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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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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I'd rather have a bowl of coco-pops.