Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

HP Introduces Transmeta Thin Clients

Posted by Hemos on from the getting-the-new-machines-on dept.

prostoalex writes "HP will announce the T5500 and T5300 thin clients on Monday at the TechEX show in New York City, which use the 733-MHz and 533-MHz versions of Transmeta's TM5800 CPU. Prices range from $599 to $629."

10 of 203 comments (clear)

  1. Uh by NightSpots · · Score: 4, Insightful

    733 MHz, and I'm supposed to celebrate?

    Transmeta missed the boat. Even in thin clients, they're underpowered. At 733 MHz, even low IPC won't help.

    Transmeta was a good company, but they didn't get their product to market in time.

    --

    --
    Use Vobbo for Video Blogs
    1. Re:Uh by cgranade · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Clockrates of different processors don't directly compare. I mean, the Dreamcast had a 200MHz processor, and went faster than PCs for several years. My Athlon XP 1.8GHz is faster than my P4 2GHz. The P3 1GHz was faster than the P4 1.4GHz. So, 733MHz may be a lot more than you think. Besides, the only reason that seems underpowered is due to bloatware. If it were Linux installed...

      --

      #define DRM chmod 000

    2. Re:Uh by smatt-man · · Score: 5, Insightful

      For a thin client 733 MHz is almost over powered. Remember, all it has to do is run Win CE or embeded Linux. The keyword being thin which means the server does the processing.

      --

      ---
      Lousy rotten karmic retribution.
  2. $600 for a thin client? by TWX · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When I can go buy a cheap $129 Via C3 motherboard with integrated everything, slimline case, memory, keyboard, mouse and flat panel for $500, why should I consider buying this thin client? Once you get away from the standard PC mentality, the costs do become increasingly important...

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
    1. Re:$600 for a thin client? by JanneM · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Basically, you shouldn't buy it.

      A company might, however. These units cost about the same, or a little more, than a standard PC. Unlike a standard PC, however, they are geared from start to be slave units to a server. The user can mess up far less on one of these than they can on a PC, and any software updates and other administration happens on the server and not on the individual desktop units. A user can use any client anywhere; nobody's locked to one particular machine (and replacing a faulty unit is done in minutes, with no need to mess around with backup restoration). And, of course, if you need more capacity, you only need to upgrade the server backend, so these have a lifespan that is a good deal longer than a standard PC.

      The decrease in administration hassles, the improved security, the decreased power consumption and the interchangeability all add up to a pretty compelling advantage compared to putting a full-blown PC on every desk - for a medium to large organization.

      --
      Trust the Computer. The Computer is your friend.
  3. Larry Ellison failed twice. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Larry Ellison has tried to sell thin clients and failed. TWICE. Why does Carly think this will work?

    1: Take a failed business model.
    2: ???
    3: Profit

  4. Thin Client Prices by Brian+Blessed · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When I was setting up my LTSP-style arrangement at home, I shopped around a bit for clients. I already had an old Javastation Krups, but found it much to slow for heavy use.

    These thin clients are $599 to about $629, similar to the prices I found but I can't understand why companies make them so expensive. I decided to build my own using VIA mini-ITX boards for less than $300.

    It amazes me when companies fail to analyze why previous thin client computing initiatives haven't caught on, and put out thin clients that cost the same as a full desktop PC. My local bank (Barclay's) have replaced old X Terminals with Dell desktop PCs (P4s!) running Exceed, and I assume they chose this based on price.

    - Brian

  5. Re:When will they give up? by Lxy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I am by no means an industry analyst, but here's my observations.

    We started off here at work with a System 36 and dumb terminals at everyone's desk. Everyone got their work done, and aside from hardware problems, there was no need to get up and walk to somone's desk. If anyone had problems, it was all centralized. All my work was done from my desk.

    We then moved off dumb terminals and replaced everything with PCs. Trips to people's desk are frequent (probably 20 a day) and the rest of the time is spent building replacement PCs. Users store their own data, and if their drive crashes without a backup, they're SOL. How do you get a user to backup their data on a regular basis? Got me.

    Now we start looking at server based solutions like Citrix and $300 Wyse terminals on the desk. Hmm.. minimized trips to the desk, all management centralized, hey, didn't we used to have that?

    It looks to me like we have a trend. We got off the diskless/helpless workstations in favor of robust, useful boxes. Now we're heading back that helpless box stage and centralize our configuration, installation, and data. I predict that diskless will always be, and in fact will be favorable in reduced admin costs. because of that I welcome a market that is competitive at the thin client level.

    --

    There is no reasonable defense against an idiot with an agenda
    :wq
  6. When Less Is More by istartedi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Of course as others have pointed out, there is no pricing info; but let's assume for a minute that the things are priced the same or more than a regular PC.

    Why buy one?

    Because these things aren't aimed at J. Random Linux Hacker, or even Joe Blow Windows user. They're aimed at corporations who want to keep people locked down. Just try keeping a PC made from standard parts totally locked down. I've even seen standard PCs kludged with locks and keys, which people just ended up jimmying open so they could install a video card they could use to play games when the boss wasn't looking!

    With just a stupid thin client on your desk, you have to stay focused on the budget spreadsheet, or the timeline for ordering new timeline forms, or TPS reports, or whatever it is that's infinitely more boring than what a standard PC can offer.

    In other words, it's more likely to be secure by design right from the start.

    Also, there are fewer players in this space. Basic economics tells us that when there is less competition, prices remain high.

    Just to disclose, I do have some stock in Transmeta, and it's doing really well today.

    Would I buy such a device? Of course not. I have no need for it. I'm not a corporation that loses $50/employee/day in lost productivity due to PC maintenance and games.

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  7. Re: PC v. Thin Client by MuParadigm · · Score: 4, Insightful


    Well, you can get a Thin Client for as little as $200-$400. I just bought several for one of my clients at about $650 a pop, but that was because I wanted them to be capable of Windows emulation and X Windows.

    The real savings is in support costs, though. With regualar PC's and hard drives, the initial costs to setup and secure the workstation are much higher, and even then the users are always screwing things up with Bonzia Buddy, assorted screensavers, etc. Using thin clients with Linux or Terminal Server really cuts down on support costs.

    Anyway, the statement in that article which I found odd was that HP was the leader in the Thin Client market. Everytime I have to set clients up with more TC's, I research the market again, and Wyse is always the best deal. Frankly, I thought they were in the lead for the thin client market, though I may be wrong.