Slashdot Mirror
Tiny Computer From Mynix
vnsnes writes: "Mynix brands their e-Space computer as the world's smallest PC. It is, '...the only alternative to Desktops and Notebooks; for those who need computing in two places, typically the Home and the Office.' It looks really cool, but would it really be practical for anyone? For people chucking information between home and office it would seem much more economical to get broadband service at home and setup a VPN. Why would anyone use e-Space as a notebook when it comes without a screen, a keyboard, or a mouse? Yes, you can save space with this little guy, but you'll still need room for a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse on your desk. And they aren't exactly cheap: about $1,600. For about the same price you can get a laptop computer with the same specs but with all the necessary peripherals. PC Magazine review here." I guess this fills the same niche that the Saintsong Cappucino does, whatever niche that is.
For people chucking information between home and office it would seem much more economical to get broadband service at home and setup a VPN
You're assuming that the target customer knows what a VPN is, which is a doubtful. Honestly, not that many average consumers have a VPN, a LAN, or even extremely common geek things like broadband service at home.
You could use these as servers. Think about it. You can fit about 30 of these in a drawer. Maybe they'll sell the "World's Smallest Server"! Of course, does it run a server OS? Someone should do a test.
Everything is mainstream now.
wow...so this is what it feels like
The e-Space is a full powered miniature Desktop system with a rich feature list that equals full sized desktop systems
Integrated ALI 1632 Graphics and Trident BIOS with support for additional 4MB of memory upgradeable to 8MB with AIMM.Intel® 3D Graphics with support for additional 4 MB of Digital Display cache memory with AIMM
Watch out, GeForce3.
The author of the blurb (vnsnes), and even Timothy both acknowledge that this is a useless item. So why bother posting it to the front page? Let useless items fade away into obscurity on their own.
rooooar
If you are worried about theft, you can just stash it in a safe when you leave for work. Of course, if you're smart, you'd just buy a cheaper desktop computer and encrypt the filesystem.
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
Its a shame manufacturers don't put a little more thought into such products. A few more refinements and I would be able to think of dozens of uses. However, as it stands, I can still think of few:
1) Put linux on it and hide it away as a server. Everyone loves a tiny server, espeically at lan parties when the less equipment you have to lug around too much equipment.
2)How about a Beowulf cluster of 100 systems. . . In your closet!
3) uhm....Other stuff I guess? Honestly with just a tiny screen and some sort of input method this could really be neat. I mean Palms/PocketPc's just don't have enough power in them. . . But since the manufacturers seem more inclined to make a neat gadeget (which admittedly is enough to make me sort of want one) than they are a useful product you'd have to do this bit of mod work yourself.
People with very cluttered desktops, or people with almost empty desktops who complain a computer 'takes up too much space'. Yes, these people do exist, amazingly.
This
Jadetec also call their MicroPC the world's smallest. Since the e-Space site seems to be a little bit Slashdotted right now, I can't compare the sizes directly, but Jadetec's offering claims:
++ Say to Elrond "Hello.".
Elrond says "No.". Elrond gives you some lunch.
They're probably hosting their site on one of these things!
________________________________________________
suwain_2
Any area where you really do have to fit a large number of PCs into a small area - we've recently outfitted a training room, and small footprint has been one of the most important deciding factors in purchasing the hardware. We ended up going with slimline PCs and LCD monitors, but if the budget had stretched a little bit further, devices like this might have been ideal.
++ Say to Elrond "Hello.".
Elrond says "No.". Elrond gives you some lunch.
I always thoughtthe Matchbox PC was the smallest PC
Perhaps one possible target audience for these machines are the same people who invest in removeable hard drives. There are lots of people who want the security of removeable media -- perhaps a combined package of the processor with the hard drive would be attractive to these people.
BEN
I beg to differ with their claim.. there are functional systems much smaller than this thing. Single board systems have been doing this for years -
See: WinSystems, Inc. for one such company.
I remember the matchbox pc and the more impressive credit card pc which was a webserver on a 16k smart card with a tcp layer written in java and about 5k of storage space, so unless this "smallest pc in the world" is the size of a flea or as thin as paper i think their claims are exaggerated
... it makes a great foot rest
This must be Thursday, I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
...is that the Slashdot crew are a bunch of hippie 'alternative lifestyle' terrorists?
And they are right, too. Why read anything about something if you have your own opinion about it already ?
So it makes sense that their server is already slashdotted.
but not at that price!
Picture you develop/work in two locations, home, and a client. The client may NOT allow you to have a VPN. They have supplied you with a desktop, plus a computer system. This allows you to bring YOUR box with you to have the environment YOU want - you use THEIR monitor and keyboard, and work!
Thing is, at that price, you can buy a laptop
-- 73 de KG2V For the Children - RKBA! "You are what you do when it counts" - the Masso
This PC seems to do everything the $1500 one does. Check out what it comes with: Specifications: Processor: Intel Celeron 1GHz processor (FCPGA) 370-Pin processor socket System bus frequency at 66MHz Memory: 128MB SDRAM; Upgradable to 256MB One 144pin DIMM slot for PC100/PC133 SDRAM Storage: 10GB UDMA hard drive 24X Max. CD-ROM drive Video: Intel 82810E built-in full motion video accelerator H/W motion compensation for S/W MPEG2 at 30fps 4MB of video memory (shared) Supports 1280 x 1024 pixels resolution at 24bit color One S-Video Out port One AV Video Out port Speakers and Audio: Built-in 16-bit stereo (Sound Blaster / Adlib compatible) Full duplex 3D stereo sound Built-in speaker One 3.5mm microphone in port One 3.5mm line out port (using active speakers) Communications: Built-in 10/100Base-T Ethernet (RJ45) Built-in 56K V.90 modem (53K max. per FCC regulations) IrDA Peripheral Connections: Two USB ports One 9-pin serial port One 25 pin parallel port (EPP / ECP) Keyboard and Mouse: One 6 pin PS/2 mouse port One 6 pin PS/2 keyboard port Electrical Requirements: Line voltage 100V AC (100V to 130V AC) or 230V AC (180V to 260V AC) Frequency: 47 to 63 Hz, single phase Power in: DC 18V / 3A Maximum power 64 Watt Weight and Size: System approximately 950g (2 lbs) System Dimensions: 157mm x 146mm x 45mm (6.18" x 5.75" x 1.77") One Year Manufacturer Warranty No Operating System Included [PERFECT FOR LINUX!]
If you're looking for small computers, try Shuttle SV24. It's almost as small as the e-Space and costs only $250, much less than the e-Space. But SV24 is a barebone so you will have to put in the CPU and memory, which is still very cheap.
If you can't get in, here's the Google cached page:
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:fILryV3u3R4:
Just have to keep MS software off it!
"Well, good luck finding a judge that doesn't run a bestiality site."
Yeah, that's the Saintsong Cappucino mentioned in the write-up.
One thing about these small computers is that they're never cheap. Has anyone seen a small (aka, small enough compared to a desktop to be considered cute) PC that's affordable (under a grand)? Maybe possibly useful as a gift, ya know...
[o]_O
$1,600 for monitor, keyboard and mouse?! Where are you shopping dude? For about $350 you can get a 15" Viewsonic flatscreen and for $50 more the mouse and keyboard (although these days used equipment -- albeit bulky -- somes in dirt cheap. Nice machine but what's the target market? It's a laptop without the screen and keyboard. Why? Just cos' it's there? Boomzilla
Rich people are eccentric. Poor people are strange. Me, I'd be happy with odd.
I wonder how loud this is. It's pretty small so I just don't anticipate it having much natural airflow. Since it's a Pentium III (rather than a Celeron, or even Pentium (@ .13 micron?)) it will generate a good amount of heat. So it must have a fan. But small fans trying to move a lot of air tend to be quite noisy (and irritating due to higher pitch).
The design is interesting and hopefully we will see more computers like this, but I don't find myself all that impressed yet. I want a system like the one shown, but one that relies on passive cooling. Frankly, size isn't a concern for me, make it rack mountable or a bit taller and maybe twice as wide. I'll mount it on its side PS2-style and have a nice quiet server (or desktop). With some good PS2-style design (eg, designed to stand on its side or lay flat) you could have a Mac-ish computer... one where it was both functional but also designed to fit into a room; something designed to not look like a plain computer box. Something you could put in your living room and not feel like a complete computer nerd when friends came over.
It seems like wearable computing is the ideal application for something like this, but also the one that isn't being pursued at all... In terms of just using it to carry data between your home and office, I agree that it's pretty useless. A small laptop with VGA and PS/2 ports fills that niche just fine.
Of course, exactly how usefull wearables really are is another debate entirely...
Haven't you guys ever heard of a laptop with a broken screen? Heck, get one of them for next to nothing; stick a monitor on it whenever necessary.
-
I'd rather have a bowl of coco-pops.
I think as a road-guy, who travels between home, and a work-station that is contained in a portable road-box.. this would be ideal
I was looking at such ideas this summer.. it would have been nice if I spent more time doing that job. You can build in the moniter and all the rest into your rolling work-case, then pull the unit to tkae it home to work.. almost as handy as a laptop..
peaZ
Wrong again.
Scary is KOwai. kawai is a common surname.
I hope Linus doesnt get pissed off at that company name.
Explanation for the linux joke impaired:
As I mentioned a month(?) ago, I'm working on a free version of a minix-lookalike for AT-386 computers. It has finally reached the stage where it's even usable (though may not be depending on what you want). -Linus - 1991
I don't think that a small pc is all we need...
I mean, the only use that I can think of for one of these machines is as an 'appliance' or 'convergence device' (as in: get my mp3s/oggs or divx movies -- or software dvd? -- in the living room without putting a big beige box in there). If you need something portable, get yourself a laptop. If you need a pc at your desk, get a 'real' pc. (and spend a lot less money...).
I think that what we really need is some kind of small motherboard (like the shuttle sv-24) maybe, plug in one of the faster VIA C3 processors (heatsink cooled -- of course), and, very important, a fanless power supply. (anybody know where to get one of those?)
I ain't buying this stuff...
It's a $300 SBC board packed inside $1300 of what again? Honestly, $1600 is a waste for that. I mean, yeah, it'd make a small server, blah blah. Big deal--$1600 can get you a dual-processor 1U rack unit with far more standardized hardware. And you could certainly custom-build a unit of about the same size for far less using an off-the-shelf SBC, many of which have optional onboard LCD controllers, allowing you an easy route to a small display as well (you can find 8" VGA LCDs on eBay for sub-$100). And as a replacement for a laptop... you can buy 2 good laptops for the cost of one of these things.
Why would anyone use e-Space as a notebook when it comes without a screen, a keyboard, or a mouse? Yes, you can save space with this little guy, but you'll still need room for a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse on your desk.
ever hear of the twiddler? (www.handykey.com) or a HMD? ever hear of wearable computing? $1600.00 is dirt cheap for a turnkey wearable platform with that kind of power. as soon as I can find a 800X600 monicle display that costs less than a minivan I am all over this puppy. imagine on your train commute lying back working,coding,watching a divix flick, playing a game of quake3 with someone else on the train using your wifi card.
there is a huge world out there called wearable computing, check it out, and look up it's father. Steve Mann, the inventor of the wearable computer.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
The CPUs communicate over a gigabit Fibre Channel with each other and with the SAN - SAN's an arbitrated loop of course, the CPUs are switched fabric - and these are my screens - a full seven times twenty-one inch! And all running Enlightenment on X on their own Graphics PUs. It's wonderful what you can do with switched fabric and a set of flat screens!
"I his bow, and spun and wove, likes you." Vere de Vere out of my mould's mouth dragged me of the voluntary apes.
Hook this baby up with a Head Mounted Display, a wrist-mounted keyboard and trackball, some batteries, 802.11b, then stuff it in your backpack, and away you go!
Does anyone else remember when this was called the Ergo Brick?
Just thought that you might like to know that a UK distributor was making very similar machines over a year ago. I bought one for £150 (230 USD) ex-demo 6 months ago. (750 PIII, 256MB, 20GB, DVD).
They work fine as servers, but the plastic cae overheats quite a lot. I HIGHLY recommend getting a mobile PIII fitted, otherwise things melt. Anyway, the machine was the Advent Micro PC, distributed by PC World in the UK.
I suspect from the look of this machine, it is based on the same board + case.
-lyceus-
[apologies if repeat of previous topic]
Are you dumb? $1600 is the price for the system. Go back to the first grade and learn how to read.
I have a Cappucino (the DVD version) which I primarily use as a portable task server.
Basically what I call a "task server" is a computer dedicated to things that take too long, like Kazaa downloads, compiles, DivX compression, etc. I can leave the machine where it is more convenient to do the task while I'm gone, whether that is at work, at home, or on the road. For instance, as I have lots of bandwidth at work so if I'm downloading the latest Buffy episode it is more convenient for me to leave the Cappacino at my desk. If I'm doing some projects at home I'll use it at home. I also use the Cappucino to a lesser extent as a transfer file server.
With WinXP Pros's "Remote Desktop Connection" I can use any Win2K or WinXP machine to connect to the Cappucino remotely and control whatever task I'm running there. WinXP Pro's RDC is really quite cool, and at DSL speeds I can run apps from home while machine is at work, and visually barely notice that I'm connecting remotely.
I like the Cappucino for what I use it for, but it really could use some improvements to make it more generally useful. I'd consider using it for music or as a lan party machine, but the Cappacino's video is useless for games and the audio is insufficiently high fidelity (though I know someone who is using it with a USB audio system with better results then I.) The DVD version doesn't rip very fast either, so it is only an adequate dedicated ripping machine.
These audio and video limitation appears to also apply to the Mynix e-Space machine as well. If a successor to either box was using the new nVidia nForce chip I'd swap out and use the new device more broadly then I'm currently using the Cappacino.
The only major thing that I can see of Mynix e-Space machine has over the Cappucino is that it appears to have a DVI output. I have been trying to convert to DVI LCDs, and the Cappucino is now my only computer that can't use them.
However, the fact that the Mynix e-Space machine require USB for networking seems a poor choice. My Cappacino only needs two wires, an ethernet and the power, (which both conveniently plug on the same side) and it is up and working.
Another minor advantage that the Mynix e-Space machine appears to have is that all the major connections are in the back. The Cappacino has connectors on three sides, spaced out fairly broadly. If I was trying to use the Cappacino as a semi-portable desktop machine, the wires coming out from all sides would be quite inconvenient.
-- Herder of Cats
I noticed that it used the wording "The world's smallest tested and certified computing system"
It is definatly not the smallest PC. I think that Tiqit still holds that record with the Matchbox PC http://www.tiqit.com/mpc.html
I'd choke using this as a networked machine. The supported network connections are a choice of 2 USB ethernet for "10/100" connectivity (3Com and D-Link). Hmmm, USB is maxed out at 11Mbps. Also, the way that USB works is each device "reserves" a slice of bandwidth appropriate for their needs, but must be careful to not hog all of it or nothing else will work on the same bus. If I recall correctly, at least the 3Com USB (which is an OEM from Acton and I believe the same as the D-Link) only reserves 2Mbps. Boy, that would suck when you are used to near 100Mbps (or even 10Mbps) to local servers.
The only athletic sport I ever mastered was backgammon - Douglas William Jerrold
81 comments, and no one mentioned the girl.
Mommy. What's a karma whore?