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."

Comments

Obligatory Manufacturers Link

[Kaypro]

And please no jokes when the site get's /.'d that it must be running on one of these things ;)

http://www.jadetec.co.uk/products/micropc4/

It's just a Mocha P4

[Wonko42]

This is just a rebranded (and uglified) Mocha P4, which was reported on previously right here.

Re:It makes sense

[iankerickson]

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.