Another $99 Web Terminal

An Anonymous Coward writes: "If anyone is looking for a fun $99 hacking project, Tiger direct has Compaq Ipaq's for $99, great little web browsing terminals, they support Flash, jJava, ActiveX. The parts (LCD screen etc) are probably worth more than this. You'll need to get a USB Ethernet adapter so you can use broadband." Tiger Direct seems to have a mixed reputation for service, but at under a hundred dollars, this looks pretty tempting even if only used as a digital photo frame, or an adjunct mail terminal.

Comments

useful little device

[gcshaw2nd]

My friend has one of these ipaq devices, and he fitted it with a 20 gig laptop hard drive. That makes it rather expensive toy I guess, but it's really cool running linux. Think about one of these babies in your living room, streaming music to the stereo, checking email on the couch, maybe even controlling the tv with the right ir port. It'd be very cool.

The downside though - that hard drive makes a fair bit of heat meaning my friend can't run his ipaq for many more than twenty minutes at a time. A fan is definitely in order, but he lost interest in the project.

reputation

[cvd6262]

Tiger Direct seems to have a mixed reputation for service

I bought my ThinkPad X20 from them for a great deal, and they treated me right.

When it came time for me to get a server for my Ph.D. research, they offered me educational pricing.

Re:reputation

[theBunkinator]

Ordered it on Tuesday night, came Friday via UPS ground. Site's painfully slow, but processed the order fine anyway. So no complains here.

linux-hacker.net has info on hacking this "MSN Companion" as well as other I-Appliances like epods and audrey. Lots of people have done some very nice work on these already. Thanks!

Re:reputation

[Wolfger]

I can understand the expression "mixed reputation" when it comes to TigerDirect. My first buying experience with them was pretty bad. A buddy of mine recommended them to me and another guy at work, and we both had bad experiences.

Then after avoiding the company for awhile, they had a price on something I wanted that I just couldn't beat, and the service was very good. I've shopped TigerDirect many times since then, and the service has been superb. It was just that one time (well, two if you count the experience of my co-worker) that nearly kept me from ever shopping there again.

Leenucks

[1010011010]

Before this generates another spate of email about Linux and the IA-1, I have modified versions of Jailbait available on FBM.

They are for a 16MB CF card. Do this to put an image on the CF card:
dd if=image.img of=/dev/CF-DEVICE bs=1M

I will not tell you the root password. Boot single-user to not have to use the password, then do "passwd root" to change it.

You can boot single-user by adding the word "single" at the lilo prompt. For instance, "hdc single" -- where "hdc" is the lilo profile name.

Enjoy. The jailbait site has information on rebuilding Jailbait images.

p.s. avoid the Netgear EA101 USB Ethernet adapter, and perhaps any other adapter that uses the kaweth driver -- the hardware isn't reliable. Get a nice Pegasus adapter, like a D-Link.

IA-1 Specs

[FreakyGeeky]

Here's a place that lists all the IA-1s specs along with other thin clients and PDAs.

eBay

[Karma 50]

If you're lucky you can one cheaper on eBay.
$76

Ideal X Terminal

[PoiBoy]

With its small display, slow processor, and limited amount of RAM, it may not make a very good second PC. However, it seems more than adequate to run a basic X terminal. The 800x600 display would be adequate for having a couple of xterm sessions open or a web browser for casual surfing.

What would be nice is if someone were able to make a boot floppy or boot ROM for a NIC so that this machine could be used with the Linux Terminal Server Project (LTSP) or some similar software. At $100, it would be great for use in schools, libraries, internet cafes, and other places where little more than a browser is needed and the additional components of a PC such as a hard drive and multiple removable media drives are more of a hassle than anything else.

Well, I bought one...

[Argyle]

Worst case I can use the LCD display with something else.

Does anyone have links to modify/hack information?

Uggg...Passport

[RedWolves2]

It uses passport and hotmail as the e-mail account!?!

Great for $99 I am going to learn things like where to find cheap viagra and how to increase my bust size as well as find Hot Horny 18 year olds.

Sounds like a great present to give to someone.

Re:Uggg...Passport

[1010011010]

Those things sounds useful, in combination. :)

Re:Uggg...Passport

[OmegaDan]

$99 I am going to learn things like where to find cheap viagra and how to increase my bust size as well as find Hot Horny 18 year olds

I tell ya what I'd do ... Get your hot horny 18 year olds, increase their bust size, and then boom with the viagra! 99$ well spent :)

Notice the term "Recertified"

[Anonymous Coward]

When you go to the page at TigerDirect.com, notice the heading of the product: Compaq iPaq IA-1 Home Internet Appliance (Recertified). What exactly does "recertified" refer to? Was this product possibly defective and returned for service? I have never had any luck with recertified or that other "R" word: refurbished. Just a warning!

Re:Notice the term "Recertified"

[VA Software]

There is an explanation of "recertified" elsewhere on the site (this one for an IBM product)

These monitors are recertified by IBM. They are not used. These monitors have been returned to IBM for a number of reasons, i.e.: a customer refused shipment, returned the monitor without opening the box, or received the shipment in a damaged box. IBM completely recertifies these monitors--at their factory--and repacks them in brand new packaging. They are recertified to "as-brand-new" condition and pass quality control checks. They carry the full IBM one-year warranty. Why pay more? These monitors are in brand-new condition, with full factory certification--and you pocket the savings!

Re:Notice the term "Recertified"

[RedWolves2]

I like buying refurbished. You have to think about refurbished products in terms of the company selling that item. That item has already been brought back for whatever reason. That has already cost the company some money to have that product replaced.

Now they take that refurbished product and fix it up. They sure as hell do not want to lose any more money on that item by having it come back so the company will perform more exhaustive tests on it then they would an off the assembly line item.

I have never had any problems with Refurbished products. I see refurbished being more reliable then buying off the self. Not to mention the discount you can find.

I wonder if recertified means that it came back and it was found that it had absolutly nothing wrong with it and was deemed recertified?

Re:Notice the term "Recertified"

[fmaxwell]

I have never had any problems with Refurbished products. I see refurbished being more reliable then buying off the self.

I agree with you 100%. A refurbished product is normally gone over by someone who has some technical expertise while the "new" product is something that was put together by monkeys taught to wield a soldering iron.

Re:Notice the term "Recertified"

[S.Lemmon]

Actually I used to think this way too, but I've had really bad results (had to return three Sony monitors in a row before giving up once). Maybe it depends on the company, but if the original problem was intermittent or in some way non-obvious, they're apt to just turn it on, see that it works for a bit, then slap a "refurbished" sticker on it. Had a similar problems with a printer, car stereo and VCR too.

Re:Notice the term "Recertified"

[Eric Seppanen]

A refurbished product is normally gone over by someone who has some technical expertise while the "new" product is something that was put together by monkeys taught to wield a soldering iron.

You'd think that should be the case, but it's often not. Returned merchandise often breaks down like this: of ten returned units, six are perfectly good. Two have an obvious problem easily repaired by a skilled, well-trained technician, one is completely fried, and one is flaky and fails once every 37 hours.

The problems here are many:

• Skilled, well trained people are expensive, and companies are cheap.
• Skilled, well trained people tend not to enjoy being low status "repair" monkeys.
• For manufacturers, it's usually cheaper to make new product than to employ skilled people to fix broken product.
• Third parties attempting to repair stuff often don't understand it well enough to repair or test it properly.
• Sometimes manufacturers farm out their "refurbing" to stupid third parties mentioned above.
• Whoever does the work, it's often more expensive to test and repair boxes than the boxes were worth new. So the company doing this is likely to realize they're losing money and find something more worthwhile to do.
• That last, flaky unit is probably going to pass diagnostics and look like the other good units, and get passed onto a customer who's going to be pissed at you. 10% of your "refurb" customers pissed off is a lot of people for a big company.
• Units that have failed once are statistically much more likely to fail again, because automated manufacturing flaws (like poor soldering) are likely to occur in multiple places on the same board.

In the end, "refurb" units are often of low quality because it's impossible to test and repair computer equipment cheaply and well and make money doing so.

Re:Notice the term "Recertified"

[fmaxwell]

In the end, "refurb" units are often of low quality because it's impossible to test and repair computer equipment cheaply and well and make money doing so.

That's why you don't see refurbished network cards, sound cards, and mice. When the price of the item is too low to make it worthwhile, the units are scrapped. When it comes to more expensive items, refurb often means that they were THOROUGHLY tested via an automated means and that they passed. Those that don't are often scrapped. Only if the item commands a pretty handsome price does it actually get repaired. I am sure that there are both reputable and disreputable refurb operations. I have a lot of faith in Dell's refurbished computers, but I have a lot less faith in refurbished Samsung telephones.

But unless you have some information that I do not, we are both just talking from personal experience -- which has no statistical significance at all.

Re:ISP?

[perlyking]

Do people even read the article?

Features:

Easy to setup and use!
Turns on and off like a TV and automatically connects to the Internet!
Flashing light alerts you of incoming e-mail!
Tiny! Just 13" tall, 10" wide!
When the power is off, the screen becomes a digital photo frame!
Broadband-ready (requires USB Adapter). See compatibility list below.*
When the power is off, the screen becomes a digital photo frame
Secure and private - Shopping, e-mail and sensitive information remain protected
Use your own ISP!
(Does not support AOL/Compuserve)

Re:ISP?

[Karma 50]

You can get a USB ethernet adaptor and then you can use broadband

The DLink one mentioned is $30

Accessories Supported:

USB Mouse

Standard Speakers sets
USB Ethernet Adapters

Supported USB/HPNA 2.0 adapters
- Netgear Phoneline PA101 10MB USB Home Network adapter
- Linksys USB200HA
Supported USB/Ethernet adapters
- Linksys USB10TX v3
- Linksys USB100TX 100T
- D-Link USB 10/100 Ethernet Adapter

But what's even better!!

[Bender Unit 22]

Look at the features section:
"Flashing light alerts you of incoming e-mail!"
This baby is just packed with features.

Ok, I must admit what if they would ship it to my Country, I would buy it in a flash.

Question for you...

[luge]

If I nfs mount a drive after boot, can I run X? Also, what about sound support? I'm thinking this would make a nice cheap ogg terminal if I can rig up a simple UI and plug my stereo into it.

Re:Question for you...

[1010011010]

I don't know about X + QPE. But you could just not start QPE.

As far as MPEGs go, it has a buzzer, and a headphone jack. MPEG player (including mp3s) is built in. You could load up a microdrive with MP3s, I suppose. You could also get them from the network via a mounted filesystem.

Re:Question for you...

[1010011010]

Oops, got my stories mixed up. The IA-1 has a single speaker in its base. No QPE. Jailbait is X + blackbox + netscape + some other stuff

Hehe. The Sharp Zaurus has QPE and the buzzer. :)

Re:ISP? - supported, but still a fee to MSN?

[ActMatrix]

According to CNET's Review, while you can use another ISP you still have to pay MSN a $9.95 monthly fee. I don't know if this still applies, but be forewarned.

Freedom (microsoft style)

[O2n]

From the "feature list":
Use your own ISP!
(Does not support AOL/Compuserve)


Yeah, you're free to use any ISP as long as it's called MSN.
Sorta trick question, "3 letter isp, starts with M and ends with SN".

Re:Compaq IA-2

[calibanDNS]

TigerDirect is also selling the IA-2 model for $99, just look here.

Re:ISP? - supported, but still a fee to MSN?

[kaphka]

while you can use another ISP you still have to pay MSN a $9.95 monthly fee.

Uh, how do you suppose that works, exactly? Does the machine self-destruct if I don't pay my monthly tribute?

I've got two audreys, and might get one of these..

[mikeage]

to all the people thinking xterm... why bother? Just go vnc! I use that on my audreys... it's much more reliable, and the only speed problems are if I try to animate something (which cheap LCDs aren't good for anyway)

There's a reason for that low price.

[thesolo]

These are refurbished models, meaning they were broken at one point, returned to the factory, and fixed, but then never sold again.

So, Caveat Emptor; you may never have a problem with your unit, but from my experience with refurbished items, I will never buy another refurb/recertified product again. (read: would work for about a week, then need fixing again) You'd be better off checking on ebay to see if you can get a deal on a new item, if you really want one of these.

Re:There's a reason for that low price.

[LinuxHam]

refurbished models, meaning they were broken at one point

They're not necessarily refurbished. They're recertified. You must've missed this comment posted just above yours describing IBM's definition of recertified vs. refurbished.

Re:There's a reason for that low price.

[truesaer]

In addition to the comments pointing out that recertified means new, refurbished also usually means that someone returned an open box. Meaning, refurbished items are usually new too.

I have never had a problem with a refurbished item, and I think its likely that most others haven't either.

Re:There's a reason for that low price.

[Ian Bicking]

In my own experience, I've had terrible experiences with refurbished monitors, and decent experience with other products.

Re:ISP? - supported, but still a fee to MSN?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, I called them... it merely uses your local ISP as a dial in to the MSN network... it doesn'y support normal browsing, just MSN "Special" browsing... (this thing is 'Special' it rode the short bus to school)

Tiger Direct service

[smartin]

Tiger Direct seems to have a mixed reputation for service

Having bought a bunch of Audrey's off them and following the hacking community at linux-hacker.net I'd just like to put in a positive word for Tiger Direct. They have treated us well with the Audrey's, taking back defective units even though they expicitly said up front when you bought them that they were not returnable. They repeatedly asked the board for input and comment on pricing and product offerings and finally sold off all the returned machines (some of which there was nothing wrong with) for parts at a dirt cheap price. I would not hesitate to deal with them again.

Re:Tiger Direct service

[stox]

FYI:

Tiger Direct, aka, Global Computer, aka SystemMax. I'm sure they have a few more names, probably from acquisitions that have been made over the years. I been buying stuff from them for years, and so far, I don't have any complaints. In fact, I've gotten some damn good deals at the Global clearance center located off Route 59, in Naperville, Illinois.

Re:Tiger Direct service

[Speare]

If you have leads to more Audreys, other than the hiked prices on eBay, I'd be interested to find one new unit. I missed the Tiger Direct sale procrastinating. Email me? -- [ e d @ h a l l e y . c c ]

Re:Price?

[Anonymous Coward]

I bought one around three weeks ago from Tiger, you didn't need to sign up for any MSN services back then, however you can get 6 months free MSN service if you want.

Since I'm in the UK I can't sign up for MSN even if I wanted to because the device is configured for MSN North America only, and like I want to use MSN anyway :)

If anybody is wondering the device has a 110-220v 60/50hz switching power supply so you can just plug it in using a standard 'kettle' type lead, or 'euro lead'.

Re:Just a question

[Anonymous Coward]

How much is slashdot being paid to advertise these products?

Think of Slashdot as a benevolent God making some random interventions to the otherwise darwinian tech market.

I looked into it and compared it with a Dreamcast

[outofpaper]

About one month ago I looked into buying my grandmother an internet device. I debated the Folowing a 486 win QNX runing on it(fast enough for web browsing a geting e-mail), an old pentium win linux on it(tried and true works with out any problems), an old pentium win win95 on it (would work ok as long as she didn't add any new programs but would be going against my beter jugment), a dreamcast (they cost 70$ hear in canada and they come with a key board), and one of theis babies.

I ended up being realy torn betwean the dreamcast and the I-paq. The dreamcast had the added bonus of being able to play games in 3d, plus to give it java compatabilty it would only cost 20$ us. I would then be able to us it a VNC terminal (thanks to vnc's jave aplet viewer). On the other hand the I-paq was a stand alone device and that would apeal to her since it's more like an other apliance (microwave, stove, blender, fax, tv).

Available hacks

[calibanDNS]

If you're interested in knowing what kinds of hacks are available before purchasing one of these then take a look at the Linux Hacker BBS Forums.

With Dreamcast?

[Zach`]

Could I hack this to let my video output cable for my Dreamcast plug into the LCD screen? I currently have the two audio cables from the DC going into my hi-fi system... adding an LCD would rawk. Is this even remotely possible?

Re:I looked into it and compared it with a Dreamca

[hooded1]

Out of curiosity why would your grandmother need to play DreamCast? Typically most 70+ females tend to stay away from video games. Grandma's drive at like 10 miles per hour. Could you imagine her trying to play Crazy Taxi? It would be a friggin nightmare!

Re:Forced to use MSN?

[TandyMasterControl]

You can dial into your own ISP.(whoa, head getting dizzy from all the freedom!) Get a little closer to the specs, this thing is almost hardwired to MSN until you flush its OS/Browser. It's not just a matter of the dialer being set to ring MSN.
I'm not saying don't buy one, just be aware that if you really want to use it, and Bill Gates hanging on your tit @ 10/mo. wasn't what you had in mind, you've got to hack your way out.

So, you want to hack it?

[patco15]

So, you want to hack it?

Well then I'd start here if I were you:
http://www.linux-hacker.net/cgi-bin/UltraBoard/Ult raBoard.pl

On this web-board, it's called the MSN Companion.

Random signature string.

LispOS and FSF History

[Christopher B. Brown]

The canonical example of such a system would be Symbolics.

Symbolics is actually extremely relevant as one of the organizations indirectly responsible for the creation of the Free Software Foundation; Richard Stallman points to Symbolics hiring away nearly all of the hackers from the AI lab , this being one of the events that led to RMS' later actions.

A number of projects have since tried to build environments with tightly-integrated Lisps; none have been much more than curiosities.

The other major linkage is that the bulk of the members of the Unix Haters "cabal" were folks that hated Unix not simply in abstract, but rather in comparison to Lisp environments like Symbolics/Genera.

I'm not sure how this all would connect to the "Anti-Lisp" notions of the Anonymous Coward. Just as the Unix Haters Handbook presents very little about what they would propose as a preferable alternative to Unix, the AC doesn't present any information as to what he would prefer to Lisp.

Will it work on the IOpener?

[VValdo]

I'm still running that old old version of Jailbait... can this new version be flashed onto the IO?

W

Re:Will it work on the IOpener?

[slashkitty]

I was trying to do this too. I don't have a hd installed and there didn't seem to be enough space to store the image in the ram disk before burning it in. Anyone have a tips on how to do this?

Just in time for LTSP v.3.0.0!

[Spoing]

Is this a good match for a network using the Linux Terminal Server Project?

Seems to be...but comments from those familiar with LTSP.

Debian works nicely on it

[nowt]

After perusing the linuxhacker stuff and looking carefully at the jailbait files, I was able to use jailbait's /etc/lilo.conf as a basis for booting into debian potato (dumped onto a microdrive).

Now it's on debian-sid with gnome running nicely (Trident video driver). USB networking fine (2.4.16 kernel with kaweth and pegasus both rolled in for 3com usb + linksys adapters).

The only outstanding item I've not been able to get working is the audio chip. Here's a link on what it is. The annoying bit is support for this does exist in the current 2.4.16 a97 codec drivers but via an intel i810-type chip. This is AMD based.

Re:ISP?

[TandyMasterControl]

After reading specs on it, I don't think that you can use things like "Companion" email without going to MSN to activate the service, which entails a monthly fee. You can do that and dial into your present non-MSN isp, but that's not the same as being freee to "use your own ISP" to my mind.
So if you really want to use it freely with your choice of internet services you may need to replace the OS/software.

Tiger Direct

[RainbowSix]

quote
Tiger Direct seems to have a mixed reputation for service
/quote

Here is Tiger Direct's Reseller Ratings rating table:
Overall Score for Tiger Direct:2.8/7.0

These are in yes/no form:
Do you feel that you received a fair/competitive price for the item that you purchased from the company? 110/22
Were the salespeople courteous, knowledgable, and helpful? 43/72
If the product you purchased was shipped to you, did it arrive as expected without any delivery problems or delays caused by the company? 72/60
If you returned a product to the company for exchange or refund, did they exchange the product without a big hassle or refund your money without a large restocking fee? 10/64
Would you buy any products from the company again? 41/90
Would you recommend the company to a friend? 37/93
Overall, were you satisfied with this company? 43/92

Link:
http://www.resellerratings.com/cgi-bin/reseller/ve ndone.cgi?TigerDirect

Note: I've never used Tiger Direct nor do I know anything about them. I'm merely stating the information found on the website mentioned above.

802.11?

[Johnny00]

Anyone got one of these to work with 802.11B?

I wouldn't mind getting one of these and sticking it on my living room coffee table for the guests and drunkers that come over and try and use one of laptops while I'm working. (come-on man, lemme check my hotmail!) I got the whole network (cept for the gaming rig) setup on the wireless and I don't want to run ethernet back into the living room after I just got rid of it.

Re:Maybe this is the wrong place for this...

[TandyMasterControl]

You can install Windows 98 or trade if you have the storage - BYOS (bring yer own storage) Of course the same stipulation holds for any Linux distro except the miniatures, like "Jailbait".
A larger flash device, a laptop hddrive, a Tardis brand ROM module, any of these should accomodate a "man-sized" OS.

If you have taken the Boulder Pledge,

[Grand Facade]

You'll never purchase a thing from Tiger Direct.

"Under no circumstances will I ever purchase anything offered to me as the result of an unsolicited email message. Nor will I forward chain letters, petitions, mass mailings, or virus warnings to large numbers of others. This is my contribution to the survival of the online community."

The only good thing I can say is they gave a prompt refund.

LCD doesn't handle non-native resolutions well

[yerricde]

Does anyone know if you can run this at 640x480 as is?

No. Unlike CRT technology, LCD technology has discrete pixels, one to each set of three transistors. Rescaling an input produces ugly blockiness or blurriness instead of the exact aliasing that hinted fonts rely on.

For more ideas...

[Usquebaugh]

Go here Despite it's name the message boards are pretty OS agnostic

Personally I want a eVilla.

Sigh...

[fm6]

Wish I were a competent hardware hacker. Buy one of these, fiddle with the packaging, add a wireless LAN adapter, install Jailbait ("Jailbait"? No, I don't want to know) and you've got a real PDA!

Oh hey, I own a Philips Rush MP3 player. Anybody got a Linux distro for that?

The cheapest IA of all

[IGnatius T Foobar]

While it's fun to think about modifying these appliances to run Linux in your kitchen (or whatever), it's important to remember that if you're really looking to put together something useful -- as opposed to re-engineering an iPaq or iOpener for the hack value -- you're probably better off getting a bargain-basement used laptop. Most of us here already have a home LAN, a Linux server, and a broadband connection, right? You don't really need a very beefy laptop to accomplish the "appliance" task. Enough memory to run X and perhaps a local browser, a color display, something to boot from, and an Ethernet adapter. I've got an old AST Ascentia J over here, complete with its wonderous 16 MB RAM and 500 MB disk. But it's got a usable color display and a built-in pointer. The battery was shot so I just threw it away. A call to /sbin/hdparm keeps the hard disk from spinning except when it's being used, so it's easy on power too.

Think twice and you can save some money. No special tinkering required.

Re:The cheapest IA of all

[IGnatius T Foobar]

eBay would be the best place to start (although you have to filter out the commercial distributors who use eBay to sell brand new merchandise). You could also try your local classified ads; many communities have publications like the "Pennysaver" containing nothing but this type of stuff.

Re:Price?

[erroneus]

I just bought one. A charge of $113.06 was authorized to my card. I saw no other induced agreements.

Re:Why not get Gateway Connected touchpad?

[erroneus]

Can you supply a URL? I cannot locate this product on the Gateway web site. It is a discontinued item? I have seen references to the device on the support areas.

Re:$22 USB ethernet adapter?

[Cy Guy]

You can get a USB ethernet adaptor and then you can use broadband

This is one that isn't on the product support list for the iPaq, but it is only $22 through Buy.com. It's the COMPEX EU202 LINKPORT USB 10/100Mbps FAST ETHERNET USB ADAPTER, and it seems to have the smallest form factor of any of the USB Ethernet adapters I've looked at. It's the same form factor/size as one of USB memory drives, and doesn't hang off a cable like most of the others.

Anyone have experience with this adapter? Are their any Linux drivers that wil run it? From googling the web I found Linux drivers for the PCMCIA card version of it so it would seem that the chipset is likely the same and might work with Linux.

Has anyone set up a TigerDirect account from...

[Lawmeister]

Canada? Seems like their online account application form is US centric.

If so, please let me know how you did this....

Just what I need...

[ZoneGray]

Just what I need, another project... Not that it isn't tempting mind you. I'm looking at this, saying "99 bucks isn't much, looks like a perfect little hacking toy" thinking of the possibilities for a Linux appliance... ssh from the bedroom or something, for those late-night (or early morning) emergencies.

Then I remember that I have three old PC's and two old laptops sitting in the closet that are ALSO perfect for this and I'll never get around to those, either.

Re:Price?

[Darby]

I just bought one. A charge of $113.06 was authorized to my card. I saw no other induced agreements.

You can never be too careful though.
Post the card # here and I'll check it out for you.

"Jailbait" etymology

[Oroborus]

Just in case you really did want to know and were afraid to ask, it's called "Jailbait" because it's under 16 (megs). ;)

Neat toy!

[seebs]

I'm getting one, I'll probably try to get NetBSD to run on it. My thinking is to use the CF card to store a kernel, but to use NFS for all the real disk space.

Looks to me like a very cute little x terminal. Anyone know if the memory is upgradeable?

Reasons I will NOT get one of these

[fjordboy]

First of all, it runs MSN messanger. (which supposedly can be changed)

Second, there is a 9.95/month surcharge to use an ISP other than MSN Here is some linkage to compaq to prove it, athome.compaq.com Follor the "2" below the asterisk at the bottom

Third of all, there is a 9.95/month surcharge for using the broadband adapter (check the same linkage, but number 3)

There are other reasons as well, but here is an alternative: The 3com Audrey. It runs QNX, there are lots of hacks and stuff for QNX, it doesn't have those freaking monthly fees, it looks cooler, it has the light up stylus etc etc etc...to see more of my reasons, go to JesusGeeks.net. The 3com audrey is OOP, but it is a sweet machine. My friend got it off (ironic?) TigerDirect a few months ago, but unfortunately they don't have it there anymore. THere are lots of ebay offeres for it. The only changes I would want with an Audrey is a full size keyboard.

Re:Reasons I will NOT get one of these

[fjordboy]

Also, the ipaq has been available on TigerDirect for 99 dollars for months.

Re:TigerDirect security issues

[schon]

I've sent them several emails regarding this security issue, and they've ignored me

Have you considered posting a bulletin to one of the security mailing lists, such as Bugtraq? Several websites who have ignored private notification have fixed holes after the holes were posted on Bugtraq.

Re:Unless it's for fun, WHY?

[jgerman]

Simple... because money isn't everything.

Re:Unless it's for fun, WHY?

[Junta]

Easy. One, 60 bucks an hour is a lot higher than I would expect to get for a regular job... Maybe for service calls or very short-term contracts, but on the order of 30 an hours sounds about right for a regular job.

In any case, for those that pursue this, it isn't money, it's really good fun. We have much more highly powered equipment to do what we want, but it's fun to get cheap hardware and see how hard we can push it.. For example, I think the dreamast, at 50 bucks, is a fantastic deal (especially since many can boot off of CD-R without any hardware modificaiotn). That's the main reason why I bought a dreamcast. I have linux running on it occasionally, but without any storage space nor any network connectivity, it is mostly useless, just kinda neat. This was a bit too easy, but it illustrates the point..

Nope, not from what I hear.

[VValdo]

That's not bad, but according to the FAQ it stands for the recursive "JAILBAIT's Another Interesting Linux But Also Intimidating Too".

Not to mention that the guy who made it is named Jeffrey Baitis, and he goes by "jbaitis".

But anyway, can this distribution be safely used on the IOpener? Jailbait 6.0 has all kidns of beta stuff in it, like a beta kernel and very beta USB ethernet drivers. Is all that stuff up to date now?

W

Re:Unless it's for fun, WHY?

[Tassach]

In a sane world, this would be a Bad Thing. I can't tell you how many times I've been told to do 10 hours work (at a bill rate of $100+/hr) to solve a problem that could be resolved in 1 hour plus a $200 piece of hardware.

Engineer logic says that (1 * $100) + $200 < (10 * $100) + $0. However, accountants and MBAs don't play by the same set of rules -- personnel costs go in column A, and equipment costs go in column B, and nary the twain shall they meet. PHB logic says that spending $1000 out of column A is better than spending $100 out of column A and fighting to get approval to spend the $200 out of column B.

PHB logic also comes up with gems like spending $200,000 on a piece of equipment that nobody knows how to use and then refusing to spend $2,000 to send someone to the training class. It doesn't make any sense, but that's the way the business world works.

Re:Unless it's for fun, WHY?

[barawn]

Um.

Huh? You seriously mean to tell me that you think the skills needed to do all of that merit $60/hour? You could write up a step by step guide how to do it (under Linux) in under 10 minutes! I mean, it's about four or five lines (dd rocks).
You don't need skills unless something goes wrong.

Seriously, I think you're massively overvaluing basic skills which almost all of the Linux community should have.

Also, the "My time is worth $X an hour, so I shouldn't do this..." is a bad argument, so you shouldn't bother using it. You shouldn't bother sleeping, then, as it's $480/day. Don't bother doing the laundry, as that's probably around $120. Better hire a maid, too, and you should probably hire someone to go shopping for you as well.

Of course, this assumes that you can work (and get paid) 24 hours a day. Which is of course, not true. So, if I save $60/hour in my spare time, terrific! That's an hour or two I've tacked onto my work day, and guess what - I had fun doing it.

Bottom line is, the "It isn't worth my time to pick up a penny" argument is junk. You don't work 24 hours a day, so if you can casually earn money (or save money) in the time when other people are doing nothing, you win out. Especially if it causes you no extra stress and no hardship.

Re:Unless it's for fun, WHY?

[eyeball]

you got me there :)

Re:Unless it's for fun, WHY?

[zulux]

or are beaten out by those who possess inferior skills but know how to market themself.

Thats all you're missing! Really. It's a case of 'If I can do it, I know you can do it just as well'. Thinks that have helped me:

Emulate normall business practices:
Get letterhead and business cards.
Get a buiness cell phone.
Get a laptop.
Get a domain name.
PDA for appointments and contacts.
Account software (roll your own or Quickbooks)

Emulate a 'office-type' person:
Dress from the JcPenny business catalog.
Go to the barbershop every three weeks.
Run the car though the car wash now and then.
Shower every morning.
Replace the Casio watch with a Seiko.

Be yourself, but nicer:
Don't gossip too much.
Rememeber peoples names.
Learn a few jokes.
Say hello to everybody.
Laguh easily and smile.

Impress your customers:
Bring a cool gaget into work to show off.
Help people with their cell phones.
Deploy cool stuff (811 wireless)

Get some energy:
Exercise.
Get checked for depression.
Eat good foods.

Think long term:
Be poor for a while.
Learn stuff.
Don't buy too many toys that take up your time without learing somthig new.

As far as connections: I can litterally trace all of my clients to one customer - my good work and fair rates have been all the advertisement I've needed. You only need one connection - perhaps a friend doesen't know you would like to do a deiferent kind of work and just needs to be reminded.