Slashdot Mirror
486 PC In 5 Cubic Inches?
[Dilbert] writes "I saw this first on ArsTechnica. The machine is a 486SX, fully SVGA compatible, 16 meg of ram, 2 16550A serial ports, hda = 16 meg flash, hdb = 340 meg IBM microdrive. Oh yeah, also built-in 10T ethernet, a floppy header, and parallel port. Granted, most of the ports are brought off the main unit via a 68-pin scsi-style cable to a little port board, but the meat of the machine is still tiny.
The manufacturer is Tiqit Computers." Don't lose it in your couch ;)
A quick flip thru a mag like Circuit Cellar reveals several embedded pc's like this one or, hey, this one is sporting a Penguin logo - what's sweet (and expensive) about the unit here is is the 340Mb microdrive.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
There are still plenty of embedded systems computers that use 8088, 286, 386, 486, and Pentium Processors.
BTW, I think this is damn cool. I just wish things like this were cheaper.
-----------------------------
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
Repeat story....we've already seen it, i believe the story was last titled something about matchbox size computers.
Yes, for a mere US$1,495.00 you too can own a slow, limited computer that you're likely to sit on, lose in your briefcase, or have your dog eat. Spiffy.
I do have to admit that it's a great design, with lots of potential. PDA's will never be the same - nor will beepers, cell phones, etc. Just put a small projector or LCD screen on the thing, and you've got yourself a backpack (or belt-clip) computer. WONDERFUL. I LOVE it.
But COME ON... for US$1,495.00?!? I'd rather pay an extra $200 and get the OTHER really small computer.
Mr. Ska
It's not an Intel 486 - they seem to be using the AMD Elan, a very neat piece of hardware that integrates just about everything onto the CPU. (I believe it's also used on the Morphy One.
Heavens no!! It can't be. It mustn't be. The 486 was the last 'non-disposable' chip Intel made. They didn't really get onto the Microsoft 'upgrade spiral' marketting model until the Pentium - when they put more effort into backwards compatibility than into progress.
Motorola's 68000 is still out there. Not in Macs but in Sega Genesis machines. It's in A/C's and stereos and all sorts of household electronics. The Zilog Z80 (remember that one?) is still produced. In fact, one is probably looking over your ABS and airbag controls right now... Now, I don't know if I'd trust an Intel CPU (non-embedded that is; their embedded chips are fine) with life or limb, but there's plenty of room for it. Consumer electronics. A dedicated compression processor for digital telephony, HDTV, or a dedicated firewall box to go with your cable modem.
-- What you do today will cost you a day of your life.
Cool, I could put this in my primitive Triumph and put in all sorts of neat-o diagnostic equipment. I could type in commands like "tune -l /dev/carburettor" or run top to see how the vital stats of the engine, temprature and other things are doing. No, wait, I'm just asking for something else to break down on my car.
Dallas is giving away their OS, apps, docs, schematics, and source for free from their site.
I'm surprised that the TINI never made it on Slashdot before. Who cares about 486-that-fits-in-my-pants-and-costs-as-much-as-a-P C systems when you can do just about the same for much less? Sure, it's neat-o and geekworthy that it could be done, but is it practical?
The way we're SUPPOSED to do things, connecting to the internet with a home system needs 3 more service boxen.
1: A firewall, running nothing else.
2: A box on a DMZ, for any services you want to offer for incoming connections, perhaps SSH for yourself, at the very least.
3: A dedicated logging box.
Plus a fourth box, if you want proxies or the like. I also find mod_roaming and a local IMAP server handy if the desktop is dual boot. Maybe these could be safely be put on Box 2, above, but a purist would probably say not.
This is a lot of boxes, even if old 486's are cheap. It's starting to run into a lot of floor space and electricity. I like the idea of these tiny computers for this role. All 4 desired computers should be able to be packed into the space of one regular sized unit.
Too bad the subject system costs $1500.
Is there anything fairly small, but very cheap? I keep seeing talk of 1U rack mount cases, but those are pretty pricey, themselves.
The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
I spent some time with these two modules - the JumpTec PC and Ethernet/Video combo. It looks like they spent a lot of time minimizing the board layouts so that they could drop the pins between them and plunk on a microdrive - very slick!
Yes, believe it or not, you CAN install Windows 95 on this thing - a friend of mine (who now works at M$, RIP) loaded it on ours and said it was the "cleanest install I've ever done". Who'd of thought? :)
http://www.tiqit.com/icons/plugged2.jpg is the great picture. The same as above, but enlarged about 2x.