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AMD Cuts Personal Internet Communicator
DaGiants writes "AMD has killed the Personal Internet Communicator (PIC), one of the first major efforts at designing ultra low-cost PCs for the third world. Ars Technica reports that AMD decided to pull the plug, taking a loss on the project. AMD can't be too disappointed though, as the OLPC uses AMD's Geode x86 processor, and delivers a lot more for much less. While OLPC gets most of the attention these days, AMD's role in spurring interest in low-cost PCs for developing nations can't be overlooked."
Used:
On Ebay
One of the big problems is that it runs Windows CE, and it's hard to add applications. There is some magic with the BIOS that won't let it boot into anything but a signed version of Windows.
EBay has them for about $75, maybe there will be a break in getting Linux on it.
There is another AMD machine in the pipeline, however, the successor to the PIC, called the Ultra Value PC. Look for it in January.
Forget Desktops I saw a 299 dollar Celeron laptop at Walmart today. And you can pretty much assemble your own computer for 200 dollars in India so a 250 dollar PIC is kind of dead. And if AMD actually ramps up and starts producing chips at its Bangalore contractor factory we can look forward to even cheaper chips
**Life is too short to be serious**
For those who don't know, OLPC is an abbreviation for One Laptop per Child (and not One Love Peace Concert).
... Karma whoring since 1998.
www.timcoleman.com is a total waste of your time. Never go there.
A Geode GX is little more than a core clock-speed increased version of the MediaGX/Geode GXm, that was bought from NatSemi, who
bought it from Cyrix when they sold the other half to VIA. It's a weak chip. it has a FSB of 33 MHz so that
it could work with PC-66 memory without any L2 cache involvement to raise board or chip pricing. The whole design cripples it
out of the gate. If it's a GX design, it stinks on ice except for a few usable embedded/kiosk designs and, yes, the thing
stinks compared to your machine. It's biggest selling point was it consumed 1-2 Watts TDP at full speed and didn't need much
fansink and could be completely passively cooled. The PIC used THIS CPU in it's design. This destined it to fail out of the
gate. Just like every other design using this chip. It looks good on paper, the marketing speak talks a good talk, but when
it comes to reality, the rubber meeting the pavement- the 33 MHz FSB dooms the device to mediocre performance every time.
They shave pennies off the BOM with this idea, only to have a truly sub-optimal performer, when they could have used a LX or
a NX (Or in the case of someone other than AMD, an Eden or C3/C7 design...)
A Geode LX is a reworked version of the chip design, which was slated to be called the Geode G2 by NatSemi, but they never
really released it. AMD bought the design and took it to market. It's an improvement, with a 66MHz FSB, etc. It's still
underpowered compared to a VIA C3 or a Geode NX, but a decent design. This, I believe, is the CPU choice for the OLPC
laptop. It's not the greatest chip in the world, but it burns a little less watts than the VIA answers, so while it performs
slower overall, it's cooler overall as well- meaning it needs less juice to operate with.
A Geode NX is a very low-power version of the AthlonXP core with all that entails. You can buy machines at Fry's on the
bottom end of the price scale with these on an older style AthonXP motherboard right now- about $250 or so without a monitor.
I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas