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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."

7 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. Can you feel it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can you feel the floor around that NT server shaking as it tries to build that ASP page for all of us at once?

  2. How is this news? by Have+Blue · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd expect to read this in an ad banner, not an article. Is there anything that even remotely "matters" about this thing?

  3. Honey, have you seen the computer.... by Ooblek · · Score: 5, Funny
    Me: "Honey, have you seen the computer laying around anywhere? I need to fire up Quicken and pay some bills."

    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.

  4. Swiss-based Company by Indras · · Score: 4, Funny

    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.
  5. Well.. its slashdotted. by Restil · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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
  6. How is this remotely news and/or interesting? by WIAKywbfatw · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.

    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 /.), 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.

    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
  7. not powerful? what are you smoking? by Splork · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.