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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.
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.
Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
Here's a place that lists all the IA-1s specs along with other thin clients and PDAs.
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.
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!
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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.
The difference between Canada and the USA is that in Canada healthcare is a right and gun ownership is a privilege.
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.
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?
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!
A rabbit in the hand is worth 4 in the cage
So, you want to hack it?
Well then I'd start here if I were you:t raBoard.pl
http://www.linux-hacker.net/cgi-bin/UltraBoard/Ul
On this web-board, it's called the MSN Companion.
Random signature string.
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.
A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess? - Joshua (Wargames)
quote
e ndone.cgi?TigerDirect
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/v
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.
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It's OK to be social, just don't tell anyone about it.
Go here Despite it's name the message boards are pretty OS agnostic
Personally I want a eVilla.
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.
Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
Just in case you really did want to know and were afraid to ask, it's called "Jailbait" because it's under 16 (megs). ;)