Barebones Notebook

Gsurface writes "The first barebones notebook makes its appearance. The barebone notebook features no display, no CPU, no RAM and no HDD, but only the case, with keyboard and touchpad."

Comments

No Display?

[rprata]

Where would one buy a display?

Re:No Display?

[BorgDrone]

I think these are meant for OEM's, so they choose a display, cpu, hdd, etc.

Re:No Display?

[The Jonas]

well, here are some small ones to get started with. I don't how well they will work with this setup, though.

Re:No Display?

[Phosphor3k]

Those are all composite in video displays. I have one hooked up to the video out on my radeon 9500, and while videos look awsome, applications look like carp!

Re:No Display?

[Eccles]

while videos look awsome, applications look like carp!

If you got one of those amber displays, would they look like goldfish?

Re:No Display?

[zurab]

Try laptopparts.com here. Those are brand name displays, search found 903 of them, and no way to sort by price.

I bought one of these!

[loucura!]

It makes a really great prop for my couch... I really needed to take those videos back to Blockbuster.

Re:I bought one of these!

[loucura!]

1. What are you going to do with a bare-bones laptop without a display? Where do you propose to obtain a display?

The joke is partly at the company for selling a quasi-useless laptop case.

The other part is at the prevailing opinion of the trolls on Slashdot that all /.ers should boycott the MPAA, hence my getting movies from Blockbuster, rather than giFT.

ok.....

[exhilaration]

I know I get most of the components anywhere, but where the hell do you get the LCD????

Re:ok.....

[will592]

I haven't been able to open the link, but I know eBay is full of LCD screens designed for laptops. I don't know how interchangeable the LCD's are but that might be a good source.
Chris

Re:ok.....

[suckass]

Ebay!!!!

Re:ok.....

[kfg]

From an electronics jobber. Where you'll also find everything you need to design, build and test everything from an old fasihoned crystal radio set to a mainframe computer.

You need only supply your own money and intelligence.

These days the answer to "Where do I get. . ." is almost always, " At the store."

You want a small particle accelerator? People sell them over the counter, or all the parts to build your own.

The only trick is to find the store. Trust me, it's there.

KFG

Re:ok.....

[Anonym1ty]

Yes but both mainframe computers and crystal radio set are anceint technologies...

*ducks*

ok ok ok.... I make electronic toys too.

If you look hard enough you can find most anything you want or need. The only trick I have ever found to finding something is to know what hell you're looking for in the first place. Usually then finding it is pretty easy.

Re:ok.....

[680x0]

Perhaps you're misinterpreting that sign in Radio Shack advertising "breadboards"? :-)

Re:ok.....

[Radio Shack Robot]

Hey! >:-O

Re:ok.....

[charon_on_acheron]

Hey, maybe you could help me. I bought a old record player, Decca brand, and it makes a loud hum from the speaker. Doesn't change when I turn the volume knob. It starts to hum about 20 seconds after I turn it on. The guy I bought it from said I needed to have the vacuum tube replaced. I checked Radio shack and found plenty of older technology parts, but no vacuum tubes. Do you know which 'store' could do that? I don't want to try to do it myself, since I don't know even what type tube it is. It would suck to blow it up with a mismatch.

And for those wondering why I bought it, it was only $5. Even if I can't get it working, it will look nice with my collection of old computers.

Re:ok.....

[unitron]

It may or may not need one or more tubes replaced but what you've described is the classic symptom of a bad filter capacitor in the power supply.

See if there's a community college or trade school in your area with an electronics servicing class that might want to fix it as a learning experience, or try a radio-TV repair shop that's been in business for a long time and might still have a tube tester.

Since it's a Decca, I'm guessing you're probably not here in eastern NC where I could help but somewhere that was once a part of the empire upon which the sun never set.

Re:ok.....

[gerbache]

Search the internet for vacuum tubes. There's a huge movement in high-end audio back to using tubes, so a lot of places are selling new old stock tubes specifically for this purpose. BTW, another thing to think about is that if it has capacitors, some of them may be on the way out, which could also introduce a hum all the time.

If you're handy with a soldering iron, it might not be a bad idea to go through the entire thing and check all the parts to make sure none of them have gone bad. Older electronics tend to do that, especially when they are left sitting for long periods of time. A couple sites to check out would be here and here for vacuum tubes and other assorted old stereo equipment parts. Hope you can get it working, I think vintage stereo equipment is really neat (my speakers and amplifier both date to the mid-70s).

Re:ok.....

[Anonym1ty]

It could be a Vacuum tube, but that sounds like it could just be a filter capacitor. I've always found going to Amateur (HAM) Radio swap meets the best place to find tubes or other older electronic parts. Not just because you can get them cheap (although usually used) but usually they are being sold by a little old man who has had electronics as his hobby for 3/4 of a century and he probly can tell you more than you want to know about exactly what you need to fix your problem by just mentioning the word Decca, before even describing the problem.

Zero posts and its already down?

[bogie]

nt

Re:Zero posts and its already down?

[FrostedWheat]

The site www.xbitlabs.com is running Apache/1.3.14 (Unix) mod_perl/1.24 PHP/4.0.3pl1 FrontPage/4.0.4.3 mod_ssl/2.7.1 OpenSSL/0.9.6 on Linux.

Uh-oh :)

Re:Zero posts and its already down?

[spoonyfork]

From netcraft.com:

The site www.xbitlabs.com is running Apache/1.3.14 (Unix) mod_perl/1.24 PHP/4.0.3pl1 FrontPage/4.0.4.3 mod_ssl/2.7.1 OpenSSL/0.9.6 on Linux

Already /.'d?

[Knightfall]

In two minutes? Are you kidding me?

Re:Already /.'d?

[hey]

It's in Russia... might explain why.

Re:Already /.'d?

[Soul-Burn666]

I'm sorry, but I must....

In Soviet Russia, the sites Slashdot you!

Re:Already /.'d?

[Tin Weasil]

In Soviet russia?

Re:Already /.'d?

[daddymac]

I'm surprised it lasted this long.

Considering the web server has no display, no ram, no hard drive...

Re:Already /.'d?

[punkmanandy]

well, no hard drive and no diplay on a webserver i can understand, but no ram? that might just be a problem.

Interesting, but

[InterruptDescriptorT]

Where, I wonder, would one buy individual parts for a notebook?

It's pretty easy to go to your local dealer and pick up an Athlon, mobo of your choice, some cheap RAM, hard drive, etc. I have to say that I've never seen notebook parts available a la carte like with regular computer paraphernalia.

Besides, even if you could get those things, I have a hunch it would be far more expensive than getting a brand-new notebook from Dell or Gateway. They buy their parts in bulk and can therefore pass the savings on to the consumer.

I'm totally in favour of self-building, don't get me wrong, but I wonder if the economics of the whole deal doesn't favour just buying a new notebook outright and spending the savings on some accessories.

Re:Interesting, but

[ComputerSlicer23]

If buying in bulk was really all there was to the price, I wouldn't be able to build a machine cheaper then Dell. As a general rule, I normally can (I haven't tried lately so maybe I can't). The difference is in who does the labor. The really big savings is that you get no labor, and you get no replacement parts, you get no support. So build your own can be cheaper if the bulk parts discount, doesn't overcome the labor/support issues.

I wouldn't build my own laptop, just because laptops are touchy little beasties. Heat and airflow are really important. Docking stations, and port replicators are nice. Not to mention the wear and tear due to abuse, and move moving parts (the hinges on the screen), and the various clips that I wouldn't get the right kind for, especailly not if I'm buying on the cheap. Batteries and removable parts are a problem. Power consumption, and LCD quality. Just lots of little issues that I wouldn't get right, that Dell would.

Kirby

Re:Interesting, but

[kfg]

You are used to shopping in stores that cater to people who *assemble* computers, and only stock those things that those people buy.

In the stores that cater to people who *build* computers you'll find everything you need.

KFG

Re:Interesting, but

[SquadBoy]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF -8&q=laptop+parts&btnG=Google+Search

Re:Interesting, but

[Miles]

Well, as long as it had a VGA or DVI out, you could attach an external display to it. I don't know about the processor, but the rest is pretty standard. So it wouldn't be much more useful than for presentations or LAN parties, but might be nice for those who really need to travel light.

Re:Interesting, but

[Hythlodaeus]

it would be far more expensive than getting a brand-new notebook from Dell or Gateway. They buy their parts in bulk and can therefore pass the savings on to the consumer.

If by, "pass the savings on to the consumer," you mean, "pocket the difference," you're right.

Availability of the parts, especially motherboards and displays, could easily be a problem though.

Re:Interesting, but

[slamb]

You are used to shopping in stores that cater to people who *assemble* computers, and only stock those things that those people buy. In the stores that cater to people who *build* computers you'll find everything you need.

Umm, your distinction is silly. "Assemble" means putting together premanufactured pieces. That's what the pieces of the laptop would be also, unless you are talking about buying raw materials like silicon, gold, oil, etc, designing everything, and fabricating the chips and boards yourself. And refining the oil into plastic. And...

Re:Interesting, but

[bytesmythe]

I have a hunch it would be far more expensive than getting a brand-new notebook from Dell or Gateway. They buy their parts in bulk and can therefore pass the savings on to the consumer.

Actually, they buy them pre-assembled and slap a name badge on them, then screw you with a huge mark-up.

Re:Interesting, but

[aminorex]

Perhaps more to the point, if you have control
over a set of components with standardized
interfaces, you can upgrade, so your investment
doesn't end up a hand-me-down-to-grandma in 6
months. That's a big savings.

Re:Interesting, but

[MattCohn.com]

I understood what he ment, even if it wasn't 100% acurate.

Assemble:
"Alright, so then the power cord goes into the back of the box, and the outlet. Hmm.... OK. And then all these cords.... OH! They are color coded. OK, then I put teal to teal and purple to purple"......

Build:
"Alright. I take the Athlon, slide it in the slot, insert my RAM, configure my drives as slave/master, plug them into the IDE ribbon"......

Re:Interesting, but

[aminorex]

His distinction may be silly, but English is a silly
language: His distinction was *clear*, and
meaningful. I think everyone who read his comment
understood what he meant, and understood it to be
a true statement.

Lighten up.

Re:Interesting, but

[geekoid]

in days oy yor, it was more expensive to build your own desktop.
if it gets consumer demand, it will get cheaper. Plus labor is removed from the equation, and support is spread out to different companies.

Re:Interesting, but

[harlows_monkeys]

If buying in bulk was really all there was to the price, I wouldn't be able to build a machine cheaper then Dell. As a general rule, I normally can (I haven't tried lately so maybe I can't)

It depends. I'll assume you buy parts from reputable dealers. I've seen great deals from dealers with the lowest prices at Pricewatch, but then have looked them up at Reseller Ratings, and found that they sucked. So, let's use prices from dealers that rate well, so we actually get our parts, and if we have any problems, can exchange them in less than six months and two lawsuits. :-)

Under that assumption, you can beat, or come close, to the prices you get when you simply go to Dell and configure a good medium to high end system.

On the other hand, Dell usually has various coupons and specials that you don't find just going to the site. If you spend a while watching places like Techbargains, and pounce on the specials, you can't come anywhere near Dell's prices by building your own--even if you throw sanity to the wind, and buy from the cheapest lowball places you can find for parts.

For example, they had their best 19" LCD for something like $600 with the right coupons and rebates for a couple days. A comparable LCD from most places was $1200, and could be found for $900 on sale at the time.

Of course, this assumes starting from nothing. When you take into account that most of us building our own salvage many parts from the system we are replacing, the long term cost of building your own might be less.

Re:Interesting, but

[will592]

I think you're still wrong. Sticking ram in a motherboard or configuring jumpers on a hard drive is still 'assembling' a computer. I think he was referring to an electronics store where youc an buy electronic components and solder together your own controllers and adapters. That is more like 'building' a computer. Funny though, where people draw the line.
Chris

Re:Interesting, but

[RajivSLK]

That's a big savings.

Not for grandma.

Re:Interesting, but

[Zach Fine]

I've built many a system for waaaaay less than a Dell, Gateway, or the like (comparisons to the cost of a prebuilt LCD screen [purchased with stacked coupons and discounts] to a fictitious homebuilt large LCD screen is amusing but, um, I don't get it). It's laughable to think that I'd have been able to buy a AMD 1.4Ghz Dell with 40Gb hard drive, Radeon dual-monitor support, CDRW drive, DVD-Rom drive, and a half gig of ram 2 years ago for around $500 from Dell, Gateway, or any of the majors. But with parts bought from Fry's, Compgeeks, Newegg, and other vendors I was able to cobble together a nice little system for that price. I added a KVM switch and used the 19" LG 995 monitor, mouse, and keyboard from my Mac to complete the project. For someone lacking those parts they could have been purchased (sans KVM) for under $300 altogether. I'd guess that an equivalent system from Dell would've cost more than $800 before the addition of a 19" monitor.

In general, you can buy all the parts and spend an hour putting it all together for at least a few hundred dollars less than a prebuilt system. You can also save extra by using equivalent but less costly parts, and by skimping on parts that aren't important to you. Find a local or online computer parts store that's reputable and has good prices, and there's no way the parts will cost as much as the total of the parts included in a prebuilt system from Dell or whoever.

The value of buying a prebuilt is not that you're getting any of the benefit of Dell's bulk orders of computer hardware (they keep that benefit in the form of profits), but that you get support and a single warranty provider rather than having to deal with all the different manufacturers when encountering a problem. You're not just paying for the brand name, although that's part of it.

Since I can build and support my own, none of my computer's parts were defective, and I don't think it's that big a deal to work with manufacturer's warranties, I will probably never pay extra for Dell brand equity and support. For my Grandma I'd probably recommend she buy from one of the majors, I'd advise her to go with Apple but she already bought herself a Gateway.

As for building my own 19" LCD monitor, I suppose that might be a worthwhile endeavor if the cost of LCD monitors were high enough to justify the millions of dollars of R&D I'd need to spend before manufacturing one.

Re:Interesting, but

[Scud_the_disposable_]

How would not having a display make it travel light? I'm not flaming here, i'm just asking a question.. How could you travel light while lugging around a monitor?

Even if you could find a monitor at your destination, what's the point of having a laptop that you can only use while plugged in? Wouldn't it be smarter to buy, say a USB hard drive?

Re:Interesting, but

[Luke-Jr]

I would recommend a shorter URI... Say, http://google.com/search?q=laptop+parts for instance.

Re:Interesting, but

[slamb]

MattCohn.com said: > I understood what he ment, even if it wasn't 100% acurate.

Well, it's interesting that your definitions don't match his. So I don't think you do understand what he meant. And I don't either, or I wouldn't have replied to begin with.

InterruptDescriptorT said: >>>> Where, I wonder, would one buy individual parts for a notebook? It's pretty easy to go to your local dealer and pick up an Athlon, mobo of your choice, some cheap RAM, hard drive, etc. I have to say that I've never seen notebook parts available a la carte like with regular computer paraphernalia.

MattCohn.com said: > Build: "Alright. I take the Athlon, slide it in the slot, insert my RAM, configure my drives as slave/master, plug them into the IDE ribbon"......

So clearly InterruptDescriptorT is used to building by that definition.

kfg said: >>> You are used to shopping in stores that cater to people who *assemble* computers, and only stock those things that those people buy. In the stores that cater to people who *build* computers you'll find everything you need.

...but kfg says he's used to shopping in stores for people who assemble. With components in that store, it's really not clear to me what a store for people who build would have, if not the raw materials to make components.

Re:Interesting, but

[slamb]

His distinction was *clear*, and meaningful.

No, it wasn't clear to me. I don't tend to be pedantic about language unless the meaning is unclear. And if you look at my other reply, you'll see someone else misunderstood his meaning also.

Re:Interesting, but

[mobets]

Well, the destinction between what you are doing was a little thin, bu tI think the destinction in the kind of store is clear. Its the defference between places like Fry's, and Comp USA that he was refering to first, and the small parts shops that sell the OEM stuff.

Re:Interesting, but

[RzUpAnmsCwrds]

That's the point of building a system: it's for people who don't believe computers are a commodity.

Many people also believe that autos are a commodity. Yet we see many people putting hard work and effort into a car.

What they, and the people who build PCs (like myself), get out of their machine is much more than what someone who buys a Dell gets out of their system.

Buy a Dell if you want a tool. Build a PC if you want a friend.

Re:Interesting, but

[kfg]

Ok. let me clarify for you and the others then. I sometimes forget what a Brave New World it is, so bear with me.

Whan I say assemble I mean what a poster says I mean by build. You can go into Best Buy and purchase a HD, a motherboard, a case, memory, etc. and then you put it all togeher, kit wise. No biggy. If'in I'm under the gun I can do that in under 15 minutes these days from the starting gun to popping in the OS install CD. I know people who can do it in under 10, but I'm not as driven to impress as they are. That is not building a computer. That is assembling one, and Best Buy will not sell you a raw laptop display screen because that isn't something assemblers buy.

No, by build I don't mean buying gold and raw silicon, but I do mean buying *individual* memory chips, a blank board, acid etching your own traces, soldering the chips to the board. . . and then putting it aside, because you haven't built your motherboard in similar fashion yet.

Yes, there are people who do things this way. Who *build* their own board, of their own design. Purchasing the individual chips and discrete componants and then soldering them together. Usually to make a special purpose computer or sound device, or a PC expansion card that performs some nonstandard function.

This is how the first Apple computers were *built.* This is how Sinclair worked in the design phase. This is how many expansion card manufacturers first got a handle on the business while making neat things in the garage.

And there are stores that cater to these people. Radio Shack used to be one of these stores. Now they sell little plactic helmets with swirling lights on top and model Trans Ams that tumble across the floor.

But in many a fair sized town, tucked down some back alley, there is a little shop that most people don't know about, and if you go in their front door you wont see a little plastic helmet anywhere.

You WILL see a display of oscillicopes to the ceiling. Soldering stations. Raw, unetched general purpose circuit boards and PC expansion cards. Thousands of individual chips. Wire of all possible description. Resistors. Capacitors. Trasistors.Breadboards. Etc.

All that stuff that can be used to *make* something, rather than just assemble it by plugging pre made things together.

This sort of shop will also sell you a display for a laptop. They're used for things other than laptops.

Like the display on a custom programable audio synthesizer.

Yes, people still hand craft those too.

Some people are funny and don't just go to K-Mart for everything.

Go figure.

I build most of my own furniture, rather than purchasing premade or *assembling* the stuff that comes out of the box from Home Depot or BJ's. Usually that means a trip to the lumber yard, but yes, *sometimes* that even means going out to my wood lot and cutting down a tree and making my own boards.

Try it. It's fun as all hell. You can buy an attachment for your chainsaw that lets you rough cut your own boards without an expensive mill. After seasoning you run them through your power planer, or even maybe scrape them by hand, depending on what you're building.

But I'm not so pedantic as to imply that to "build" a computer you need a chem lab to make your own raw expoxy from chemicals you extracted from sea water and scraped off your forehead.

That would be silly.

KFG

Re:Interesting, but

[slamb]

Thank you. Much clearer. Hadn't realized anyone still did that, much less that there were still stores to cater to them.

Re:Interesting, but

[kfg]

Certainly not as many as there used to be. Once upon a time, back in the day, designing and building your own electronics devices, particularly radios and stereo equipment, was a major mainstream hobby. Back then you'd find these shops brightly lit right on Main Street.

Nowadays, in most cities, you can tell you're on Main Street because the density of winos and crack hos suddenly shoots up.

These shops no longer have the sort of clientel that allows them to exist in a mall, which is why you'll find them down alleys where the rent is cheap, but they're there, and they do decent business. There are still quite a few people who, either for enjoyment or for professional reasons, rely on them. No neon signs though, because they don't rely on "attracting" business. You might have been walking right by one in your town without even realizing it. They know that anyone who needs what they've got will find them and actually like to discourage "gawkers" who don't know what they want, come in, buy it, and get the hell out.

They aren't as friendly and helpful as they were 30 years ago either, which is a damned shame.

I used to be able to go in these places and say, "I'm building a data aquisition device for my PC and I was wondering if anyone makes a photoresistor with such and such a property," and they'd either tell me or recommend a superiour part. Then the next time I came in they'd want to chat for a bit about my project.

Nowadays it's, "Look buddy, you tell me the part number, I get it for you, you give me money, ok?"

Like I said, it's a Brave New World.

But still a world where people scratch build their own electronics gear, for one reason or another.

KFG

Re:Interesting, but

[schmink182]

It's not actually a "system;" the idea is to buy a laptop "box," and then add all the components yourself. So really, this laptop isn't low-performance, it's no-performance.

Re:Interesting, but

[Miles]

No, no--you don't lug around the monitor--that would be silly. But you don't entrust your data to another computer, either (as with the USB HD)--like I said, just for presentations and (maybe) LAN parties.

Who needs a screen?

[Grim Grepper]

Why back in my day, all you needed were some LED's.

And why use a hard drive when you have perfectly good cassette tapes laying around?

Re:Who needs a screen?

[garcia]

uhh, back in someone else's day they used sticks and dirt.

Re:Who needs a screen?

[Wobin]

You had tapes? I used to have to insert 28 punch-cards only to be able to play tetris...

Re:Who needs a screen?

[Santos L. Halper]

Man, I just used a Lite-Brite when I was a kid.

Re:Who needs a screen?

[phoenix_rizzen]

You had punch cards? Talk about spoiled.

We, my friend, had to input our code using dip switches, 1 byte at a time. And heaven forbid that you make a mistake near the end of the program, 'cause then we had to start all over.

Re:Who needs a screen?

[loucura!]

You had tetris?! I had to insert 28 punch-cards, for nothing! And it had to be done, too! You know what! We liked it!

Durned-kids these days.

Re:Who needs a screen?

[rshugart]

You're looking at someone who doesn't need a screen, as a blind person they just get in the way anyway. I mean, a screen reader works just the same anyway. Oh, for more screenless laptops, check out this.

Re:Who needs a screen?

[mrfantasy]

You had something to put the punchcards in? I had to play tetris with the punch cards. Whenever I cleared a row I ripped them up or burned them. I had to tape punch cards together to make the pieces. Hurt like hell at level 9.

Re:Who needs a screen?

[loucura!]

You had TAPE?! I had to make do with paste... which was fortuitous, because it could double as a tasty-tasty buritto substitute.

Re:Who needs a screen?

[mihalis]

You had punch cards? Talk about spoiled.

We, my friend, had to input our code using dip switches, 1 byte at a time. And heaven forbid that you make a mistake near the end of the program, 'cause then we had to start all over.

You had dip switches? You were lucky! We had to ... no, I just can't bear it any more.

Re:Who needs a screen?

[dbk25]

Ha!! You had electricity? Our CPU clock speed nose dived when your arm got tired turning the crank.

Re:Who needs a screen?

[oPless]

You had punch cards? Talk about spoiled.

We, my friend, had to input our code using dip switches, 1 byte at a time. And heaven forbid that you make a mistake near the end of the program, 'cause then we had to start all over.

You had dip switches, when I was a lad, we had to code using plugboards!

Re:Who needs a screen?

[Anonymous Coward]

You had a crank! We did not even have arms! I had to drag each bit up a hill with my teeth.

I might start the day dragging a byte per load, but by the end of the day it was all that I could do to move a bit.

Did I tell you that we worked seven days per week twenty three hours per day. Then the managers started pushing for five nines uptime. That was when I invented that crank for you kids.

Re:Who needs a screen?

[chasec]

You had dip switches? Kids these days...

We had to solder wires to the contacts on our vacuum tubes, half a bit at a time. And if we made a mistake, we had to rebuild the entire computer. And we liked it.

Re:Who needs a screen?

[V50]

Bah! You got to use your TEETH?! Back in my day, I had to roll each bit up the side of a mountain, in 5 feet of snow, with my NOSE! And those were only the good days. And we didn't get an hour off each day like you young whippersnappers!

Re:Who needs a screen?

[mihalis]

You had Byte-long dip switches? ours were one bit each!

You had bits?

Re:Who needs a screen?

[lostchicken]

You had body parts to move the stuff? I had to will the bits to move up the hill. I was lucky if I could get 1/week.

Re:Who needs a screen?

[UniverseIsADoughnut]

>> You had something to put the punchcards in? I had to play tetris with the punch cards. Whenever I cleared a row I ripped them up or burned them. I had to tape punch cards together to make the pieces. Hurt like hell at level 9.

In my day we had to click an installer and then click start/programs/tetris

And it comes with a barebones webserver

[jmulvey]

... because 2 posts into the Slashdot thread, and the website is done-for?

I think it's their webserver that is running without a CPU.

AKA

[endoboy]

etch-a-sketch

Re:AKA

[gregfortune]

Perfect! Images of Dilbert instantly pop into mind.... Maybe I should buy one of these for my daughter. Then she won't rip the keys off my *real* laptop :(

Re:AKA

[Drakonian]

Nah, those have displays. ;)

Re:AKA

[obsidianpreacher]

No, it'd be an Etch-a-Sketch without the screen, just the two knobs.

Hey ... I could make a fortune selling just two knobs and calling them "barebones Etch-a-Sketches"!!!

Problems with hosting on a barebones laptop

[ifreakshow]

They should have installed the memory, HDD, ect. before posting the link on slashdot

Finally something that ISNT a beowulf cluster

[siberian]

Finally, something I don't WANT to make into a Beowulf cluster..

Re:Finally something that ISNT a beowulf cluster

[garcia]

it's actually possibly something that would be decent for one.

How many fucking LCDs, trackballs, etc would you need for a Beowulf cluster?

It might be semi-silent and useful as one.

Oh this is too easy....

[CoyoteGuy]

Now all I need is a high resolution color printout of a desktop, a bag to match, and I can sit at the coffee shop pickin up chicks for a much lower price than buying an actual laptop :P

Slashdot - Sarcasm, Trolls, and Ego... All under one roof

so...

[dosh8er]

Would that mean i could whip up a small distro install and make my very first mp3/ogg/flac/whatever-the-hell-codec-here player for my car!?! sounds good to me.. cheap and efficient.

Finally

[ekarjala]

A notebook that comes without the dreaded "Microsoft Tax" (unless they can come up with a pre-emptive "potential-use" licensing fee.)

Re:Finally

[Ruzty]

A notebook that comes without the dreaded "Microsoft Tax"

Are you refering to my Apple Powerbook?
-Rusty

A way out of the MS tax

[Metalhead01]

First off, I'd simply like to say that I haven't had a chance to read article (damn ./ effect).

But from what the little blurb said, this looks like an excellent way to avoid paying for Windows and all the other bundled software that people don't want or need. Though the cost of parts and installation may offset this just a bit.

Re:A way out of the MS tax

[jo42]

Good point. When I tried to buy a Dell Inspiron without Windows Xtreme Poop, the Dell sales rep told me they have a deal with Microsoft that every machine they sell has to have a Microsoft OS on it. Pffhht! Talk about your evil empire monopolists shite suckers.

Anyway, why would I want to get a barebones notebook when with some judcious picking and choosing, you can have a killer laptop for not too many pesos: 1.8GHz P4M, 512Mb RAM, 40GB 5400RPM HD, CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive, 1394, 64Mb Mobility Radeon 9000 and a flat out awesome 15" 1600x1200 display. How much? Only $1750 US. Dell Inspiron 8200. Even came with that lump o' shite XP Pro from Messysoft.

Re:A way out of the MS tax

[spoonyfork]

Heh, you bought too soon. That same Dell Inspiron 8200 set up is like $1400 right now. Seriously, go check it out.

Re:A way out of the MS tax

[dprice]

this looks like an excellent way to avoid paying for Windows and all the other bundled software that people don't want or need.

As a middle ground, it would be interesting if vendors would sell you a notebook computer with everything but the hard drive. I just upgraded my notebook hard drive, and it was very easy to do. Without the hard drive, there can't be any software pre-installed, so no MS Tax.

Re:A way out of the MS tax

[El Cubano]

But from what the little blurb said, this looks like an excellent way to avoid paying for Windows and all the other bundled software that people don't want or need. Though the cost of parts and installation may offset this just a bit.

I know what you mean. I myself have been looking for how to avoid the MS tax for quite some time.

I think the best place I have found so far is called iDot

They won't sell you a machine with Linux, but you get $95 off the price of any of their machines for opting out of Windows Me (their default choice)

When I get ready to buy my new laptop (when my tax refund finally arrives) I will buy from them. Mainly because of this nifty quote in their FAQ:

Nobody said that you have to buy the OS from us with your new PC...

That is the kind of outfit I prefer to purchase from.

Not the kind (like Dell, Toshiba, IBM, et al) that ram MS down your throat whether you like it or not. Not to say that they sell bad computers. I have had a Toshiba laptop for 2.5 years (I converted to Linux only 6 mos. ago) and am very happy with the performance. But, I refuse to ever buy another computer preloaded with MS anything.

Woo...a cyberdeck

[anachattak]

For those of us who remember Cyberpunk 2020 and Shadowrun, it sounds like we're prepping ourselves for a cyberdeck here. Don't need no stinking LCD, just my wetwire neural headjack!!! Bring it on: I'm ready!!!

Re:Woo...a cyberdeck

[MsGeek]

Already available, sans wetware neural headjack:

Latte.

Another couple of caveats: hella expensive, video is crappy onboard SIS Vampire Video with no way of swapping it out.

Website

[GMontag]

Apparently they are running the webserver on one of these things.

Tech tips: add a motherboard, processor, ram, ethernet and HDD. Might want to add some software and an OS also.

Re:Website

[Dr Caleb]

some electricity and a converter/power supply as well may be of use. Need to keep those electrons moving! :-)

barebones web server?

[JeanBaptiste]

... no CPU, no RAM, no HD....

Slashdotted even before a 'does it run linux' troll....

Barebones webserver

[gmuslera]

The site that speak of this notebook looks like its hosted in one of them, no disk, no cpu, no bandwidth, no network card, and no monitor to see that nobody can access it right now :)

Keyboard? Keyboard?

[burgburgburg]

Why in my day, we used to get up at 2:00 am, eat a plate of hot gravel, crawl to the office over broken glass, and when we got there, we'd have to pound on the computer with our foreheads in place of typing. Keyboard? Kids today have it easy.

Re:Keyboard? Keyboard?

[Mandomania]

You had HOT gravel? Man, talk about lucky...

--
Mando

I'm all for lighter notebooks...

[rtrowbridge]

...but how am I supposed to get any work done on a laptop without any RAM or a CPU? :)

Call that barebones?

[BabyDave]

Here's my picture of a real barebones notebook

Pretty neat, isn't it?

Re:Call that barebones?

[SlightlyMadman]

-1 Redundant

Didn't you read the article? They have that exact same picture up.

Create a market for Laptops parts?

[corsec67]

Will more laptops sold like this open a market for laptop parts?

Maybe this will cause laptops to be more similar to desktops, as parts are standard?

Re:Create a market for Laptops parts?

[Metalhead01]

Will more laptops sold like this open a market for laptop parts?

Maybe this will cause laptops to be more similar to desktops, as parts are standard? It'll take more than one company selling barebones laptops for this to happen. Or a lot of people breaking the hardware they do because they don't know what the hell they're doing.

Re:Create a market for Laptops parts?

[dunng808]

I hope so. My Open Slate Project is designed to have high school students build their own slates. Slate-modders would benefit greatly from the abundance of new and used bits and pieces currently available to desktop-modders. LCDs, digitizers, and batteries are especially hard.

I realize that my design is still conceptual (some would call it vapor), but I really believe there is more to it, in its current form, than this laptop shell. I am looking for more members.

They even have a demo!!

[dracken]

Their site has been hosted on one!!!

Already slashdotted ;)

touchpad?

[rjamestaylor]

Nubs rule!

Buttons?

[kwerle]

Nobody has asked the big question yet:
How many mouse buttons do you get with that, or do you add it/them, too?

(from my iBook, with USB 3button mouse plugged in!)

Re:Buttons?

[FrostedWheat]

Or even better, does it have those evil 'finger pad' mouse things.

I much prefer the older laptop's that had the trackerball. Much easier to control and they didn't go crazy if you pressed to hard.

Re:Buttons?

[theperplepigg]

No shit, there's nottouching it with your thumb or something and really screwing up the whole thing.hing like typing out a nice good reply and then accidentally

happens way more than it should, though i've become more accustomed to it, so it really only affects my friends anymore.

--paul

Re:Buttons?

[ppc970]

PowerBook 1XX

Most brilliant layout--EVER.

Could type, AND "mouse" without moving your hands.

Two mouse buttons, above and below trackball, the top one basically flush to the keyboard. You could have you fingers on the home row, move the 'ball with a thumb and click with the other thumb. Was great for word processing. It's no wonder that there are still (admitadly somewhat nuts) people out there who still do a lot of writing on their PowerBook 170's and whatnot. Plus, Word 4 and 5.1 were quite nice as were MacWrite Pro and some other classics...

Re:Buttons?

[macshit]

Yeah I agree with that, those mini-trackballs seemed much better than either the trackpad or the eraserhead controllers.

Odd that what I find to the absolute worst controller -- the trackpad -- has become the most widely used. I guess it must be the cheapest to manufacture...

Trustworthy Hardware Platform

[Michael_Burton]

No CPU, no RAM, and no display. But on the plus side, your Windows installation opens fewer security holes than on other laptops.

yeah

[Anonymous Coward]

i was under the assumption that barebones meant a working system with the minimal number of parts. when it's missing a cpu and ram i guess i was wrong.

LightBright

[tepp]

... or they could just use a LightBright for the LED display.

*signs ad jingle*
LightBright! LightBright! Put out the candles and... LightBright!

Damn, I miss those things... :)

Barebones laptop without a display?

[g_adams27]

I'm all for bare-bones, but I at least want all the bones!

Re:Barebones laptop without a display?

[Jeff DeMaagd]

I know. I am trying to figure out how one can get a matching display. Usually they are pretty specific to the laptop design.

I would RTFA but it's been slashdotted.

Features?

[grub]

The barebone notebook features no display, no CPU, no RAM and no HDD, but only the case, with keyboard and touchpad.

It sounds odd saying that missing things are features.

Altair

[Sophrosyne]

.....The new Altair laptop also comes packaged with Basic by Microsoft, and is expected to be the boost MITS has been looking for all these years.

Wow

[Strange Ranger]

barebone notebook features no display, no CPU, no RAM and no HDD,

And the damn thing STILL runs Linux. Wow!


Oh. nevermind..

Re:Wow

[fastdecade]

And the damn thing STILL runs Linux. Wow!

Great - it runs linux ... but why don't they mention anything about ogg vorbis. I would have bought one right away if only they supported ogg.

I can't help it, it's a reflex action.

barebones server

[pyros]

Maybe they're using their barebones laptop as a web server. Probably not a good way to market it.

ECS DeskNote perhaps is what they review?

[Anonymous Coward]

My guess would be that it is about the ECS DeskNote line of products, probably the A980. http://www.ecs.com.tw/products/a980.htm

Features!

[FrostedWheat]

The barebone notebook features no display, no CPU, no RAM and no HDD, but only the case, with keyboard and touchpad.

Only on Slashdot would these be considered features. :)

In saying that I think it's a great idea! All my desktop machines are custom built, would be a shame to have to get a branded laptop now!

Re:What?

[MoonBuggy]

No CPU, no screen, no HDD ... Are you sure they're not charging you $$$ for an empty cardboard box?

Of course not, they're charging you $$$ for a plastic box ;-)

someday: microphone instead of keyboard--but when?

[js7a]

If they replaced the keyboard with an extra PS/2 socket, or an extra USB port I suppose, and if the microphone input was shielded well enough and sufficiently audio-capable (I've seen sound cards without 16,000/s sampling rates, and the first SoundBlasters were 8-bit), then I would be more interested.

Someday, many agree, as speech input matures, the microphone will become more important than the keyboard.

So, my question is: What year do you think the microphone will surpass the keyboard in importance?

Hey, I used to have one of those...

[Archie Steel]

...if I remember correctly, it was called a ZX81... :-)

Try here

[OECD]

Try here.

They also have very small screens for your next port-linux-to-small-kitchen-appliance project.

google

[gearheadsmp]

google cache for Xbit labs home page

For Sale

[dupper]

1 barebones server - case, slightly fire damaged. Used to host www.exbitlabs.com.

Asus

[dlur]

Actually it's been possible for some time to get an Asus notebook similar to this, with just the case, motherboard, and LCD on it. I'm not sure Asus really wants you to be able to get them this way and they come in a "white box".

One of the guys at work got one of these, went to Intel's channel partner site, got a PIII mobile CPU for next to nothing, snagged a decent 2.5" HD from one of our retailers, and threw in some SODIMMs that we had in stock and he got a really nice notebook for hardly anything (this was a year or two ago).

He was even able to call up Asus and tell them the stickers wore off his notebook, and they sent him out some new ones for free, so you can't even tell it's not the real deal.

On the other side of things, I do believe from opening up quite a few notebooks for repairs that the vast majority of notebook components are somewhat standardized. The batteries tend to be the most varried components inside the notebooks. Consider that there are only a very few manufacturers of notebook computers that are outsourced by the major computer vendors, and that makes for some pretty standard stuff. It's even possible to get the "white box" version of most of Dell's notebooks direct from the company that manufactures them for Dell, last I checked anyways.

Re:Asus

[MsGeek]

ASUS would definitely be more like it. At least they make quality products. Best motherboard you can buy. That's probably a nice laptop that probably also would be a decent Linux laptop. They have a few new ones on their site: http://usa.asus.com/. However, I'd wait until their Centrino/Banias model comes out...Centrino is going to kick ass nine ways to Sunday. All the advantages of both the PIII and the P4 wrapped up in one chip. Smokes the P4 clock rate for clock rate.

One vhost down.

[TitanBL]

http://forsite.com/

Think they have the $19.99 package? Some vhost with 100 sites per box. Ugly.

Interesting...

[Junta]

I wonder what the deal is. I've hated having to buy laptops as a whole system bought from a single source. I've came to just accept that I have to live with it...

Why, you ask, do I care so much? Is it just to be 'elite'? Hell no, it is because I *hate* dealing with any problems that crop up in the warranty period. In dealing with my desktops, a part breaks under warranty, I contact that particular company, send in that *one* part, and have a replacement back in short order. Some people say they are afraid of hardware manufacturers trying to blame other pieces of equipment to avoid servicing, but that has never happened to me. I send it in, they test and verify that it is broken, and they fix it or send a working part. Has always been smooth for me, thankfully.

With the whole systems approach, something under warranty breaks. I call and say 'this portion of the laptop is broken, I want to send in this part, or at least remove the hard drive so some idiot tech doesn't see Linux, freak out, and reformat with Windows'. They say 'Linux isn't supported, you must include the hard drive, it *will* be wiped and replaced with Windows so we can run our test software to verify the problem is fixed, and if we cannot do this we will not repair it'. I've been fighting for weeks to get warranty repair without losing data. The problem is easy to test, if you press the power button and the power light comes on, the problem is fixed, end of story. If the power light stays off even though AC is connected, it is still broken. The problem with it has *nothing* to do with the drive, and they don't need to run any software to figure out if they fixed it or not. Why should it be any of their business what I run, when it clearly didn't cause the problem? Guess I got spoiled when I would call this same company regarding a business laptop and had them bend over backwards to kiss my ass regarding the very same request about not shipping a hard drive.

Also, come a year and a half after purchase, say my memory has a problem. Well, the system is out of warranty. With my desktop, the memory happens to have a lifetime warranty. Having a system where everything is at least a year warranty, with some parts longer is much better than having the whole thing end after a year.

A memory manufacturer has never threatened to deny me service because of the software I run, as long as I don't overclock. A video card manufacturer has never said they can erase my drive contents if they want to run tests. Why should I have to deal with this treatment for laptops? Why is it that I can even build PDAs from parts, and to this day I cannot build a real laptop from parts?

Re:Interesting...

[Uerige]

Also, come a year and a half after purchase, say my memory has a problem. Well, the system is out of warranty. With my desktop, the memory happens to have a lifetime warranty.

I have always asked myself what the purpose of 'lifetime warranty' is. Because, in my world, when a part breaks for some reason, it's lifetime is over...

Re:someday: microphone instead of keyboard--but wh

[zapfie]

When TTS technology has near perfect recognition without need for training, is my guess.

Re:/. effect

[ClumzyKid]

how do we know this article really exists? If it was slashdotted before anyone could read it , maybe slashdot is making this sory up. How is this news if we dont really know its there?

LOL wha?... Anonymous Coward seems to become more and more illogical these days... or maybe they're coming in barebones form as well...

Or maybe someone forgot to tell Anonymous Coward what 'slashdotted' really means? (hint: the article DOES exist!)...

Almost a good idea

[3ryon]

Actually, I've wanted something real similar to this for a long time. What I want is a Mouse, Keyboard, and video (which this doesn't have) in a laptop footprint. If I had one of these I could stop buying expensive KVMs and just plug one of these up to a machine when I needed a direct console. Not only that, but I wouldn't lose 10U to a Monitor/Keyboard in every rack (Yes, you can get a rack mountable LCD/Keyboard tray but you still need a KVM, and they are *expensive*).

Free start-up business idea.....

Re:Almost a good idea

[juuri]

What machines are you using in racks that require monitor/keyboard hookups?

Even with XP/NT you should be using some remote desktop software. Then you have a single monitor/keyboard on a small cart that you wheel around in dire emergencies when nothing else would do.

Re:Almost a good idea

[Sarcazmo]

This is exactly what I was asking for the other day. I took one look at the video server sitting on the other table in my room, taking up all that space, and wished I could get something in a laptop type form factor that was only a keyboard/monitor/mouse.

VNC/X11/whatever is nice, but every now and then I actually want to sit in front of it and do something, so I have kept monitor/mouse/kb on it. It's also too far across to room to use a cheap KVM, I'd have to get a pricey one that can do extensions over CAT5 or similar.

Re:Almost a good idea

[dmayle]

I agree completely. Better, though, would be a laptop that offered these features. I use a tablet for my everyday computing, and I've got a server I use for a development, but I have to keep around a monitor, keyboard and mouse that I almost *never* use, and a desk to house them, when, ideally I'd just have a small box that sits on a shelf, and the ability to hook up my laptop on the rare occasion that I need console access. I've actually decided to go with a used Sun Cobalt Qube3, instead, since it can be configured with the LCD panel and some buttons on the chassis.

Re:Almost a good idea

[vovin]

Actually that sounds like the ECS DeskNote

Re:someday: microphone instead of keyboard--but wh

[zapfie]

Or, if I wasn't a dumbass, that would be speech to text.

Lunchbox!

[Valiss]

So it's a keyboard glued to a lunchbox? I'll make one and sell it to you for half of what they want.

That's so smart!

[Cranx]

Now you can have the most expensive consumer computing platform and completely do away with those pesky attributes that contribute to whatever affordability it had to begin with!

If they're smart, they'll not just sell the barebones notebook, but let the buyers "add-on" optional features like the display and hard drive. That way, they can customize their notebook however they like! Wheeee!

Of course, such a high degree of customization is gonna cost ya.

Text of the Story

[daddymac]

First Notebook Barebone Ever

Posted 2/28/03 at 10:00 am by Anton

ECS announced recently its DeskNote i-Buddie A980 mobile desktop PC, the first ever mobile barebone computer. It features no display, no CPU, no RAM and no HDD, but only the "case" with keyboard and touchpad. The indisputable trump of the novelty is that you are free to install the most high-end and cutting-edge hardware, or you may buy not really expensive components that are enough for your needs.

Here is the list of i-Buddie A980 technical peculiarities:

* Supports Socket 478 Pentium 4 / Celeron processors with 400/533MHz FSB with 3.06GHz clock-speed and above;
* SiS650 chipset with SiS962 I/O controller;
* 1 DIMM slot for up to 1GB of PC2100 or PC2700 DDR SDRAM memory.
* Integrated graphics core, ability to install NVIDIA GeForce4 Go420 mobile graphics card.
* 2-channel ATA-100/66/33 integrated controller;
* Includes an 8x DVD-ROM drive;
* Free bay for 2.5" HDD;
* 4 USB 2.0 ports;
* FireWire (IEEE1394) port ;
* IR port with transfer rate up to 115.2Kbit/s;
* 10/100Mbit/s Ethernet adapter and connector;
* Integrated 56K modem;
* 6-channel audio solution and built-in speakers;
* Size: 342mm (W) x 300mm (D) x 34mm(min)/50.5mm(max);
* Weight: 1.8Kg.

End-users have a lot of opportunities to expand and configure such computers, they even now can choose between 14" and 15" TFT panel, what should allow ECS' customers to get the most cost-effective solutions possible.

According to this French web-site, such barebones will be priced at $300. Not expensive, I believe, but remember that you will need to get a display, a microprocessor, a memory module and a hard disk drive to make it functional. It seems that the DeskNote i-Buddie A980 will hit the stores quite soon, as certain European local resellers of DeskNote computers already promote it and it seems that the only thing that stops them from starting the sales is the absence of appropriate LCD displays for such computers.

Last year ECS did not achieve its full-year shipment targets on the DeskNote line of products (see this news-story). Elitegroup Computer Systems decided to follow its usual strategy of offering the cheapest products possible and in order to achieve this it needs to buy as few expensive devices as possible. Since LCD panels seem to be the most highly-priced parts of DeskNote systems, the Chinese company decided to sell the DeskNote PCs without LCD panels in order to keep the inventory level of such units low. This seems to be the right idea in order to keep the lowest prices possible; however, I doubt it will help ECS to skyrocket the sales of its DeskNotes in Europe or the USA, because not a lot of customers want to build notebooks on their own. On the other hand, a lot of companies sell already functional DeskNote computers, which purchase seems to be more interesting.

Time will tell if ECS is able to boost its sales of portable desktop computers by selling display-less DeskNotes.

No shirt, no shoes: NO SERVICE. HINT: pantless!

[AnonymousCowheard]

... no CPU, no RAM, no HD....

NO SERVICE! Obviously, their laptop reserves its right to not serve.

Slashdotted even before a 'does it run linux' troll....

Silence implies convinction...it runs linux. :)

Bare-bones Network?

[dcmeserve]

I read "notebook" as "network" 3 times before I finally got it right. :)

But you know, that could be a potential use -- a case w/ no lcd; slap in a notebook-type mobo & hd, then you got yourself a nice little network server, w/ no loud fan, and that can slip behind your desk or something. Or stack up 10 of them and you got a night stand / beowulf cluster!

Sounds weird, but...

[Salamander]

...I was just trying to find something like this recently. I wanted something that would mostly stay put, run off AC, and use a real monitor...but that was also *quiet* and small enough to move around occasionally. Various small-form-factor PCs would fit the bill, but so would a laptop would a broken display, so I actually got as far as seeing if I could find one for sale. Now there's a third option.

Well...

[Joey Patterson]

With this "barebones notebook", /.ers have yet another way to have a Linux laptop without paying the Micro$oft tax.

So how is it better than a cappuccino pc?

[lazn]

So how is it better than a cappuccino pc that has been out for years?
http://www.cappuccinopc.com/

==>Lazn

Re:So how is it better than a cappuccino pc?

[SlightlyMadman]

It has a keyboard, pointing device, and space to mount and LCD. All things the cap doesn't have. The cappuccine, OTOH, has everything else. I'm seeing a beautiful friendship, here.

Barebones Laptop

[Proteus80]

While i'm all for the learning experence of building a computer (I built my last desktop) I also have to take into account the cost. Curiously I went and found a few of the parts the laptop needed to just work. I had to assume alot of what it required but I figure the prices wouldn't be too far off.

CPU: 1.8 GHz Mobil P-4 $445.00

RAM: PC133 128MB $37.97

HDD: 20GB $149.00

DISPLAY: 14.1 LCD Screen $749.00

TOTAL: (APPROX) $1380.00

On top of the cost of the "Barebones" system. (which I don't know thanks to the /. effect)
A quick vist to a certain well known retailer sells a Toshiba Satellite for 999.97.

"I wasn't even supposed to be here today!"
-Dante Hicks

Re:Barebones Laptop

[aminorex]

A couple of contrary points:

Firstly, your display and cpu numbers are high.

But more importantly, with a component-based unit,
these items are reusable as you upgrade. With an
off-the-shelf unit, they all end up in the trash
in 2 years. You can buy a crap CPU now for pennies,
and wait until that top-of-the-line model its the
price-performance inflection point in 6 months.
You can move the HD to your daughter's PSEmu
lap when the 80GB models get cheap.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, man.

Re:Barebones Laptop

[OneFix]

CPU: 1.8 GHz Mobil P-4 $445.00
Yes, but you can get a Northwood 1.81 GHz for $136.99 from pricewatch (this is the low-ball figure)...I'ld never buy from a low-ball vendor, but it should put you in the ballpark

RAM: PC133 128MB $37.97
Don't forget it has to be SO-DIMMs...

But...close...$33.05 from Axion Technologies...

HDD: 20GB $149.00
$105.00 for an IBM 30GB ATA100@4200rpm

DISPLAY: 14.1 LCD Screen $749.00
$589.00 for a Sony VAIO PCG-FX370 15.0" TFT LCD or $395.00 if you're willing to go with a 12.1" Compaq

TOTAL: (APPROX) $1380.00
More like $670.00 - $864.00

Re:Barebones Laptop

[istartedi]

OK, but where's the Motherboard and the display controller? Are they integrated with the CPU? No battery, no power supply, no keyboard, no CD or DVD drive, no gaurantee you can integrate it all without letting the smoke out... I still think I'd rather get a ThinkPad.

Re:Barebones Laptop

[OneFix]

yea, I think you'ld be better spending your money on a pre-built notebook...this is the same reason why a lot of ppl have stopped building custom desktops...the price is not that far off from pre-built systems...

Re:Barebones Laptop

[upt1me]

attach the lcd with what hinges from the hardware store?

Finally!

[ohzero]

A completely secure mobile computing solution...

who will be the first to offer mod chips?

[Seahawk91]

Oh crap, there is nothing to mod!!! Maybe I can use my dremel on the case.

Old Chinese Proverb

[AnonymousCowheard]

He who secures nothing, has nothing to be insecure.
-C0nfutr0llus

I think that sums-up the awesome security reviews of the barebones PC. This logic can be applied to everying, such as and not limited to, refrigerated food, slashdot, Frito-Lay potato chips, internet service, computer software, patents, Hillary Rosen's face, and Bruce Peren's laptop...

whoa!

No attached LCD is kinda neat

[theCat]

I've got on my desk here an old Toshiba that someone sat on, broke the LCD all to hell. It was sitting around and I needed a linux server...yadda yadda...so I plug in an external LCD. Now it has a display, a nice big one, but the busted one is in the way all the time while I type and use the track pad (lid is open you see) and that busted LCD is just butt ugly besides.

Scene 2: I remove the busted LCD, sew the laptop back up, fire it up on the external monitor and then I notice something; this is groovy. Sure it needs an external monitor, but I just created a fairly cool portable desktop computer out of a piece of junk. Keyboard and track pad built in. And still easy to take else where I need it, like home (where I have another monitor I can use) or a presentation, and even has a nifty built in 2 hour UPS. And it's real quite.

So would I actually buy something like that? Maybe not right away...but if the price was right I might. I'm telling you, sitting here looking at it, it looks cooler than you might imagine.

Re:No attached LCD is kinda neat

[balamw]

Bring back the Commodore 64! ;-).

These guys Cybernet Manufacturing have advertised their zero-footprint PCs in the back of PC Magazine for years. They build the PC into the keyboard and thus are pretty much what you describe, w/o the built in UPS (battery).

Their Deskbook is also a strange beast. And end-user upgradeable portable P4 desktop. Again the only thing you lose over a real notebook is the built-in "UPS", but it does have the built in LCD. And they're not hideously expensive compared to many "desktop replacement" notebooks.

Balam

You may find this useful...

[djkitsch]

Here's a direct link to the manufacturer's website:
http://www.ecs.com.tw/products/a980.htm

and here's a mirror for the ineviatable slashdotting:
http://www.meatspace.co.uk/ibuddie/

Re:You may find this useful...

[f13nd]

interesting how it says you can plug Northwood P4's (socket 478) AND williamette cores (socket 423) into it.... i was always believing they were different sizes and had a different number of pins on them next they're going to tell me that i can put coppermine celerons in it too and overclock it so far that i open a space/time contuoum rift in the fabric of the universe if i knew what was actually able to be put in these, they'd make a cool lan party computer... usb mouse, usb keyboard, 23 inch CRT monitor or decent LCD... you'd have the coolest looking lan gear... even over the Latte and Cappucino (see thinkgeek)

Wear & tear is the beauty in this concept

[Mephiska]

For most people it's not so much the electronic bits on a laptop that go out, but it's screens that get cracked, keys that start sticking, touchpads that get, well, touchy and on and on. If there was some sort of laptop spec that manufacturers built parts to fit inside some specific dimensions then when a key breaks or hinge gets loose you don't have to ship it back for an expensive repair. You can just go down to Fry's and pick up a newly updated shell.

This would also be great for just keeping a laptop system up-to-date. With the way motherboards and hard disks and cd drives have been shrinking now's the time when I hope we'll see home built laptops of the same breed as home built PC's.

Re:Wear & tear is the beauty in this concept

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, after my DVD drive stopped working, I ordered a replacement, but apparently there was a mixup at the store and they had run out of my model of DVD drive. So they sent me the newer version (8x rather than 6x IIRC). It came in a diffeent setup, since the laptop it was made for had removable bays, but I checked the product specs and it was suppossed to be compatible, as the store said.

Long story short, take it out ofthe case, replace the faceplate with the old one, plug everything in, it all works.

Laptops parts are not as nonstandard as they'd like you to think.

My screen did crack and I could replace it but I don't have the money for a new one :-(

Re:Wear & tear is the beauty in this concept

[ComputerSlicer23]

Yes, and no. Wear and tear is a lot of why it doesn't achieve critical mass, they break down way to easily. In fact, I'd conjecture that cheap desktops, and fast internet everywhere, are why a lot of people I know don't have laptops. Most of them just spend $300 put a machine together, and put it everywhere they would want a computer. One in the living room. One in the bedroom. One at a friend's house (I have several computers at other peoples houses to make LAN parties easy).

Laptops are nice, but they will never be as cheap as regular desktops due to space, heat and power consumption constraints. The wear and tear, and high replacement parts is what drives people to desktops. They aren't as fast. They can't store as much, you can't put as much RAM in them. They can't do a lot of things a good PC can. Now if they become terminals to bigger faster stationary equipment, now your talking. Then, I'm still not building my own, all I need is one with a good screen, a good video card, and a decent keyboard, nothing else matters on a terminal.

If laptops became extemely common, I could see a vicious cycle of increased sales, which increased production volume, which lowered prices, which increases sales. I don't see a way to transition to there as long as desktop PC's are a cheap as they are. A good laptop is also a lot harder to put together, especially out of commodity parts. Running cabling the right way, and using thin bundled cables instead of ribbon cables is a good idea. Having fans that turn on at the right tempatures, and blow on the right parts is critical. Getting the LCD cable snaked thru is important. Getting the tension right on the hinges. Ensuring that the screen didn't weight too much to put too much stress on the plastic while sitting open. A dozen little things. It'd be simpiler then having DIY car's, but I'm not sure there is that much public interest in it. Most people simply don't need laptops. I've never needed one. I don't travel, and when I want a computer there is one handy. I can't use one in my car while I'm driving, and most other locations I go that don't have a computer, I'm going there to get away from my computers!

Kirby

Re:Wear & tear is the beauty in this concept

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't know. I used to think like you, and still do sorta. However, as a consultant there are time where a laptop just makes life so much easier and in some cases it's the only solution.

I've thought about building a very small form factor desktop and using it, but there are times when the laptop really is the best. There just isn't a desktop form factor that's small enough. I would like to see a case that's just big enough for the motherboard and nothing else (use a nForce board and that's all you need) along with some sort of portable power supply that runs off batteries. Desktop LCD's are freaking huge too. I haven't figured that one out yet. I mean right now I'm looking at a beautiful Dell 1600x1200 laptop LCD but you can't find anything as thin, small, and resolution in a desktop model. They just don't exist and I don't know why.

A few pictures, and a lot of info

[two_socks]

Can be found here.

WARNING! GOATSE IN PAGE

[AnonymousCowheard]

GOod GOd, man!

There I was, looking at one of those trick-pictures you posted; you know, the ones where you stare at it for about 10 minutes and make your eyes lose focus and the secret picture appears...AND THERE IT WAS! Hillary Ros#$@# I mean GOATSE!

I need a break... *twiddles thums and gets kit-kat bar* :)

You can already do that here.

[bendawg]

You can do the "VectraNote" Notebook Configurator on here, and get it with no processor, Memory, or hard drive. www.actonlinestore.com

A super barebones notebook!

[WetCat]

No CPU, no RAM, no Motherboard, No Power supply,
no keyboard, no Display,no battery, no case. Price: $200

Re:A super barebones notebook!

[Jaysyn]

That's a little expensive for a hard drive, trackpad, speakers & a mic isn't it?

Jaysyn

Re:A super barebones notebook!

[WetCat]

Oh! I thought about a real leather-bound PAPER notebook, with real PAPER pages!

Re:A super barebones notebook!

[Jaysyn]

Oh! In that case I'll take two...

Jaysyn

Solution

[tonyhill]

How about backing up your hard drive and then sending it in?

Tony

and it still

[geekoid]

runs at 150F...

I got through!!

[Anonymous Coward]

I got through!!!

Here is the list of i-Buddie A980 technical peculiarities:

Supports Socket 478 Pentium 4 / Celeron processors with 400/533MHz FSB with 3.06GHz clock-speed and above

SiS650 chipset with SiS962 I/O controller

1 DIMM slot for up to 1GB of PC2100 or PC2700 DDR SDRAM memory

Integrated graphics core, ability to install NVIDIA GeForce4 Go420 mobile graphics card

2-channel ATA-100/66/33 integrated controller

Includes an 8x DVD-ROM drive

Free bay for 2.5" HDD

4 USB 2.0 ports

FireWire (IEEE1394) port

IR port with transfer rate up to 115.2Kbit/s

10/100Mbit/s Ethernet adapter and connector

Integrated 56K modem

6-channel audio solution and built-in speakers

Size: 342mm (W) x 300mm (D) x 34mm(min)/50.5mm(max)

Weight: 1.8Kg

Here is another story (french): www.clubic.com/n/n8018.html

Elitegroup, aussi connu sous le nom de ECS, annonce la commercialisation d'un nouveau barebone baptisé Desknote i-Buddie A980. Ce nouveau barebone ressemble comme deux gouttes d'eau à un ordinateur portable auquel on aurait enlevé l'écran LCD. Compact, incorporant un clavier, ce nouveau barebone utilise un chipset SiS651 dédié aux processeurs Pentium 4. Le Barebone intègre 4 ports USB 2.0, 1 port FireWire, 1 port Ethernet 10/100 et 1 port infrarouge. La partie audio du barebone est prise en charge par un chip C-Media et supporte le son 5.1 tout en offrant un connecteur SPDIF. Le Barebone embarque une solution graphique NVIDIA GeForce 4 420Go avec 32Mo de mémoire vidéo.

Vendu $300 ce nouveau barebone pèse seulement 1,8Kg.

Re:ok.....( offtopic )

[Zach Fine]

Or, rather than replace all the hardware in your Mac SE (if it's an SE 30), you could install NetBSD. That's right, a modern unix OS running on your piece of ancient Apple hardware. Neato!

old..

[Suppafly]

You've been able to get "barebones" laptops off of ebay for a long time.

And the pictures, too!

[morcheeba]

Here's the manufacturer's product page with exactly what you'd think it looks like. And, yes, it looks a bit odd. Thanks for the text!

Re:And the pictures, too!

[UniverseIsADoughnut]

So it's a P4 apple ][ ?

Re:LCDTFT.Com...pricey!

[ShadowDrake]

Possibly you can salvage the screen from an old colour laptop. I note that the Toshiba T1950CT has a TFT screen at about 8.5" diagonal, 640x480, and the Dual Group DC-4000 was available with a similarly dimensioned screen. Some later subnotebooks (Toshiba 610CT?) might also be a good bet. Caveat: Some of these have a screen unit that's much bigger than the viewable area, so fit may be an issue.

Wait a darned second . . .

[xScruffx]

Mead has been selling barebones notebooks FOREVER. You just have to provide an input device.

High-end Mead notebook: $3.00 USD
Run of the mill input device: $1.00 USD

xScruffx

Re:someday: microphone instead of keyboard--but wh

[mrmag00]

Never. I type much faster then I can speak, and probably faster then I can think. Speaking also leaves a lot more room for error, altho that an opinion.

If I had a way to directly communicate my thoughts to the computer, however, that would be nice.

hmmm

[josepha48]

something is missing...

Not the first Barebones

[Compaqed]

I've been dealing with a company here in Canada called Eurocom and they've been selling Barebone laptops for years now.

I'm not affiliated with them at all.. I just buy from them now and then.

Intel has been doing this with laptops for ages...

[arf_barf]

(ages) or atleast 2-3 years. Basically if you are an Intel OEM you can build your laptops online. Shiped to you with no os and no other taxes.

Ill sell you one - good price too.

[_ph1ux_]

Totally Bare bones System BLOWOUT!!!!

For only a nice even $1000.00 !!! You get the following Barebones Laptop:

No Display!
No RAM!
No Battery!
No Extra Battery!
No CPU!
No Keyboard!
No HDD!
(1) Laptop Carrying Case.

You get to pick all the compnents you want in your barebones system - and each can be added at an additional cost.

ACT NOW! While supplies last!!!

I've got the same question.

[nlinecomputers]

A display and the mobo is the hart of a laptop. Laptops are custom built around both. Hard to really do a Roll your own laptop when the chassis isn't standard because the chassis is married to the display panel and the mobo.

Sounds like a lamer idea to me. I too can't RTFA.

Re:someday: microphone instead of keyboard--but wh

[Jon Abbott]

It's a good thing you caught that -- otherwise, the myriad anonymous cowards and "-1 by default" posters would crawl out of the woodwork and plague you about it until slashdot disabled posting on the article.

Not me...

[Kaki Nix Sain]

... So far my best idea for making a bagable (computer in bag wirelessly hooked to wearable I/O) is to repackage a cheap laptop into a bag and spend the bulk of my time/money/energy spiffing out the I/O part of the equation. So not getting a display is great for me and, incidentally, a good number of people on the wearable mailing lists I read, since they all seem to be headed in much the same direction (whether they know it or not).

One Small Problem...

[OneFix]

This is a "DeskNote"...not a Notebook...there's a small difference

This product differs from a notebook in that it does not include an integrated battery. An optional external battery is available. (emphasis mine)

I don't think so...

Re:One Small Problem...

[ancukiewiczd]

Not just that, but there's no PCMCIA slot either.

Re:Custom PVR?

[Jaysyn]

If you just wanted PVR in a cool case you could do it with parts from Mini-itx.com cheaper.

Jaysyn

so now I can use my dead lap top screen?

[Lawrence_Bird]

ive had a dead POS sony vaio for 2 years.. screen is fine..so was the harddrive.. sadly there is no component market for laptop motherboards

ECS Desknote

[FRiC]

Uhm, this isn't that new. The A980 has been available for a while now.

http://www.desknote.net/a980.html

First Barebone Laptop?

[Anonymous Coward]

First Barebone? Haven't they seen http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/articles.hwz? cid=14&aid=397
Comes with a LCD. No CPU, RAM, HD or Battery
Saw it for $699 with 8xDVD it's still gonna cost you the price of a name brand after processer, ram, and HD is considered.

think of it as...

[g4dget]

Think of it as the Commodore-64 with a Pentium 4: low-cost, built into the keyboard, and no screen.

Re:someday: microphone instead of keyboard--but wh

[Atrahasis]

Never. I type much faster thAn I can speak, and probably faster thAn I can think. Speaking also leaves a lot more room for error, although that's an opinion.

Sure. Oh, and typing faster than you can think? Where does the typing come from? Probably faster than you can articulate the thought in your head, but thats not the same as thinking. Who says that you'd have to talk to the computer in a natural language?

Re:Custom PVR?

[anubi]

Thanks.. I'll check them out.

I was looking to see if there was any way for me to make a small, highly transportable, device that had network connectivity for file transfer, S-Video in and out, as well as being able to use its local display for monitoring what was being recorded/playback. I just do not want a mess of associated boxes - I would like to build it all-in-one so I can get the thing to the site, plug the signal source in ( its often the camera on a robot ), run it for a few hours or so, then go analyze what I got.

Re:someday: microphone instead of keyboard--but wh

[zapfie]

Something tells me they'll still find a way to do it though.

Perhaps not laptop form factor but...

[yerricde]

I took one look at the video server sitting on the other table in my room, taking up all that space, and wished I could get something in a laptop type form factor that was only a keyboard/monitor/mouse.

It's not a laptop, but if you add a LCD panel, keyboard, and mouse to this, your footprint problems should be 90 percent solved.

Re:Perhaps not laptop form factor but...

[Sarcazmo]

Hmm, that is sorta the opposite of my goal. my goal is to have the power and upgradability of a full sized system, but not waste space on a full sized keyboard/monitor/mouse. The system can go under the desk, the KVM components can't. :)

INDUSTRY STANDARD for notebooks...

[WebCowboy]

...would be kinda nice. I think this "barebones laptop" that you could assemble/have assembled to your specs is a fantastic idea, however an industry standard would be required for it to REALLY take off as it has for desktop PCs.

Desktop users are blessed with a standard form factor (ATX and variants) describing physical specs for motherboards, cases, power supplies, peripheral connectors and so on. Wouldn't it be tremendous if there was a widely recognised standard for laptop/notebooks? Being that the featured article is slashdotted, I cant say if that was the idea, but links posted in the comments included the "barebones" concept as offered by ECS, and I got the impression the components were ECS-specific...

Imagine if there was an "MPX" standard (Mobile...PC...X...whatever--just to pick a 3-letter designation as an example). You could buy a generic laptop caseand power supply and load it with an MPX mobo and your choice of keyboards, touchpads, trackballs, displays, etc. These could be obtained from most any source, form a multitude of manufacturers.

The MPX spec. would specify how these components interconnected--one could go so far as to include notebook variants of PCI or AGP (whereever PC Card devices couldn't fit the bill, such as video card upgrades--not sure but does Intel's new Mobile CPU/chipset architecture not touch on that?). Perhaps devices like keyboards and touchpads would use internal USB-based connections, and there would be a standard display connector and sizes (to correspond with a selection of standard laptop/notebook case sizes).

Mmmmmm... MPX would be nirvana, and as prices came down it couls supplant ATX and it's variants. Well, I suppose not TOTAL nirvana if having Apple iBook looks is really important to you. It wouldn't be UGLY, but an MPX form-factor laptop made from a mix of Taiwanese parts might very well be as sexy as the beige box in Dilbert's cubicle. HOWEVER, there is a big market out there for boring-but-practical, and I'm sure the uber-geek case-modders and companies like VooDoo would find ways to make cool cases within the constraints of a standard like "MPX"...

If I'm ignorant of something like this already in existence, please share info!

great you guys crashed another site

[JustRightClick]

what's the price on this bad boy?

oooooh

[BiggyP]

these have been sold for years on ebay, they go by the name of "laptop, untested" :P

What About the Mini-ITX

[BinaryGrind]

what about the mini-itx[Mini-Itx.org] My question is is when will they make the GFX card swappable? I would swap out that POS Card with a nice ATI Radeon 9700 :)

At last!

[MortisUmbra]

This sounds pretty much perfect for what I have been wanting to do for so long now.

I have long wanted a laptop, but don't neccisarily care for the screens out there, I don't like the weight, and I don't like people beeing able to see over my shoulder.

I've seen more and more LCD glasses being produced by companies for the whole "wearables" trend and while I like the glasses, the rest of the wearables concept still needs alot of work. If I could find a compatible set of glasses that could plug into the VGA out port on one of these "barebones" laptops that would be great for it. I couldn't get to the site so I assume it doesnt come with a mobo either? The post was kindy vague on that (most barebones PC's come with a mobo but none of the other stuffs). Hmmm, and I know you can get mobile CPU's on pricewatch rather easily.

This is quite interesting. Now if only the site would come back :)

WTF? SFW?

[blumley]

I've been able to get barebones notebooks for a long time (I'm a reseller). How is this news?

Re:WTF? SFW?

[lposeidon]

many of us are not that furtunate. we spend our money buying from people like you (resellers)(no harm intended) now if the mobile CPUs were more readily available..

Aaaahhh, the bugger's been Slashdotted ...

[jdeking1]

... and I just received my Slashdot digest moments ago ...

What's a poor geek to do?

Re:someday: microphone instead of keyboard--but wh

[UniverseIsADoughnut]

>> When TTS technology has near perfect recognition without need for training, is my guess.

I needed no training to recognize how to operate TITS...........oh no "I", never mind

Re:Custom PVR?

[Jaysyn]

In that case, I think you'll like that website.

Make sure you check out all the neat things (not just PCs) that have been made by some of their customers.

Jaysyn

Re:/. effect

[norweigiantroll]

how do we know this article really exists? If it was slashdotted before anyone could read it , maybe slashdot is making this sory up. How is this news if we dont really know its there?
Exactly what I was thinking, it's still down, has ANYONE seen the site? Maybe the editor forgot to check the link.

processor inconsistencies

[f13nd]

the site (http://www.ecs.com.tw/products/a980.htm ) there says that you can use northwood P4 cores (socket 478) AND socket 423 Williamettes... what the hell? last time i checked, they had different numbers of pins on them, and you had to buy a new mobo if you got suckered into getting a williamette, and still want to upgrade this would still be a neat LAN party rig... usb mouse and keyboard, get a decently big CRT or LCD screen... you'd have a really neat setup... no lighted cases or anything though

I guess the thing that bugs me most

[Anonymous Coward]

about that description on the product page is the *EXTERNAL* battery?!

attaching the display

[upt1me]

Once you find a working lcd display, just head over to your local hardware store and buy some hinges to attach the lcd to the barebone laptop.

laptop for the blind

[upt1me]

This would be the perfect laptop for the blind.

Re:laptop for the blind

[mpost4]

no it would not, I have friends that are blind and they do use computers, first they do need the ram hd and the cpu, maybe the display could go, but they do need a sound card also.

I have learned to use Jaws because of my friends, which is an intersting program.

What the blind want (and this is based on my friends) is a pda that has text to speech ability.

Hmmm, barebones laptop...

[yjanse]

Might be something for my barebones boss, he also comes without brain, memory and persistent storage of any significant knowledge.

Re:Custom PVR?

[anubi]

That is a really neat site, Jaysyn. Its gonna take me some time to mull over everything they have there.

Thanks for the link.

I wonder though if I was really off topic? I kinda thought that the whole idea of building your own laptop was to customize it for whatever it is you wanted... in my case, a PVR/data logger. But, that link was well worth the karma hit :-) .

abacus

[wadiwood]

I still got my abacus and when that didn't work, there were always the quongdong seeds (a bit like puckered wooden marbles). and when I was really good, we got pencil and paper and a log tables book. But I was always foiled by those when I added 2 and 3 and got 6. I wouldn't mind one of those shells though. I want a burglar decoy. ie get a 486 laptop, fairly slimline, no cd player or floppy drive maybe, and use the kensington lock. Hopefully any burglar will waste his time on that and miss anything I really care about.

laptopparts.com

[Crocuta]

Well, I have a Compaq Presario 1200-X111 laptop sitting here that won't turn on. I took it to the local "Compaq Authorized Repair Center" who charged me a hundred bucks to discover that the motherboard has "a problem." (I'm still not convinced it's not just the power switch, but how do you unsolder that little bugger from the board?)

I checked laptopparts and they want $695 for a new motherboard, but I can get the same part from Compaq's parts store for just $500. The big question though, is why would I spend that kind of money when I can almost replace the laptop for that?

So, there it sits in little pieces. Anyone know where to find the pinouts for the ribbon cables on the LCD? I could always wire in a standard monitor connection and have a cool second monitor to hang on my wall!

Crocuta

Use the mini-PC as your kvm component

[yerricde]

but not waste space on a full sized keyboard/monitor/mouse.

Then use a Pocket PC system. There's a reason to have a full-size screen; otherwise, either you have to squint all the time or you have to scroll all the time. There's a reason to have a full-size keyboard; otherwise, your fingers get cramped. (If your big concern is the two blocks of keys to the right of the main keyboard, get a Happy Hacking keyboard.)

The system can go under the desk, the KVM components can't. :)

Then just use the mini-PC as your KVM component using X11 or VNC, and connect it to your bigger iron via 100BASE-T Ethernet. You won't need to upgrade it unless you want to, say, watch a movie or do something else that involves huge amounts of data transfer from the CPU to the screen.

Re:Custom PVR?

[Jaysyn]

Cool, glad you liked it. When I made my comment I hadn't seen what the laptop in question looked like.

Jaysyn

drool at the touchscreens - no thanks

[DrSkwid]

I've got an 800x600 touchscreen and before too long I'd plugged a mouse into it. There are a few inherent problems with it :

Applications are made for a WIMP paradigm
When you are trying to navigate with your finger around your desktop it obscures the image underneath, user interfaces assume you can see it all and that your hot spot is on one pixel. Double clicking becomes challenging and clicking with anything but the left button becomes annoyingly over complicated.

Of course, a bit of hacking could probably overcome such restrictions. I did a web site targetted at a vendor's touch screen which proved usable (apart from them moaning "the buttons are too big" when they tested it via mouse).

The next downside is the gorilla's forearm syndrome. Repeatedly pushing the screen becomes tiring on the forearm. If the screen is in front of you then you are holding your arm off the desk which involves more of the shoulder too. Putting the screen horizontal helps but then it's harder to read.

As input devices mouses are pretty hard to beat. Especially in non-windows environments where cut & paste comes as a standard feature rather than a proprietry mouse extension.

Re:fishy business

[Eccles]

Actually goldfish are part of the carp family if I'm not mistaken.

Ok, for you replac the joke with: Are you sure it's not just running one of those aquarium screensavers?