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Saintsong Releases A New Mini PC
A reader writes "Saintsong, our favorite manufacturer of tiny PC's (see here and here) is at it again. They've released the TX2 version of the Cappuccino PC everyone drooled over not to long ago. It's designed by Gingko corp., the same folks who designed the iMac. The new unit includes 2 Firewire ports and an additional 2 USB ports over it's predecessor, the Cappuccino GX1. Unfortunately it appears that Saintsong is only distributing it in kit form, so you'll have to supply your own socket 370 processor, RAM, hdd, etc. No prices are listed, but it's still a slick looking toy."
In contrast, I can get a Dell Inspiron 8100 with not-quite-comparable specs for $1700-1800 (Dell's improvement prices are steep) or a WinBook with very similar specs for about the same. Oh, and those include a built-in UPS, a keyboard, and a monitor.
Overall an interesting toy, but I can't really see what advantages it has. With all the ports on the sides and back there'll be cables sticking out all over (besides, it needs airflow) and the fourth side has to be kept clear for the CD/DVD drive. I can see it as a prototype for a gaming or set-top box, but that's about it.
fencepost
just a little off
I was a little confused when I read the story (maybe they were trying to increase the hit count from Apple users that click on any story that mentions Apple, iMac, etc.)
I thought the iMac started the return of Apple doing their industrial design in-house. Jonathan Ive, who heads the group, has been doing some great stuff: the iMac, PowerBook G4, (illfated) Cube, G4 Power Mac, all great designs. Prior to that Apple used to hire outside companies to design their products.
This isn't the first time they've had someone take credit for Apple's in-house work. The original Mac was designed by someone within Apple, but FrogDesign has been taking credit for it ever since. If I remember correctly, it turns out that FrogDesign put together the design language for Apple's post Apple II products (namely the Apple IIc), but not for the Mac. Later on, the Mac was redone to take that language into account -- I believe it was started with the Mac SE. But the original toaster design was done by some guy at Apple who's name escapes me.
Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
What are you smoking? Sure, it sounds good on paper, but have you priced PC104 motherboards lately? That's the form factor you're looking at here, and it's an industry standard so it should be cheap (at least, cheaper than building a custom motherboard from scratch). Find me one with a 486 or better for under $100. No, really, please find me one -- I can imagine a Beowulf culster of them, and I'd love to build one, but at current prices it's just not an option.
If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
Hey, look at the operating system configuration options: $75 off without Windows. This is the first time I've seen anybody offer that, I hope it's a trend.
Life's a bitch but somebody's gotta do it.
This is plain to see. The machine is small enough, you can mount it inside your CRT monitor and have your own x86 imac!
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It's OK to be social, just don't tell anyone about it.
;^)He he! I liked this one: Two FireWire (1394) ports speed up fire transfer.... Yes, it is very important that the transfer of fire in to and out of computers is quick. Burn!
main(O){10<putchar(4^--O?77-(15&5128 >>4*O):10)&&main(2+O);}
It looks kinda like a fat walkman. The idea that this thing can fit current technology (hdd, cpu, etc) is a pretty good indicator that "wearable" computers and other supercool technology isn't too far behind (in usable form, that is).
And yes, I can imagine a beowulf cluster of these.
I own one of these... it makes a neat little server box. Get your own CPU, RAM, hard drive, and you're good to go. No need for another monitor, I've got it's video out plugged into the TV.
Only down side is the thing is that it is fairly loud, for something so tiny. I've got it sitting in my living room, and it's fan noise is rather noticable. My dream is to have an appliance-like system I can use for general purpose stuff. Sort of like a TiVo, but with more oomph, and of course. general purpose. And quiet. Until then, though, the Book PC is a nice, cheap alternative.
When is the industry going to realize that we need a new compact format PC. This thing looks great but its pricey when you compare it to the costs of off the shelf components.
How about a "disposable" PC form factor? Currently, you can get a mini-ATX with integrated LAN/video/modem/sound for well under $100 US. Pitch the dimm slots, processor ZIF socket, and PCI/ISA slots for non-expandable, non-upgradeable permanant RAM, processor and a firewire or USB expansion standard. This would cut even more overhead off the cost of the individual components. Buy them all on one small board. This improves reliability in harsh environments as well. Screw upgrading things on an individual basis. You can get a Duron 750 for under $30. Have you seen the price of RAM these days?
There is so much computing power to be leveraged by other markets. This may very well be the thing that brings the PC to other markets.
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
Supports up to 1280 by 1024-pixel at 24bits per pixel 15 pin mini D-sub VGA connector
One S video port
One AV video port
They need to put in a GeForce mobility chip. If you're already going to pay a pretty penny for style, you may as well fork over the extra $80 for a somewhat decent video card.
The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead.
While visiting a friend for an extended stay, he lent me his Book PC to anything I needed to do. I thought "Thanks, he won't lend me a laptop or anything, I get stuck with a 'convergence' crap box that probably sucks." I was extremely surprised about how easy and fun this little thing is.
Add a processor, mem, and drive, and it's good to go. Great form factor and most everything is built into the mobo, sound, USB, ethernet, and even a TV out. The intel iCrap chipset needs to go, but other than that, a BookPC with a Happy Hacker keyboard look great and run linux extremely well (except for the modem).
If they only had one for Athlon chips, you'd have an extremely capbale '2nd computer'. I'm going to pick one up the second they have better video cards.
http://www.ibuypower.com/product-pc/pocket-epc2.ht m
Can we get some Imac-style flavors too? I want a Moccachino and a Frappachino PC, please.
If I didn't know better, I would have assumed this to be vaporware.
With a name like cappuccino, could we coin the term "foamware"?
Directron.com sells a similar, if not the same machine for much less than ibuypower.com. Search that site for ezgo and you'll come up with the machine. Also, check out www.atoz-ezgo.com.tw for information on the same sort of system. The systems seem identical. I thought the Saintsong site and the AtoZ site were different fronts for the same company, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
Too bad it wants 18Vdc at 3A. If it were lower voltage, it would be trivial to power it from a car. Might make a neat auto-mobile computer. Also, I wonder why they will not support 512K memory modules??
Z
enough is too much
...it shouldn't be a problem installing Linux. There doesn't appear to be anything too weird or wonderful in the system specs that would preclude installing Linux.
You're using her as bait, Master!
This FAQ says that the iMac was designed in-house by Apple.
I wonder if you can run anything other than windows on it???
Only 'flamers' flame!
the above poster is linking to the OLDER model, without firewire and with only 2 usb ports. if you want one of those older machines, check out this link:
http://www.directron.com/ezgo.html
You can get the barebones system (no ram, hd, cpu, etc) for only $420. Great if you already have that stuff lying around from previous upgrades.
i haven't seen anywhere selling the newer machines yet.
I didn't know that FireWire ports could also transfer fire. If only it had an internal battery it would be great for camping trips...
marotti.com
When I worked at Intel a while back, they had stringent corporate specifications that told employees exactly how we were allowed to spell various product names. The Pentium !!! was, in fact, specified as being three italicized exclamation marks in the Arial font.
Wow! People still use Adlib? I though Creative/Soundblaster nuked them off the face of the earth!
I'm a writer, a poet, a genius, I know it. I don't buy software, I grow it.
With two more ethernet ports this would make a perfect dsl router/firewall. -- Daniel
Life's a bitch but somebody's gotta do it.
This thing would be very cool if they would drop the friggen modem and add a 2nd nic interface. I'd have my boss purchase one of these devices simply to make the thing into a firewall/proxy server......I know that I wanted to build one of those linux advanced radio terminals (lart)...but I don't have the $$$ or the experience to build the **** thing...
What? Me worry? NEVER.....
What's with the parallel and RS-232 ports? For a gadget like this, doesn't it make sense to pare the hardware to a minimum? If you can afford a gadget like this, you can afford to upgrade your peripherals, or at least buy adapters. I'm suprised it doesn't have a floppy drive!
They say it's $599 for barebones, still a bit pricey.
And with MAME and Snes9x (plus a couple USB gamepads), I'd have a nice game console, as well. With some of the best games ever made, natch.
Now, if only the whole thing were cheaper...
Ethernet and modem are sort of redundant, as you point out. But as I see it, ethernet is more defensible than the other stuff, 'cause a device like this is pretty useless without networking.