Slashdot Mirror
Small Footprint Computers
Robert Cliff writes "VIA's Mini-ITX based computers have been
covered in Slashdot before, but not by this
company. This product
is interesting because it is a SiS based, fanless 233 MHZ system measuring only
4.75 x 6.25 x 1.9 inches, and it can run off BOTH AC and DC. If you need something
larger / powerful, they have other
Mini-ITX based systems, which they claim is built "on same factory that
builds the cases for many high-end audio products". These guys seem to
be heavily promoting Linux."
for one of these for some time now. I would like to put it with wifi in the back of my car and run a custom (read: linux) mp3 server. Now all I need to tack down is the touch screen LCD interface for it (seriously). A little LCD (must be at least 300 whatever brightness units to see in the sunlight of a car interior) isn't bad on it's own, but with touchscreen it's a bit more pricy. Oh, and I don't yet understand how to interface it with a normal OS like a desktop linux or windows (god forbid). Any suggestions? Anybody done anything like this? This appears to be the perfect 'puter for it though ::grin::
I haven't posted in so long, my sig is out of date.
Of course, this doesn't address the really issue with size: the screen.
"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming
Is there somebody I have missed that is also making the mini-itx format?
I love my mini-itx server, but the built-in NIC just plain craps out on me when I'm uploading large quantities of MP3s to it via Samba. Anyone else running Clarkconnect (RH-based) see the same thing?
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
Although I cant reach the website, its slashdotted now, Ive been waiting for such computers. I intend to replace cisco routers on many levels with these if they have available PCI slots.
I think the crashing PC prices will harm the cisco market and might spin off PC based router companies. For this reason, Cisco is focusing on management technologies that cannot be replaced by simply replacing that router. Web-frontends for management software that can manage routers and switches via SNMP and proprietary protocols, and other protocols like the CPD that will become indispensible and will make it hard to go from a $2500 router to a better $200 pc-router.
And for that reason, there is great potential for free/opensource management software as well as its cliet stubs for Linux/FreeBSD routers firewalls and other SNMP devices. Theres also great potential for an IOS emulation app for Linux/BSD.
I'm just amazed at how an operating system can run on mainframes and pdas, emulate the binaries of many OSes, have all the functions of any other OS and challenge Sun, Microsoft, Cisco and game console markets in one blow.
"Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you." -Nim Chimpsky
The price problem with these things is usually in the cards. I know because I've been doing a lot of research online, looking for SBCs (Single Board Computers) that I could wedge into something small enough to build my holy grail: a "white box" portable.
Why not get a laptop? Because I hate the ergonomics and the form factors on laptops, and I hate the proprietary battery tech.
The most affordable card I've been able to find is made by Wincomm. Google around for it, or just check out BWI. It's still pricey $350-$450 IIRC. You can even get a fanless Transmeta version for like $100 extra dollars if you're still into that.
All of these cards are expensive when compared to PCs of comparable performance. I have several theories as to why: 1. They cater to the industrial computing and/or embedded market. When you can get them in onesies and twosies (which isn't always the case) they are going to cost more because these companies usually deal on volume with large manufacturers. 2. In some cases they are "ruggedized" and you pay for that even if you don't really need it. 3. The market is just smaller, so they have to price higher to recoup R&D costs. 4. Hefty licensing fees from chip companies (sometimes you have to pay thousands of dollars just for the rights to a reference design using their chips).
So, until somebody mass-produces the mobile equivalent of a generic MoBo for mobile CPUs, you're going to pay a premium for small form factors. Also, you would have to have better mechanical standards for connectors and add-on cards. The barriers aren't technical, just structural (as in "business structure"). There is no strong incentive for the power players to do this--yet.
At some point in the future, somebody will break through all this garbage. When they do, we could see some really exciting and affordable portable clone technology. That's what I'm searching for, and waiting for before I buy new hardware. By then, these cards should be powerful enough for non-jerky video too. They're almost there, but not quite.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Second, I've been using a mini-ITX design (Shuttle) for over a year now and am completely satisfied. I'm not a gamer or power user, so it suits my needs just fine and I love the small footprint aluminum case. Best of all, it didn't come with the "Microsoft Tax," either.
I think the mini-ITX form is going to become increasingly standard over the next few years. The average user does not want a huge tower case when something smaller is available. If Dell, Gateway et al. were smart, they'd start offering a very compact computer, and watch their margins grow.
IAAL
They consume 5 watts each. A bookshelf with 40 of them would only consume 200 watts, evenly distributed over several square feet.
You'd have much better luck starting a fire with a string of miniature christmas lights, or Athlons, or something.
I could get rid of a dozen pc systems that are used for home firewalls that need more than 2 interfaces.
If a company would come out with a cheap mini-pc just like the one in this article(no fans, small, etc) with 3 or 4 interfaces, I bet they would sell like hotcakes for use as cheap linux firewalls that don't take up a huge amount of space and don't sound like a jet engine all the time.
www.littlepc.com It's the smallest computer I've seen and it's even more powerful if not impossible to upgrade. All you need is a firewire hard drive and you could be all set (if you choose not to have one of those flash hard drives as an option). So it's basically a laptop in the shape of a 5 1/2 in drive bay. Beowulf that!
It looks cool and all, but $400 is a little much for a 233mhz system without video.
I agree completely.
I've looked around for something similar, not so much caring about footprint (though preferably not full PC-size) as fanless operation with a moderate level of performance (PII/300 level or so). Although such systems use mostly low-cost OEM parts, they always cost WAY more than their level of performance would suggest.
Someone want to make a killing? Take a system like this Norhtec GP, kill the frills, splurge a tad on form factor, and sell it for under $200. And if you can kill the HDD and make it use something like a 1GB solid-state IDE, all the better.
For some reason, companies producing tiny PCs like this seem to pretend that people might actually use it as their primary PC. I don't need USB, or 128MB of ram, or a 10GB HDD, or a high-end 3d video card. As long as it has ethernet, keyboard, maybe mouse, and standard svga, 32MB ram and enough IDE-like disk space to throw Linux on, it will suffice for what I (and most people looking for a small, easy, low power, low maintenance (ie, fanless), low noise PC solution) need. Perfect for NAT boxen, car MP3 players, test-beds for crap you don't want on your "real" machine, instrumentation frontends, cheap-n'-dirty laptop substitute, or just about anything you wouldn't need a full modern machine for anyway.
www.lex.com.tw
Especially the new DDR RAM one coming out soon - 4 channel video capture, VIA CPU, 2.5" disk, CF, wireless and up to 3 network interfaces in a box the size of a book..
Actually this is exactly what I need, if only the PC cost $100 or less. I'm automating my aquarium and the I/O will be through the printer port using an interface card I designed a few years ago. As it is, I have to resort to scrounging for old PC motherboards. As far as it tipping over: well, that's what mounting screws are for.