1.0GHz P3 In A CD-ROM Drive Bay

Migraine Man writes "Similar to the PPC-based Briq, the folks at Stealth Computer have introduced an Intel-based PC that's built into a 5.25" CD-ROM-sized enclosure. It's got a 1.0GHz P3, 256M RAM, 20G HD, 10/100 eth, CD-ROM, USB, FireWire, video, and sound. At USD 995, it's reasonably priced too. You could put three of 'em on a 1U rackmount shelf, or stuff several into a mid-tower and build your own desktop cluster. A summary datasheet is here. Very cool."

Comments

What niche

[1984]

This isn't a troll, but what exactly is the niche? For not a lot more size, but less money, you could have a shoebox PC like a Shuttle SS40. For not a lot more space you could buy a laptop of the same performance, and have screen and keyboard. And you still have to plug all the wires in the back and (by the looks of it) provide top and rear venting, so you can't just pack 'em in a rack like crazy.

So, serious question: what's the niche? They're cool, yes, but beyond that?

Re:What niche

[Anonymous Coward]

Here is a niche device

reasonably priced?

[DarkHelmet]

At USD 995, it's reasonably priced too.

1.0ghz for $1000? Where do you do your computer shopping? Macy's?

Maybe it's me, but MORE POWERFUL, not smaller should dictate the expense of computer parts.

You can put a 286 inside a wristwatch, it doesn't make it worth 5000 USD.

Just my $.02

Re:reasonably priced?

[beckett]

miniaturization does carry a price, and people do pay more for small computers. This article illustrates the differences between the market that asks for speed, compared to the market that asks for good design.

this computer is not powerful at all, but how much power would someone need for office chores? this is perfect for the office environment. good for anything that can't have a large bulky computer case lying around.

I think it's laudable that mfgs. build different designs, especially smaller designs. i think that computers would be way more useful if they were designed for the purpose in mind, rather than simply cramming a hot running processor into the cheapest, ugliest box and calling it a "gaming machine". once people start thinking of computers like appliances rather than "OMG 3ghz box!" then we'll see a dramatic change in the way people use computers.

Gradually, we'll see people become less concerned about raw speed and more at making computers actually fit your lifestyle, rather than the other way around.

Re:reasonably priced?

[Migraineman]

Please take that "reasonably priced" comment in-context. You're paying a premium for something that's small. Yes, you can assemble a Flex-ATX system for about half the price, but it's also going to be six times the size. You wouldn't consider a $1500 laptop to be unreasonable, would you? You're paying for portability there, and willing to fork over the extra bucks because it has value to you.

One for my car, please

[whterbt]

This would be a great thing to install in your dashboard. You could have a self-contained computer that works as a GPS moving map (connect the GPS antenna to the USB port), CD/DVD player, MP3 player, game system, wireless internet, and so forth. You'd just need to pick up an LCD screen to go with it.

Not that I'm advocating people typing email messages or playing UT while driving -- they're distracted enough as it is. But this would be great for the passengers, especially on road trips!

Re:One for my car, please

[ThogScully]

I agree - my car is definitely a place I'd see a great deal of usage from a computer. Certainly, there are going to be stupid people who can't drive well enough to begin with browsing the web while driving if this becomes popular, but you can never avoid stupid people doing the stupidest things.

While browsing the web while driving may be a bad idea, the multimedia possibilities for this are great.
-N

Re:One for my car, please

[merlin_jim]

When the Eden first came out, that's EXACTLY what I did.

EPIA 800 MHz. 5.6" LCD screen (TV resolution, but who cares?) 4GB IBM Travelstar. DVD Drive. GPS. MP3. Wireless/Wired network. 7" acrylic cube case. Built in mouse, infrared remote, flexible/indestructible keyboard.

Then I drove to Peoria Illinois on July 17, and back on July 22. Anyone else who was in Peoria that weekend give me a shout cause I got MCL. It's about a 16 hour drive for me. The passengers loved it, I loved it. Never bored.

The only thing I've used it for since is to show some friends some music videos I downloaded off the net at concerts.

Now, I don't consider it exactly wasted because the computer itself is portable, and very convenient as a portable DVD player as well as computing device. And the LCD is mostly portable. One bolt and it's out of the car. And I've got a tripod I can screw it onto, and a 12V power supply. Since I do digital mixing live for parties, it's been a great help. No more dragging around a huge monitor everywhere.

Point being, it hasn't been used in my car except on a roadtrip. The week after I built it when I was still all excited about it. There are two primary issues:

1. It's not permanently wired. It takes some work to wire it in. And I don't always have the time to wire it in when I bring it out from my house or a gig or a friend's house or whatever. I plan on fixing that with a cradle. I only use about 20 wires when it's in the car (mouse+keyboard+gps = 5-wire USB port, video = 2-wire RCA, audio out = 3-wire stereo headphone jack, infrared = 9-wire RS232, power = 2-wire DC), and I'm basically just gonna hook all those up to a centronics connector and that should solve that problem.

2. Usability. It's not incredibly useable. First off, it's not instant on which is a problem. I can mostly fix that, but not all the way. The user input isn't unified. You use a combination of mouse and IR remote commands to control everything. The main problem there is I have a few different pieces of software. Hopefully Windows Media Player 9 will get slightly better support for DVD and I can use that. Then all I gotta do is get a better remote. My IR software is learning, so it works with any remote. I just gotta get one with all the buttons I need. Easier said than done, and if you're a computer or remote control manufacturer and you want my advice, feel free to contact me with regard to this. The short is I'm gonna ditch the Windows Explorer interface and use Windows Media Player as the primary interface to interact with the computer, and wire that up to be controlled in toto by a remote control.

So, if you're planning on building a car computer make sure that those two issues are covered. BTW, a keyboard on the dash doesn't work so don't even think about it. My only other advice is install a seperate lighter socket for it if you're gonna power it off that and not permanently wire it in. Whether you wire it in or not, put in a relay. You want that power off when the car is off. Even in standby mode (computer Instant-Off, LCD in standby) it sucks down a battery in a couple hours without the alternator on. Hard drives are cheap. Car batteries/electrical systems are not. Plus, your car will run without a hard drive. It won't run without a battery.

Re:Why the CD ROM?

[Alethes]

According to the datasheet, the "Slim CD-ROM/DVD-ROM, CD-RW" is optional. I don't know if that means you have to pick one of those, however.

Perfect HTPC!

[essell]

When I saw the pictures of this tiny little unit, I thought one thing: HTPC (That's Home Theater PC).

It would be especially nice to fit these units with a DVD-Rom to make a compact home-brew DVD/PVR/Photo/Video Jukebox. Especially considering your video input options for the PVR portion: DV/Firewire, USB capture device... whatever.

Re:Heat dissipation?

[rocket97]

I might be stupid here but please forgive me I am still buzzing from my party last night.... but anyway would it have been better to use P4's in this thing rather than P3's? From what I can remember the P4 runs much cooler than the P3, which in turn leads to less heat needing to be disbursed. Just a thought.

TV inn/out?

[PsychoKiller]

This doesn't have TV out, which would be nice for making a PVR box. Are there any USB TV in/out adapters (supported in Linux, natch) that could be used with this thing?

Re:Heat dissipation?

[Hadlock]

yeah in theroy you could underclock a 2.4 ghz to maybe 1.4 ghz or so, at which point you could probably passively cool it. intel still makes p3's though, for applications such as this, and as a result the 1ghz p3's of today run alot cooer than they did a year ago.

Re:Servers

[werschi]

If you like them you will love blade servers.
But of course no self respecting server would use 2,5" harddisks, not even in RAID 1 configuration.

Picture of the CD-ROM PC

[Anonymous Coward]

does it look like this one ?

Re:This isn't too new of an idea =)

[Anonymous Coward]

I suppose the biggest concern with these tiny computers is heat. Processors also are progressively getting smaller... this is supposedly reducing the heat production on the chips (relative to if they were larger and running at the same speed)...

Cases, unfortunately, aren't as forgiving... I'd like to see the smaller, quieter, and more efficient heat controlling system. CPU water cooler systems are nice, but they require significant real-estate. Heatsink / Fan combos are also nice, but they require a good air-flow pattern (and spit out a nice amount of heat from an exhaust of the machine)...

My CPU fan makes my computer sound like a mack truck. The water cooling system sounds like a good alternative but currently costs way too much... My CPU only cost a couple of hundred dollars... C'mon! How much am I supposed to pay to cool it?!?

Heck, I'd be happier if someone actually DID make an "ultra-quiet" CPU fan... not talking about slowing down the speed of the fan with technology, but actually making it more of a muffled sound without killing it's specs and making it useless.

Most fans for modern processors run at like 30 db at over 6000 RPM! That's a lot of noise... most case fans, by comparison, run at a relative whisper (and prolly much lower RPM). All this thing does is push air! Why all the noise?

Stackability

[cemysce]

It's probably not a good idea to stack these. If you look at the pictures, the CPU fan's ventilation holes are on top, so stacking these would cover those holes. You may be able to stack the Celeron models, though.

You mean like a SPARCplug from 1996?

[Gldm]

Color me unimpressed.

http://www.byte.com/art/9612/sec12/art4.htm

Ok so the P3 one isn't $10,000. But it's not 1996 anymore. Is this really that impressive given things like VIA EPIA and the Tiquit and Jumptech machines?