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486 PC In 5 Cubic Inches?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the watch-me-pull-a-rabit-out-of-my-hat dept.

[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 ;)

3 of 188 comments (clear)

  1. (-1, Redundant) by Spameroni · · Score: 5

    Repeat story....we've already seen it, i believe the story was last titled something about matchbox size computers.

  2. Novelty aside... by mr.ska · · Score: 5
    Are they NUTS?!?!

    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.

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    Mr. Ska

  3. Re:Small systems for cable/dsl by GigsVT · · Score: 5

    Is there anything fairly small, but very cheap? I keep seeing talk of 1U rack mount cases, but those are pretty pricey, themselves.

    Yep, heres what you do. Get on eBay and look for laptops that have broken LCD screens, 486 and pentium class. It doesn't matter if the battery is crap either, since you won't be using it. Hook up an external monitor for installation of the OS.

    You can stack 4 laptops in about the space one desktop style case would take up, and it is a lot cheaper than buying one of these embedded computers, even once you add in the cost of the PCMCIA ethernet cards.

    A 4 port KVM switch completes the package, so you only need one KB, monitor and mouse to access all 5, without taking a bunch of plugs out each time.

    The 4 port KVM switch is about 200, each laptop maybe 100, another 150-200 for ethernet cards. Depending on what you have laying around, it might be another 100 or so for power supplies.


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    I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.