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Pentium M Goes SFF

Posted by timothy on from the letterman-was-here dept.

Jonesy writes "The folks at The Tech Report have reviewed an interesting new small form factor box (a roughly toaster-sized desktop PC) from AOpen based on the Pentium M. As expected, performance is on par with a Pentium 4, but noise and power consumption are much lower. The reviewer says, 'Subjectively, the EY855-II was simply amazing. At one point, I sat with the system at ear level two feet away. I closed my eyes and strained to hear it, but was unable to do so.' The one fly in the ointment: relatively high prices still on Pentium M processors, although that could change soon."

25 of 191 comments (clear)

  1. It's about time! by bigtallmofo · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've attended the Seattle Folk Festival many times and often wondered, "When are they going to get mobile processors here?"

    --
    I'm a big tall mofo.
  2. Golly, I WONDER where they got that idea! by Cr0w+T.+Trollbot · · Score: 5, Funny
    How on earth has the Wintel world decided that now is the right time for a quiet, small-form factor computer? I have no idea! *coughcoughMAC MINIcoughcough*

    Crow T. Trollbot

    1. Re:Golly, I WONDER where they got that idea! by psyconaut · · Score: 3, Interesting

      'cept this is $324 bare bones (still needs memory, hard drive, etc.) and is bigger and uglier and still not as quiet. ;-)

      -psy

    2. Re:Golly, I WONDER where they got that idea! by MatthewNewberg · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Sure Macs had the first Small form factor Computer in the G4 Cube, but Shuttle and other PC Case makers have been making much more realistic(buyable) products for awhile now. The only reason Mac has the Mini is becuase of the inroads these other Case makers have been doing.

      --
      mnewberg.com
    3. Re:Golly, I WONDER where they got that idea! by TheViffer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well .. the base Mini Mac is $499 and still needs memory, hard drive, etc also if you want to run OSX with any amount of performance.

      But your right, its nothing more then a "narrow" shuttle .. and it does look like a toaster.

      --
      -- Knowing too much can get you killed, but knowing who knows too much can make you rich.
    4. Re: Golly, I WONDER where they got that idea! by Alwin+Henseler · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Agreed. This regular Mac-worshipping seen on /. can be annoying, or just too much. But a Pentium-M based SFF would find the Mac Mini among its direct competitors, so in this case it's very much on-topic.

      Oh, and that's apart from the fact that parent poster is probably right. DOS compatibility isn't a selling point anymore, the huge, bulky white boxes are out, and the maintenance troubles of spyware-plaged W**s systems make many people look for alternatives. From what I know most people do with their PC's, the Mac Mini would make an excellent choice these days.

      The most difficult road is the most interesting one.

    5. Re:Golly, I WONDER where they got that idea! by Mattintosh · · Score: 4, Funny

      Actually, from what I can tell, most people want something that doesn't "break when you click it" like Windows XP does. That would be MacOS X. They all have a sob story about how they double-clicked the megabyte and now their hard drive won't download. It's usually because Windows is a fucked up piece of shit that nobody can seem to figure out how to run, much less configure so a newbie can run it without trouble.

      People want to "run the internet", send and receive email, and sometimes type a report for school. Some of them are advanced enough to know they want to play music or store/email/print pictures. Let's see... that's Safari, Mail, Pages, and for those "advanced" newbies, iTunes and iPhoto.

      All of that is included on a system that isn't as susceptible to "viruses" (or malware of other sorts) and "just works" without needing to worry about pressing [random key on keyboard that they're sure was the one] and the DVD-Floppy-Modem quit working.

      There are also about 2759023845908750923854 (as of last week) versions of solitaire available for the Mac, and they're ALL better than MS's version, though none of them are as ubiquitous. They usually cost $20 and come with 8 trillion variations, along with an editor to make your own types of solitaire. And don't forget Bejeweled and Alchemy to keep them addicted (and thus out of your way) for a good long time.

      For someone who's already "broken" their Dell and thus has the keyboard, mouse, monitor, printer/scanner/fax/copier, and USB-enabled kitchen sink, the Mac Mini is perfect. It's also perfect for those of us who don't want to fix relatives' computers anymore.

  3. I had that once... by AthenianGadfly · · Score: 5, Funny

    I had a processor make exactly the same sound once. Usually after they go 'sfff' they're pretty much dead.

  4. Pentium M? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Pentium One Thousand!!!! We'll sell you the whole processor, but you'll only need the edge.

  5. So the difference? by Dark+Paladin · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm looking at the pictures, and so far I see a system with more beef than a Mac Mini (2 DIMM slots instead of 1, etc), maybe a little bigger and more expensive. But quieter and less powerful than a loaded Shuttle.

    So somewhere in between the two, then.

    --
    52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
  6. PS/2? by chudik · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Interesting that they are still bothering with PS/2 for keyboard and mouse. I just got a new Dell at work. No PS/2, just 8 USB 2.0 ports.

  7. Goes to show... by Sensible+Clod · · Score: 3, Interesting

    they've overhyped the Pentium 4 for 4+ years, and underhyped the Pentium III. The P3 was a far better chip, and still is. That's why they re-released it as the M.

    --

    The difference between spam and poop is that you don't have to dig through septic tanks looking for real food. -- Me
    1. Re:Goes to show... by adam1101 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The P-M is a pretty good chip, a 2.0Ghz Dothan is more than a match against a 2.0Ghz Athlon-64, while using less power. The only problem is that they are still very overpriced.

    2. Re:Goes to show... by MatthewNewberg · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Your close to the truth, the reality is the M is a mixture between the P4 and the P3 architectures. The M seems like a very good processor to run in Desktop Systems that do not do a lot of number cruching (number cruching such as games, video encoding, CAD, graphics rendering). Still the P4 architecture is good at processing larges amounts of data since the clock speed can be so high. To read more about the differences of the chips go to http://www.cpuid.com/PentiumM/index.php

      --
      mnewberg.com
    3. Re:Goes to show... by ciroknight · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The problem is the Pentium M is not a Pentium III, but is based off of P6 (the same core archetecture dating all the way back to the Pentium Pro).

      They didn't really underhype the Pentium M, the M is for mobile, and that's exactly where it was aimed and designed for. They hyped it as the "Centrino platform", and it has sold like hotcakes in most modern laptops.

      The real issue is why it took so damned long for Intel to move Pentium M to *desktop* use. The minute they cancelled Itanium's whole branch, they should have moved Pentium 4/Xeon up to its role as the server processor, and moved the Pentium M to the desktop; instead they waited and let AMD get the competitive edge on them with the Athlon 64.

      I commend AMD for their forcing the market to keep moving, but I also hope Intel becomes more responsive and keeps its wheels spinning so that we can see technology keep moving, and not stagnate as it has the past two years.

      --
      "Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." G.W.Bush
  8. Paint two black slots on the top ... by operagost · · Score: 5, Funny

    And it will look just like a toaster. But I guess if you really wanted to make toast, you'd have to use the Prescott instead of the M.

    --

    Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
  9. This is not exactly a new idea by GundamFan · · Score: 3, Interesting

    AOpen has had a microATX 855 chipset board for a little while but really the Pentium M is the perfect fit for SFF computers so I am not complaining.

    The 855 chipset is a little dated though, not great for gaming. I wonder how well supported it is in Linux.

    --
    I don't give a damn for a man that can only spell a word one way.
    Mark Twain
  10. Heat Dissipation? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny
    Maybe it should read:
    At one point, I sat with the system at ear level two feet away. I closed my eyes and strained to hear it, but was severely burned.
  11. Noise factor by kogus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In every environment I've worked in, it has been easy to just position the PC in a way that I can't hear it, even if it is a bit noisy. I, for one, am not willing to pay *any* extra for a quiet desktop. The Mac mini isn't popular because it is quiet, it is popular because it is a practical fashion statement- something Apple is good at.

    --
    A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.
    1. Re:Noise factor by 2nd+Post! · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What if you're listening to classical music?

      What if you're using the computer to learn how to speak foreign languages?

      What if you're using the computer in a library?

      What if you're using the computer in a soundstage?

      What if you're using the computer in a recording room?

      What if you're using the computer in a theater?

      What if you're using the computer in a home theater?

      What if you're using the computer in a bedroom?

      There are lots of noise sensitive places. In fact there are more 'quiet' places than non quiet, so the lack of a 'quiet' PC is probably hurting more than you suspect.

      --

      GPL Deconstructed
  12. how about a server farm by PureCreditor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    if Pentium Ms are similar performance to Pentium 4s, wouldn't it be ideal for clusters and server farms in which (a) density, (b) heat, and (c) power dissipation becomes major factors in day-to-day operations?

  13. AOpen Does not Equal Quality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    As a PC user for 9 years, and a Mac user for 5 years before that. I can say that I have yet to see an offering of the quality of Apple, nor have i seen an SFF box for a similar price with opperating system included.

    As an AOpen customer I reccomend agaist any product of theirs that cannot be self serviced, as AOpen has had poor relations with resellers and endusers. My current laptop and dealings with AOpen have lead to now 7 months of no solution to my problems, initially the firewire port broke which was not a problem as I do very little editing, then a key fell off the laptop keyboard, and now the screen mount is broken at the point where the LCD meets the laptop, attempts to open or close the screen damage the laptop casing.

    I attempted to go through my reseller only to find that they were sued by the California Better Business Bureau for fraud and were no longer in business. AOpen provided no option for repair and has ceased to return communications.

    That said, I do know people who have had success with cases by AOpen, however I have yet to talk with anyone who has had success dealing with AOpen for customer service, including retailers.

  14. Old legacy junk on it ... by MarkTina · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Not sure thats a good thing really, do we really need PS2, serial, parallel and VGA ports on the back ?

    Would have been neater to just go fully USB, Firewire and have DVI, ah well.

  15. Except only one company has done that by 2nd+Post! · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Look around, and only one company has truly done that... Apple with the Mac mini.

    Many of the SFF PCs use m-itx, rather than laptop, motherboards and components. As such they use regular desktop CPUs, hard drives, heatsinks, and optical drives.

    The Mac mini, however, uses a laptop hard drive, laptop optical drive, a laptop heatsink, and a laptop CPU.

    --

    GPL Deconstructed
  16. Still waiting for a good SFF.. by Ancil · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Still isn't what people are looking for. Wintel folks: look to the Mac Mini for inspiration.
    • People don't need expansion slots. Everything is built into the motherboard. If they really need something which isn't there, it can be plugged into a USB port. Expansion slots are a huge waste of real estate, and screw up your airflow too.
    • People want good video performance. That means no shared memory for video. The only reason people buy these huge AOpen and Shuttle SFF's is that the Mini-ITX boards are saddled with lousy graphics. Put an ATi Mobility X700 with 128 megs of video memory in there, and customers won't want or need an AGP or PCIE16 slot. Now you can get away with no expansion slots at all.
    The solution is staring the industry in the face, but no one seems to sell it: SFF machines built using laptop motherboards. If Dell can sell this for $1,000 why can't they sell the same thing with no display, battery, or keyboard for $500?