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10GB In A Linux PDA
Deep Penguin writes: "Perhaps attempting to captitalize on the concept of data mining (mixed with turtles?), Serial Systems of Singapore has announced the
Terapin Mine,
a hand-held the size of a 35mm camera that looks to be a fusion of a double-fistful of geek toys: network storage (10-12Gb), audio record/playback, digital picture display (composite video out), PCMCIA reader and e-mail sender. It's attached to the world via 10BaseT, USB or whatever I/O card is in the PCMCIA socket (modem, LAN, wireless, etc.) Of course, all complex systems evolve until they can read Usenet news, leaving them an upgrade path to version 2.
Price? $599. Delivery? End of August, they say. And it runs Linux, so no Microsoft tax." An anonymous reader points to this CNET article on the device as well. I was afraid this would live as vaporware on the Terapin site forever.
I have an iPAQ with a PCMCIA card slot, sometimes hooked to a AirCard card (sweet wireless 128k download speeds in a taxi!), and sometimes to a Cisco Aironet wireless LAN card. We recently demoed this working through a Tachyon 1.5 meter dish satelite connection, routed to a wireless base station. I was streaming MP3s to a cow farm in Germany. Amazing applications, but one Achilies heel...
The problem: Power. My battery (even with the extra battery in the PCMCIA sleeve) runs out in less than 2 hours. As soon as I pop in an 1 Gig IBM Microdrive, it drops to about 1 hour, if lucky. To counter this, I've build a little laptop backpack that has 4 rechargable D-cells putting out the 5V DC that the iPAQ wants... backed up by a 12V DC-AC car converter and 3 solar cells mounted on the backside of the backpack (yes, I know it looks geeky, but stick on a couple Rage Against the Machine stickers and people think it's just a fashion statement, the latest in do-it-yourself geek-wear.)
So, the bottom line is now I carry a bag as big as a laptop whose sole purpose is to power my handheld laptop. Of course, I also charge my Digital Camera and Cell Phone off the same bundle, but I still feel like I'm missing something...
-Hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned for
Actually, smaller hard disk are more resistant to shocks. The smaller the parts, the higher the mechanical eigenfrequencies. Therefore, a shock is experienced by the miniature part as a smooth motion.
Ahem, if you do a search for the MyLinux PLW (Pocket Linux Workstation) you'll find a device that can do almost all this unit can and more - It's now going into production and you can actually place an order for one.
Search google for it, or better yet, search google for the mailing list archives for the Mylinux PLW as that's where the developers are talking about the whole order process.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Airport Security: What's that in your bag?
You: That's a Mine.
Airport Security: You're under arrest.
"If I have seen further than other men, it is by stepping on their glasses." - Michael Swaine
Looks like real good advice.
Be careful unpacking that mine Billy, It may be dangerous.. Looks like it's sustained some shipping damage and the detonater's a little loose..
air and light and time and space
Is that a porn web server in your pocket or are you just glad to see its content?
"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master."
This Practically Networked article has a review of a bunch of products like the mine, and they list it as their favorite. Could be cool for college students with ethernet jacks everywhere.
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Hey man, can I bum a sig?
Lemme just clean the drool from my keyboard...
;)
I am very concerned about the storage - 10-12GB HDD... what kind of HDD? I've heard bad things about the Creative Jukebox where the HDD can be sensetive to motion. While the prospect of storing this amount of data on a very portable PDA, I am worried that it is (1) easily lost, (2) easily stolen, (3) easily broken. 10GB is a lot of data...
I like my smartcards and compact flash media. You can store/organize information and worry less about total loss (if you loose or break one, you aren't completly lost).
Before I run out and buy one, I'd want to know:
- reliability
- HDD specs (can I replace it cheap or do I need an expensive part)
- warranty options
I was just looking at a picture of the device and I was thinking - cellphone. It looks like a cellphone but does everything except make phone calls and prepare dinner... now if it could only prepare dinner... mmmm... dinner...
Price, Quality, Time. Pick none. What, you thought you had a choice?
"No, I'm just fingering my server." ;-)
[TMB]
Oh yeah! This gadget will really rock my world! Can't wait 'til next reboot! ;-)
.3) #1 Tue Mar 13 22
:37:59 EST 2001
.. 119.19 BogoMIPS M
Linux version 2.2.19
pre17 (herbert@arnor
) (gcc version 2.7.2
BIOS-provided physic
al RAM map: BIOS-88:
000a0000 @ 00000000
(usable) BIOS-88: 01
f00000 @ 00100000 (u
sable) Detected 6000
3 kHz processor. Cal
ibrating delay loop.
emory: 29788k/32768k
available (1744k ker
nel code, 408k reser
ved, 672k data, 156k
init) Dentry hash ta
ble entries: 4096 (o
rder 3, 32k)
I deal with large files all the time, and I'm constantly looking for work arounds that don't involve lugging my 8-pound laptop to another workstation or burning something on CD. This little device would revolutionize my life if it lives up to its vaporware specs. Consider the following:
After shooting 5 minutes of DV footage on someone else's camera, I want to bring the video home to edit on my PC. Instead of borrowing their DV camera or buying my own, all I need is a PCMCIA FireWire card to transfer footage and a NIC to bring it back out to my laptop editing machine.
or...
I want to listen to MP3s in the car, but I'm on a 4-hour road trip and compressing all my songs to 64k mono versions for my old 32mb Rio just doesn't cut it for me. Now you can take those 7 gigs of Elton John and Styx without sacrificing quality.
but what about...
You've been taking a lot of pictures at some social event for the company you worked for, but you'd rather not go download all those photos into your computer in the other room nor do you want to be the nerd behind the laptop for the party. Transfer all your images into your silver device, and as an added bonus, you can even have everyone view those pics on TV when it's over. I'm sure this also would apply to making and giving presentation. Much cooler than Powerpoint when done right.
and let's not forget...
Looking at pr0n on your computer in your office isn't as appetizing as viewing it on the couch in your living room.
-Mr. Fusion
By what stretch of the imagination is this a PDA? A four line, 20 character display? They make a big deal about being able to transfer pictures from your digital camera to the device. What then? View them on a display that makes my cell phone look good? ;)
Cool to be sure, but I'll keep my iPaq thank you very much. This ain't taking the place of a Palm anytime soon either.
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I'll wait until solid state lets us have hard-disk like capacities.
There's 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.