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Smaller Than The Mini PC, The P4/2400 Micro PC
fist_187 writes "Tom's Hardware Guide has a story on the smallest PC since the Mini-PC: The MicroPC. It's a Pentium 4/2400 MHz machine, but you'd probably mistake it for a cable modem. I'm sure this trend will continue on to the Nano-PC, Pico-PC, and the Dick Tracy Watch."
http://www.jadetec.co.uk/products/micropc4/
Eddy.WriteLinux.Com
This is just a rebranded (and uglified) Mocha P4, which was reported on previously right here.
The shuttle mini-pc's are a better option because their performance is in-line with a typical pc. The biggest advantage with the newest pentium base shuttle, is that they have an AGP port so it makes it a viable option for LAN party folks, since they can stick a radeon 9700 in there.
I'm a big fan of Micro ATX.
Small and unobtrusive, but with enough expansion to replace integrated components.
I really don't understand why there aren't more Micro ATX mobos and cases available to the general public.
obviously no deficiencies vs. no obvious deficiencies
If you think a laptop will be money well spent towards getting a quieter computer, I think you'll be disappointed. I do a lot of service on PCs and laptops, and I've been repeatedly surprised how loud the laptop's really are -- almost a bad as a PC, if not as bad.
I suspect the noise is from MTBF of fans and hard disks. It's true that some models of hard disks and fans really are quieter or louder than others. But take two PCs of the same model with exactly the same model parts and one will be louder. A fan can get dirt in the bearings, spin unevenly, or vibrate in place, all causing irritating noise. Everyone's experienced a hard disk that works just fine but has a piercing, tinitus-inducing whine, which usually gets worse over time. Just like when you a buy a PC, there's a certain chance that when you buy a laptop that you'll get a noisy one, and you'll either have to swap the guilty parts yourself, experiment with accoustic matting, or come up with a good excuse to exchange the noisy laptop for another of the same model and hope lightning doesn't strike twice.
Now if you want your laptop to get _noisier_, just move it around a lot while it's powered on with the drives spun up and be sure to place next to a pile of dust-ridden papers. Bump, move, or shove the desk the laptop sits on as much as possible. It won't take long...
If you want permanant lasting quiet, get a handheld PC, like a Psion or a PocketPC. They're certainly not as good as a "real" PC or laptop for the money, but they are _totally_ silent. The only sound mine makes is a slight hum from the backlight, but I have to put my ear near the screen to notice.
When you say you hope we're up for another format switch in PCs, I think you're right. DoC sockets are becoming common on motherboards. CompactFlash cards are getting bigger and cheaper. USB 2 is adequate for connecting external hard disks. I suspect PCs are going to become more and more solid-state, but not for good reasons. I think Microsoft is going to push for the core of their OS to live on a DRM-enabled, read-only flash that requires digital keys to modify. Sure it will be cracked in a week, but I think the current X-box vs. Linux charade is just a rehearsal. Their using it as free research to see if it would work for PCs. Eventually PCs are going to become so powerful and so cheap that the threat "Buy a new computer!" if you want to upgrade your version of Windows will be like ordering someone to spend $50 to double the gas mileage of their car.
Let the funny Microsoft/Automotive metaphors begin.
Democracy. Whiskey. Sexy. Pick any two.
anyone interested in a desktop workstation with no fans might want to check out this german machine: http://www.signumdata.de/english/futureclient.htm
2.2 Ghz P4, no fans at all - not even in the power supply. It's not ultra small, but still it looks very sweet...
I am not sure you know what you pay for when you colocate. It's the space, not the number of servers. So a tower would take at least 3U, conservative. I would drop a couple dual Xeon 1U SuperMicros in there for grunt work, and a 1U custom unit for the data backup. WAY WAY more performance.
And, before you tell me about number of individual servers, that's why VMWare sells their higher end products.
My 2.6 yen...
"Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead." A. Huxley
That is not small. At 3.5 pounds, it is a monster. Try this http://www.upont.com/tx3.asp at a sleek 1.9 pounds. Get it from newegg http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=m anufactory&catalog=309&manufactory=1281&DEPA=1&sor tby=14&order=1 for $635.
... Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed...
I've been looking for this for a while.
The problem is that there's been a sense of "damn the noise and heat, give me speed" among PC users for too long, and it's really caused a distortion in the market. Hot, noisy systems that run 50% faster.
The Barracudas are nice, but here are a couple of other thoughts:
Current x86 processors pretty much suck from a heat perspective. You can't really get below 40 watts. I believe there's still a fanless Cyrix processor in production, but it's kind of slow. You might consider a PPC box from Apple.
There are "quiet hard drive" cases. Unfortunately, they generally can't cope with the ventilation demands of 7200RPM drives -- another nice reason to get the Barracudas, which run cool. With 5400 RPM drives, though, you can use these.
There are cases designed to reduce noise. Haven't tried these. Also, haven't tried "silence mods" by adding sound-absorbing material like cork to the inside walls.
There are "quiet power supplies". Haven't tried these either...think they mostly just put a nicer fan in.
Stick with large, low-RPM fans. They're quieter. There are also a few expensive fans designed to be really, really quiet.
I miss my (literally silent) Mac Plus.
May we never see th