Slashdot Mirror
AMD Geode Internet Appliance
Justin Davidow writes "For a new twist on internet appliances, AMD is finally attempting to go mainstream with their mobile Geode processor, with the Personal Internet Communicator (PIC), a stand-alone device that allows users a striped down laptop/inflated PDA (without a screen included!) for internet surfing.
Expected retail price: $299USD." Be cool to play around with - I'd love to test it out.
Expected retail price: $299USD." Be cool to play around with - I'd love to test it out.
The PIC is a complete solution, supported through a local service provider
Look! It's got recurring revenue generation built in! Not only can you pay for it up front, but you can keep paying for it month after month; forever! ALl the while you'll be giving control of it over to your favorite ISP, who can reduce it's functionality at their whim, or upon lawsuit, whichever comes first.
Where do I sign up?
(Also: How long until Microchip slaps them with a trademark suit?)
Given the name of the device, I have a feeling that the "oversized Star Trek Communicator" look is intentional. Now if only it actually flipped open. :-)
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
Interesting choice of name. It implies that there might be something interesting on the inside, once you get past the cruft on the outside.
This web page may be of use: How To Break Open A Geode! Oddly enough, some of the information may apply to this particular type of "Geode":
"Below I will describe the most popular methods to opening geodes (besides sawing them). There are many different ways to open a geode, but no matter how you do it, the key is PATIENCE, PATIENCE, PATIENCE! If you want the geode to break into two halves, you absolutely CANNOT just hit it as hard as you want to with a hammer! If it is hollow, you will be left with pieces in most cases, not two halves!"
The page goes on to detail:
* Hammer/Chisel Method
* Sock Method
* Pipe Cutter Method
I want one already!
Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
what color?
(without a screen included!)
Did I miss something? Do they expect people to just plug in to someone else's monitor whenever they want to use it?
I am so pleased that this device is "striped down." Now if we could only get some stripes going across, we'd have a real winner!
Monthy circular image
"You've got questions - we've got cellphones" -- and now, not-cheap-enough computers, too.
I'd imagine a laptop made from multicolored fine feathers would be very cool to play with, indeed!
My AMD geode must be acknowledged!
After looking at the page, chip designer AMD calls their appliance a PIC. I wonder what Microchip is going to think about with their existing and very popular PIC line (priority interrupt controller). Two totally different products/concepts but two big chip manufacturers running the similarly named products.
Sold with compulsory Windows license.
*plonk*
When is someone going to start selling some decent Linux portables? (I know, Nokia's 770... some time later this year.)
GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
I'm actually amazed that the Geode is finally selling! Both the device and its CPU have been discussed on Slashdot and other forums since about mid 2004.
Now if only VIA would finally ship their NanoITX boards!
I know there will be a flood of comments about how easily someone could build a computer for $3.57 using spare dishwasher parts, but all kidding aside, AMD might have priced this machine a bit too high for the intended market.
One can build a base model Dell desktop (running XP Home on a 2.4Ghz processor) for around $300 (less with rebates and special offers).
Considering this is running a neutered version of Windows and is designed to perform only the most basic tasks, I'm surpised it is priced so high.
Bazorg!
$300 AND Windows® Powered Operating System? Hmmm. I can get a plain vanilla box for that these days with more power and options. Not as cute maybe, but more useful in the long run.
The smartest man in the whole, wide world really don't know that much. - Mose Allison
Previous stories:
Introduction
and
Initial Commentary & Photos
I'd say this thing is already "wide open" but not quite the way you meant!
OK, paying $299 (UK equiv about £180) for a 366mhz x86 PC running a stripped-down PDA operating system.
Probably good for the granny squad (anyone heard of a WinCE virus?) but not so great for anyone who wants to use consumer applications. At least you can install regular Windows or x86 Linux on it if needs be.
Compared to the spec of the Mac Mini that costs only $100 more though, this suffers by 30gb less disk space, 884mhz less processor cycles, a quarter the RAM.. and a lot of coolness.
I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
Spend an extra $100 and get a refurbed Mac Mini!
Full function machine few viruses(CURRENTLY)and a easy to use OS...
How much does the license add to the price? It does not do anything a Linux box would not do with Firefox, StarOffice and whatever else. Hell, stick Lindows on it and it'll be a much nicer solution.
But why Windows?
I just build a PC with Athlon 2800+, DVD-RW, 512MB Ram for $300. Monitor not included.
What is the selling poing for the PIC?
"a stand-alone device that allows users a striped down laptop/inflated PDA (without a screen included!) for internet surfing. "
Striped down? Sounds fashionable, soft, and warm.
Inflated? Sounds like my 'date' last night.
I see a bright future for this product, do they ship in discreet brown paper packaging?
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
Do they try to make it look like it's for a lawnmower?
WinCE.Duts.A
c /data/wince.duts.a.html
Category 1
Discovered on: July 17, 2004
http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/ven
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
Yuck, and yuck. I'll stick to my Mac Mini (Mini Mac).
It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
I moderate therefore I rule!
--
Apparently Radio Shack thinks they can offer it up for lease in the US in a market where a full size PC costs 220 to 340 dollars (linux vs windows at walmart). I would imagine this involves leasing them to a market they hope exists for a robust, if severely limited computing platform.
They might be right, there is probably some value in a computer that can't be buggered by the user.
Platform advocacy is like choosing a favorite severely developmentally disabled child.
"striped down laptop"
Quilted boxers or briefs?
--
make install -not war
Judging by the external design, looks like the electronic engineers was asked to do someone else's job.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Ok. Let's look at everything wrong with this product...
No monitor. How does a product designed for "first-time technology users" not include a monitor? What exactly are they expected to plug it in to? The typical first-time users do not have old CRT monitors sitting around, colecting dust like most /.ers.
Cheap, cheap disk. 10GB hard drive? TigerDirect.com advertises a 300GB SATA hard drive for $90. 10GB is pathetic.
Limited software. Ok. I've said this before.. The few reasons that I use windows are MS Office and the wealth of generally available software. This machine doesn't even come with Office and it doesn't even sound like it will let you install it! I bet FireFox is a no-no, too.
Overpriced. In the past, I've priced out $300-$400 systems with generous RAM & hard disk, a good Athlon XP processor, CD burner, etc with no monitor. Of course, that's sans OS and monitor. I wonder how much of that $300 goes to Microsoft for the Windows Operating System?
Although I am by no means a supporter of Linux on the desktop, I think that this is certainly a case where Linux and open source should have been used. As long as they aren't shipping with Office, why not use OpenOffice instead of "TextMaker"? What's the point of paying Microsoft for Licensing if you aren't going to give the customers any of the benefits of MS Office? They won't even have to deal with the fact that users are just used to Windows since these are targeted at "first-timers"
Just my 2 cents...
I've been asking myself this ever since pocket pc's were invented.
LinuxDevices has an article about this device shipping in October of 2004 ... that'd be a year ago ...
...
The linked article doesn't provide any information about availablility to the public. I recall that AMD originally said it was going to restrict sales to developing nations, and maybe they've removed that restriction. I don't see any evidence of that, though.
And of course, here's a link to the previous Slashdot discussion
I couldn't find it on there whether it takes a DC input, though it says that it has an AC/DC adaptor. This might prove to be a little interesting in what it can be applied to. It looks like a good size to be a car computer, and the casing appears to be rugged enough for that. At work, we have a Geode machine that's about the size of a 5 1/4" drive, and it actually operates off a 5VDC digital camera power supply including the 2.5" HDD. If no inverter to ~18VDC is required and only a voltage regulator is needed, this might just be the carputer enthusiast's dream.
Now I remember, it was in my junk mail. No, not the PIC, just an ad for it. Radio Shack has it now. I checked their website and couldn't find it but did find it in their periodical.
t .aspx?action=browsepagedetail&storeid=2404476&rapi d=177937&pagenumber=17&listingid=-2096452092&ref=% 2Fradioshack%2Fdefault.aspx%3Faction%3Dbrowsepages pread%26storeid%3D2404476%26rapid%3D177937%26pagen umber%3D16
http://radioshack.shoplocal.com/radioshack/defaul
If the link don't work, use the SKU #25-587.
I'd buy one but I've got enough things to break.
I have a Geode 300mhz SBPC myself.. with a 1Gig CF card running DSL Linux on it. But it is in a big, bulky industrial case right now.
It runs nice, if not a little sluggish with some larger aplications.
I like the case AMD is showing... I wonder if I can make something similar.
If they're trying to get into the Mac Mini market, they should really have put more effort into getting a device that looks better. The device sounds like a good concept, but who wants to put something that doesn't look great in their kitchen? On the other hand, the Mac Mini (although it's more expensive) seems like it received a lot more polishing on the outside. I know... it's an Appple product. But other companies should have caught on that good looking products are important if they want to reach a large market share for an electronic applicance?
I've come to appreciate low-power-consumption (and the resulting low-heat and low-noise) over the past year.
The Geode looks absolutely amazing, like taking the Epia line to an extreme, with both lower power than the Nehemiahs and higher performance than the C3s.
However... At a price of $300, it strikes me as odd that they would market this as a sort of super-PDA rather than as an super-quiet-and-low-power PC. And even then, that seems like a rather high price for such a system... Perhaps half that much would work well, but I can get an actual PC for $300.
The PDA market has saturated. Everything from "real" PDAs to cell phones to music players to handheld gaming systems now offer a largely overlapping set of features, and which you pick really depends on your primary intended use (calls, music, or games, basically).
The low-power PC market, however, still only has a single player, the Epia. And not really a "perfect" choice, either, since it performs abysmally (good enough for home servers and internet gateways, but don't expect it to ever double as a light-duty interactive machine for a user to sit at). And even in that role, they still draw a non-trivial amount of power (Mine, with a CF card as the primary IDE device, uses around 20W) - A quarter of what a carefully built PC draws, but 5-10x what a dedicated router draws.
Since AMD's first mumblings about the Geode line (their own version, the NX - Not the GX line they bought from National), I have seen it as a potential real alternative to Epia boards. Guess this shows that AMD has no intention of approaching that particular market, much to my dissapointment.
"To protect system integrity and help ensure trouble-free performance over time, the PIC is designed to limit the installation of additional software."
What the hell? I'd be mad at anyone but my grandma getting excited about this..
1) The PIC uses a fraction of the electricity a Dell/Intel PC uses.
2) The PIC should be much easier to maintain, both from a software and hardware perspective. Granted, you can't do as much with it, but you weren't going to play Doom3 on that Dell box with Intel's Extreme (crap) GPU anyhow.
3) Ditch the HD and WinCE and these would make great LTSP clients.
In short, TCO should be a LOT lower.
That said, I suspect that the pricing is deliberately on the high side to keep from competing with real PCs and to make the inevitable bundled-with-Internet service plans look better. I can see some businesses buying them for their low-level workers; think of the power and heat reductions from a cubicle farm full of PICs vs. Dells. (Granted, a smart business would get AMD-based PCs with power management enabled, but if we're talking about Dell customers...)
I am so sorry.
See? http://www.amd.com/us-en/ConnectivitySolutions/Pro ductInformation/0,,50_2330_12264_12105~92447,00.ht ml
REM Old programmers don't die. They just GOSUB without RETURN.
Didnt we see this last year?
---- Booth was a patriot ----
As I recall, this device was originally hailed as a PC for developing nations, priced at around $100. Looks like they missed their target.
As an Internet appliance, this doesn't stand a snowball's chance in hell: it's too expensive, too big, too ugly, and it runs the wrong kind of software.
Probably the main reason it missed its target is its operating system--Windows is far too heavyweight. Companies like Linksys have no trouble putting out $50 Linux systems like the WRT 54G; if they replaced the wireless on that box with video out, you'd have the hardware for an Internet appliance.
Totally dissapointed... I would have bought with Linux and Firefox but...I guess my dreams will have to wait... FUCKIN' MS ASS LICKERS THEY ALL ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I mean, nobody has ever built a small low-powered PC based on a Geode chip before...
The only thing that's really novel about this is the integrated video, and having some (possibly lobotomized version of) Windows pre-installed. Otherwise, this isn't exactly a remarkable technological development.
Also seconding the "how could they make this and not include a display" question. The boards I cited above are intended for embedded development, and I've never used a monitor on any of them. (I've got probably fifty of them, all running various customized Linux and BSD distributions, scattered over four counties in my network. They're intended to be used that way, which is why they don't even have a VGA port.)
Seriously, once you add a monitor, you're pretty close to low-end Dell pricing, which gives you a computer with roughly 20 times the raw horsepower, and a lot more versatility, so I suppose they're marketing this to the "omg computers are scary" crowd. Best of luck on that. I'd like to think at this point the American public is smarter than this, but I'm probably setting myself up for another disappointment.
This thing is designed to limit software installation. Does that include viruses/trojans/rootkits/etc? Somehow I think not.
What are the users supposed to do if (when) their toy gets pwned? Rely on a MS solution? HA!
- No TV out
- No Ethernet
- No Wireless
- "Windows Powered"? What the fsck does that mean?
Don't call us, we'll call you. NEXT!I work for an AMD partner who is a systems builder working to supply computers to schools in a one to one ration for students to PC. We received one of these units a few months back to evaluate. The device is has some definite limitations to be aware of. Yes it does run Windows Mobile, but to my knowledge it is locked down somewhat and requires some doing to install addtional software. So you are not able to run programs designed for Windows XP, You can however use a terminal services client to access a terminal server and run applications that way. The box is very rugged and design with the exception of the USB ports which imbecile end users inevitable break(flaw of USB design not of the Geode). My impression of the product of a whole was that it would be a realy great product in 3rd world coutries as it packed small and was very rugged. It would survive lots of travel and maybe even airdrops. But then you still have to get a monitor to them. Also the device does not have on board networking. Our Demo unit shipped with a USB ethernet dongle. I have not tried it with wifi as the unit we received for demo had it hard drive locked read only so we could not try driver install. The price point is the other issue, the lack of upgradeabilty and the high price ($299) can't compare to the $300 PCs built of off the shelf parts that are easily upgraded and are running Linux distros. That is why the Indiana department of education is moving to use Novell Linux Desktop and Linspire in many of their new purchases.
It just another version of the Mac mini. No screen and keyboard (at least an usable in terms of normal typing). This reminds me of the "thin-client" systems in the 1990's which several companies wanted to sells a part of the service. Oracle tried this in 1998 and sold this idea to schools but now it's part of history. Cheap PC's doom this. Maybe this time it may work since this is an device with internal storage unlike an thin-client but IMHO most people want to have the versatility of an PC which can function as an independant unit and could be used anywhere like an phone.
$299 yeah right.
If MIT can make a $100 laptop, surely someone can remove the battery and LCD screen and add a modem and USB to make a $50 desktop sans monitor. Add $10 for a used monitor and *poof* $60 computer.
That would be wholesale in million-unit quanities. Double that for retail.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
The supplied operating system may be a weird version of Windows, but you can install Linux on it as well. Go to http://www.larwe.com/technical/geode_linux.html where they have detailed instructions.
On the other hand, I'm sure a lot of people (myself included) categorically refuse to pay the Windows Tax. AMD ought to be offering a version of this device with no operating system preinstalled.
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These aren't meant to compete with the mac mini or any small form factor systems. They're for underdeveloped nations and the such, and you cant install software on them. It's mainly only for internet connectivity, hence the name, "Personal Internet Communicator." AMD donated 200 of these to Katrina shelters around Texas so that evacuees had a way of accessing the internet to find lost family members and such. You can read more about the Personal Internet Communicator and the AMD 50x15 program here.
No wireless? Less space than an iPod? Lame.
Articulos para gente geek: Poleras, linux, libros y mas
Really if it were $200 and booted off of 512MB or a 1 GB of flash I think it would be MORE useful. I used to work in an industrial environment where a fan-less, disk-less internet computer would have been ideal. The catch is that it would have to support Java applets in the browser, and from the description I'm not sure this device will by default.
Think Deeply.
For $300, I can buy a decent desktop system. I wonder if $100 is for the Windows License. My suggesstion Price: $100 OS: Linux based Software: Firefox, Thunderbird, Open Office, Flash player, Java...
"...a stand-alone device that allows users a striped down laptop/inflated PDA..."
OK... I want to know which side this device is striped down on, and what color the stripe is, dang it! If it's not done up in Bell System blue/yellow, I don't want anything to do with it.
Or maybe it's an appliance of a different stripe?
Spelling glitches can be such fun...
Bruce Lane, KC7GR,
Blue Feather Technologies
Like someone else said, and I totally agree:
why 300 dollars? Nokia's Tablet is supposed to debut for about the same price. It has a 10 GB 3.5 inch hard drive? Where do they get that? 2 dollars at a local garage sale? Wtf... for 300 dollars I can set up a blazing file server, internet station, whatever you want, just not an overpriced monitorless "mobile" green thing.
I used to run Linux on my old 486 box. I ran X on top of it. With Netscape 4, bloated as hell. And various other CPU and memory intensive applications (no GNOME nor KDE by then tho). All that with a whopping 8 Mb of RAM. And it was good!
Articulos para gente geek: Poleras, linux, libros y mas
I was actually fortunate enough to get my hands on one of these early. They are great devices and they are going to be perfect for their intended market.
These were the devices donated by AMD to the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in the Houston Reliant Park shelter and George R. Brown Convention Center.
You can see pics of how they were deployed at http://blog.popanalytics.com/?p=42
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To protect system integrity and help ensure trouble-free performance over time, the PIC is designed to limit the installation of additional software. The PIC device is Microsoft® Windows® Powered and contains pre-installed peripheral driver software. Software upgrades can be performed by the Internet Service Provider.
There go my ideas of my easily deployable weatherized linux powered wifi mesh. They'd have made great little web/information servers for local content too. Get rid of that MS license and I bet these things would be much cheaper too.
I'm was a little bemused to see this article, when less than a week ago MIT were demonstrating a $100 variation, thats portable, and even has its own screen, and is capable of running a full version of Windows!
/ 129235&tid=98&tid=184&tid=106&tid=219&tid=137
http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/29
"Joy is not in things; it is in us." Richard Wagner
Step 1: Push economy to raise prices of service labor
Step 2: Popularize new monthly "maintanence" fees to avoid high prices
Ex: Groundskeeper, pool cleaner, auto mechanic, hospital membership, housing association, insurance(s), renting movies, games, etc... parking permits - i think so
Step 3: Base product sectors on monthly service
Ex: Renting stuff, leasing stuff...
Step 4: Automated Bill Pay
Step 5: Automated 'Direct-from-Check' Pay
Ex: Union Dues, Taxes
Step 6: ???
Step 7: Communism
Step 8: Profit?
There was a blurb on engadget.com this morning saying that you could pick one of these up at Radio Shack. No word if those models include the subscription model or not.
Info is here
The PIC uses a locked and encrypted bios to make windows (CE ?) boot faster. I havent read anywhere of linux being installed on this specific device. http://www.gensw.com/pages/stories/amdpicst.htm
Serveral problems I see with that device is that it doesn't list the processing power, well it does but relatively unknown because it sounds like they advertising their new processor, decoding video takes up lots of CPU, even modern computers have problems running real player for example. Uses way too heavy applications and especially they didn't list the memory and cpu avaiable which is critical.
Second, what happen if that computer is compromise, virus, spyware etc? The whole system doesn't reload upon use, well in the case that it needed to be reload before use, it woudn't work too well as an independent devices or for dial-up access. It uses HD which is not reliable and "abuse" resistance. Also not steal resistance too because it's actually an independent system. Also how is this system once independent, be upgrade or update? Software update I can see it happen but the hardware will eventually be too "old" to run anything else.
Other then that, this device seem to be a small version of a PC which essentially doesn't solve any specific problem exept for making it small.
I have a lot of thing I would love to have a very small, low-form-factor machine for. Mainly, if it supported wireless, I could probably hook it into a battery pack and have all sorts of fun. There are plenty of things you can do with HID's that don't require a monitor, as long as you don't intend to use the unit like a standard PC.
Sure, you can have a desktop for about the same price. But not one you can slip in your pocke. OK, it'd better be cargo pants. It'll have a bigger hard disk, but it'll be crap. And the power supply will suck. And, rather than operating fan-less, it'll sound like walking out on the tarmac at a major airport.
So, it's not overpriced if you happen to need to be able to carry your PC in the pocket of your cargo pants or in your purse but don't want to go to a laptop.
Probably a pretty narrow market segment, eh? But not highway robbery either. It'll be a nice hobbyist component though. If it had a few programmable buttons and a small LCD, it'd be a decent, if somewhat large MP3 player.
What I'd like to see a blurring of the lines between PDA and desktop; essentially a PDA that when you dock it becomes a desktop replacement. We aren't that far away from that now.
Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame.
Read my blog.
Once AMD gets serious they should be able to cut the price in half if not bring it down close to $100. If this happens, I'm thinking affordable education to the masses. And when we get ahold of one of these things and put linux on it then I'll throw down $100 for each of my grand parents and I'll run their systems for them.
Check out this comment:
"I am from India and I am sure that it will help a few million people additionally every year to get access to Internet. . .
. . . the growth will be exponential. The benefits of this effort will be definitely numerous not only to countries to India, but to the whole mankind.
G M Asirvatham" more:
It will be a useless piece of junk if you can't install a decent operating
system like Linux on it.
(Disclaimer: I don't work at AMD or sell any of their products. I'm just a fan.)
Through a local small computer company with ties to AMD, I've been beta testing AMD's GX Thin Client product, which is based on a Geode GX 533 processor (which runs at 400MHz). Granted, this isn't the exact product listed in the story, but it's built on the same platform and only seems to differ, really, in that the Thin Client doesn't include a hard drive.
The first thing one notices about the Thin Client is its size. It's small. Most hardcover novels are considerably larger than the Thin Client. Most Linksys routers are larger than the Thin Client.
The Thin Client includes flash memory for storage (128MB, if I recall), which you can take out and replace with a CompactFlash card (using the provided adapter). The Thin Client I received included a version of Windows XP Embedded and Windows CE. The performance under XP Embedded was surprisingly poor. Simply moving a window around the screen rapidly could bring the system to its knees. Windows CE, however, was pretty responsive but ultimately not very useful.
On the bright side, it runs Linux. Just load up a slim distro (Debian Base, Slackware, Damn Small Linux, etc.) onto a CF card with the appropriate drivers (which AMD doesn't yet publish on their site--I got them from one of the project leaders--but I'm sure they'll be available once the Thin Client hits the market). It works swimmingly.
Now for a bit of bad news: the Thin Client only has USB 1.1 ports, so you're limited to ~11Mbps transfer speeds over USB. It has built-in 10/100 Ethernet, but you'll never hit anywhere near 100Mbps. The processor becomes your bottleneck when it comes to any kind of network utilization. (I never seem to get above 15Mbps.) File transfers will be limited by the R/W speed of the CF card. I would not expect to use this kind of device for anything multimedia-related, nor anything that requires even moderate processing power.
But the Geode does shine in one area that's very important to me: power consumption. The processor draws about 6W under an average load. In standby, it draws less than 1W. (The rest of the system draws a few more watts, of course.) This is important to me because I have a couple of sites (I work for a WISP) that run off of wind and solar power. Since the Geode consumes less power than the average night light, I can plug it into one of those sites and not worry about it. I wouldn't even consider putting an EPIA-based machine at one of those sites--it would drain the batteries in just a few hours.
The Geode isn't very good at running a GUI or any processor-intensive application. It is, however, good at running services like Apache, Nagios, and others.
I think AMD is marketing these devices to the wrong crowd--they shouldn't be general-purpose computers for the third-world (the $100 laptop would put this to shame in terms of value). It should, however, be marketed to network geeks who need monitoring and testing tools at various locations across their network. No other device comes close in terms of cost and power consumption.
I plan on buying dozens of the Thin Clients once they hit the market. They might not be perfect in every way (the processor-limited network transfers bug me), but they do have their uses.
the xbox is not only cheaper, but has better specs in most cases (it just requires effort to mod to run linux)
is this some British pronounciation for Geordi?
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
Actually people have been reporting drive failures when thier PIC falls off a table while running.
As this guy explains, the PIC is not very durable, nor is it very hackable.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
I saw RadioShack's version in this months ad:t .aspx?action=detail&flashbrowse=y&storeid=2406880& rapid=177938&pagenumber=17&listingid=-2096452092&r ef=%2Fradioshack%2Fdefault.aspx%3Faction%3Dbrowsep ageflash%26storeid%3D2406880%26pagenumber%3D17%26r apid%3D177938%26prvid%3Dradioshack-050922
http://radioshack.shoplocal.com/radioshack/defaul
its advertised as being a replacement for your portable laptop and/or pda. without the screen i don't understand how they can even attempt to say it takes the place of those two things. i have to locate a monitor when i'm out? or just carry one with me? how is that portable?
To protect system integrity and help ensure trouble-free performance over time, the ... PIC device is Microsoft® Windows® Powered.
That oughta be good for some kind of karma!
That is all.
For 299, I expect a 10 inch color screen, wireless, and linux installed.
According to TFA it "supports" a USB network card, no mention of supporting a USB modem. TFA also does not say if it comes with a network card built in, I am guessing that if it did come with one, they would have mentioned it.
Also without a monitor ($50.00 - $300.00 extra) its also worthless for the market they are going after.
This sounds cool, except for the fact you can buy bigger/bulking vanilla boxes with more hardware suitable to someone who would want an internet enabled machine. It sounds like a good deal for someone who wants a very small, low quality (meaning speed, storage etc) machine.
TruePunk | Games
in 6 months where they are on clearance for $40.00
for a basic computer you can just
Buy A xbox and a mod chip, cut a usb cable and use a usb hub for mouse and keyboard,
HD output(or standard TV), built in networking,
DVD drive, Cheap as shit..
And yes it runs linux!!!
(as a plus you piss microsoft off in the process)
...this would only cost $199 =/
-illumina+us "I put on my robe and wizard hat..."
Look at the target market. While not targeted at someone living in a tent or cardboard village, it *is* targeted at people in third world countries and rough, poor areas of new/old world countries. This means temperature extremes a little hairier than the Dell box is made for, horrible power, etc. It's hardly mil-spec, but the AMD is a somewhat hardened appliance. The Dell is not. And which one's going to survive being pulled off the table by the two year old, hmmm? Which one will handle sand and rain blowing onto it through an open window better? Presumably the AMD, which seems to have been made with that environment in mind. The Dell? Belly up in three months, if you're very lucky.
This isn't a rant against Dell; the cheaper Dells that I have seen were simply not designed with a harsh environment in mind.
The PIC looks like a cat litter box with a matching lid!
yes it is overpriced, id wait for a few years and would be looking forward for other developers of this appliance, hopefully the price will eventually go down.
cheap flooring materials
/. must have a lack of real news, I read about this topic over a year ago. News here is starting to get old fast.
sorry, I know it's OT but I gotta hear your explaination on how the ACLU, whose sole purpose is to defend the documents america was founded on (the constitution and the bill of rights), is un-american?
My main beef with the ACLU, is that they pick and choose which of the supposedly inalienable rights guaranteed by the Constitution are suitable for their unapologetically liberal agenda. They say they defend the Constitution, but when certain unpopular constitutional rights are infringed, they fall silent. Would they lift a finger to assist citizens of New Orleans, who had their firearms "confiscated" during the aftermath of Katrina, without due process, and just when these people needed them the most, in defending their properties from looting, probably never to be seen again? Nope. Meanwhile, the security guards hired by the rich were allowed to carry their weapons to defend their clients' properties from theft.
Loose constructionism aside, there is ample direct evidence that the founding fathers intended that the right to keep and bear arms mentioned in the second amendment be considered an individual right, not to mention recent Supreme Court rulings upholding this viewpoint.
Their take on it is here.
"Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer." -Adolf Hitler
"We are one Nation, we are one People." -The One 'leader'