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Digital-Logic Microspace Mini-PCs
frozenray writes: "Digital-Logic AG, a Swiss company, sells two rather cool BX-based
mini PCs, the Microspace-PC30 and -PC31. Most notable features are: very compact size, passive cooling (<35 dB according to the manufacturer), an impressive collection of interfaces (including 2xUSB, IRDA, TV Out/In, FireWire, 2xEthernet 10/100, optional smartcard reader, line in/out, microphone), CDR or DVD, 20 GB 2.5" harddisk. The downside: Those are definitely no systems for power users (current processors are 700 MHz Celeron and 700 MHz P3, 1 GHz mobile P4 systems are planned according to this [German] article), the SMI721 graphics controller is nothing for UT addicts, and they're quite expensive (CHF 2'549.- and 3'199.- according to their Swiss distributor, which amounts to approximately US$ 1'517.- / US$ 1'904.- at the current exchange rate). Another caveat: The power supply is external, but I didn't see any pictures of it on their website. Readers may want to compare this design to the TX2 version of the 'Cappuccino' PC which is similar in concept but has a rather loud CPU fan."
at those prices, you might as well spring for the new iMac.
Just raise the taxes on crack.
Can you feel the floor around that NT server shaking as it tries to build that ASP page for all of us at once?
I wonder what it's shock tolerances are. That looks like something you'd stick in your trunk, hook up a few wires, and have a car mp3 player with all of an hour's effort.
As for replacing laptops... no.
Laptops are much more convenient, an entire display and input system integrated into the casing. This thing looks like a super-small replacement for that big box on most people's desk. Get the CEO that nice 19" flatpanel, nice mouse, keyboard, everything, and mount one of these things under his desktop. Much easier to handle upgrades, and cheaper.
Now, hopefully prices will come down sometime soon.
I'd expect to read this in an ad banner, not an article. Is there anything that even remotely "matters" about this thing?
Wife: "I think the dog ate it. You better take a plastic bag with you when you take him for a walk."
This makes portable MP3 player take on a whole new meaning.
Digital-Logic AG, a Swiss company, sells two rather cool BX-based mini PCs...
Both fully equipped with such powerful swiss inventions as a built in nail filer, toothpick, three different sized knives with replacement blades, tweezers, scissors, hair brush, cooking stove, VCR, TV, AM/FM radio, penguin food dispenser...
The speed of time is one second per second.
Doesn't have the firewire though...
Too bad they seem to be /.ed, I'd like to see what else they have.
Under capitalism man exploits man. Under communism it's the other way around.
But at those prices, I'm unlikely to buy one.
And from looking at the specs provided by the summary, it appears I could build an identical system for 1/4 the price, the only downside being size and perhaps power consumption.
As someone previously posted, for the lack of video options, a laptop would do just as nicely, although there aren't too many laptops with two ethernet adapters (but you could add an extra one via a pcmcia slot).
-Restil
Play with my webcams and lights here
The devices I've seen billed as "Mini PCs" are a bit smaller than normal laptops, I'd say about 8" x 8" x 3" (it's late, don't jump on me if I'm off.)
People in "industry" buy them, with 286 chips, because they want to make embedded devices but don't want to deal with firmware. I have some friends who make scientific instruments, they use them for this purpose as well.
The only use I can think of for something with about 1 Ghz of power - and it's a pretty strange one - is as a control system for really outre field analytical devices, if I wanted to make them portable. I'm talking about a device with really a lot of intelligence that is basically built into a laptop casing, with room to spare to make it a bit tougher.
The big problem with this, of course, is that anyone who is thinking of carrying around such a device (parts alone upwards of 30 grand, depending on what exactly it is, plus value added from being custom made by multiple PhDs) can get a laptop. It would seem to be much simpler to control the device from the laptop, like we allready do for the few devices that work this way.
For one thing, there is little point in doing sophisticated analysis in the field if you don't have a moniter to view the results.
The good and new comes from no quarter where it is looked for, and is always something different from what is expected.
Call me a troll if you want, but this is at least the third or fourth low footprint PC that has been featured on /. in the last couple of months of so.
/.), then I could see the point of posting this article. But, as it stands, this product is about as revolutionary as your grandma's apple pie.
And, as far as I can see, there is nothing special about this me-too box. It has no unique selling point at all - no low cost, no silent operation, no performance boost (relative to other mini PCs), no nada.
Now if there was something this box could do that other mini PCs couldn't do (especially those that have already been covered by
Was it a real slow news day? Were there no better stories to submit? (I doubt it, as every other post seems to have at least one comment in which someone moans about the cool story that they submitted being rejected.)
Give us news for nerds. Give us stuff that matters. Don't give us re-runs.
(Sorry but I had to get it off my chest and it had to be said.)
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
since when is a 700Mhz P3 not a powerful system? last i checked it was still running just as fast as that 700Mhz P3 that you were drooling over two years ago.