell is it?
s so.htm - all the parts are nicely labelled.
The touchpad. Not a one-character LCD screen, as in Dilbert's ring-computer. Try looking at the manufacturer's website, http://www.saintsong.com.tw/it/english/prod/espre
http://www.saintsong.com.t w/it/english/prod/espresso.htm
the site also has links to their .pdf files
-| My other ride is your mom |-