Cappuccino PC Round 2

Michael Cook writes: "Ars Technica has just posted a follow up to the review of the original Espresso PC (Slashdotted here(1), and here(2)), a review of the new and much-improved Cappuccino PC! It finally has ethernet and now it's truly possible to have a server farm in a bread box!" This is a slightly off-the-wall review of this promising machine, considering (among other things) that the review unit was stolen, but it sure sounds like a worthy non-toy toy.

Reliability

These boxes are very cute. So small, so powerful. But is it really ok to have them run 24/24h for a server ?
Laptops aren't designed to run 24/24h. Too much heat, components designed to be small, not very resistant, ...
As these boxes are looking like a laptop without screen, I'd like to know whether it's really possible to use them in a server farm, running 24/24h.

The point?

Now, lest anyone get confused, this thing has to be plugged into a wall. It's not a laptop, so there's no battery.

I can see the point of small, portable computers, but if this has to be plugged into a power socket somewhere, what makes this better to own or use than a laptop, palmtop or even a desktop PC?

A GREAT machine if you are not a gamer

This is just what I have been looking for, a small slim almost silent machine that could be placed in my living room.

Lets face it, towers and desktop cases won't cut it when it comes to moving computers from the workroom into other parts of the house.

And it even runs Linux, yum yum espresso...

Naish

Cappuccino?

Longing for cafeine, I clicked the link.

My mistake, I guess

From the article...

...you'd have a powerful, space saving desktop machine with ten times the sex appeal of any beige box. And there's the added bonus that you can easily pack it up and take it with you.

Of course, this was also exactly why it was so easy to steal. After having my computer stolen in the past, I can safely say that when it comes to desktop machines, I prefer them large, unwieldy, and bolted to the floor.

Really cool, but...

These puppies really bring out the geek in me, but I'm not sure exactly where the practical side is. I understand the need to save space, but you don't need to get THAT small. In general, laptop size is fine. Besides, you can't plug any cards into them. (Oh, that's right, USB is supposed to eliminate the need for internal cards, right?)

I did think of one possible application: Such a device might be a good addition to my laptop. If I carried it along, I could use it as a small server to properly test those applications that require truly separate client and server machines. I could probably also store all of my less-used downloads on it, given that it has more storage capacity than my laptop.

Maybe somebody will turn one of these puppies into a time-shifting video recorder? That would be totally cool, but still too expensive.

GreyPoopon
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Re:Really cool, but...

Actually, these are the perfect size for home or small office firewall type machines, which you *want* to be as small and unobtrusive as possible. The only problem is that with only one ethernet port, they're not much use for that...

Also, they're probably a bit too expensive (at least for the home firewall). I dunno, maybe I'm just too cheap. For use as a firewall, maybe you could use both the ethernet port, and a USB -> Ethernet adaptor for the other?

GreyPoopon
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Cappuccino...espresso...

So, these are some kind of Java machines?

Re:A GREAT machine if you are not a gamer

Spot on. The biggest problems with modern PCs are Noise, Size and Ugliness. I only bought a notebook so I would be allowed to use it in the lounge while my lady watches ER.
A 'proper' machine is too big, noisy, ugly and hard to hide. A notebook can be tucked away on the bookshelf when not in use and doesn't need stacks of space to operate.
And in our small 4 man office where we have 5 machines running the noise is a real problem. I've swapped 2 machines to notebooks to reduce the noise - but having something this quiet as server would be great!
Anyone found any other machines that are quiet, small, and able to operate 24hrs?