Stealth Computers: NY Times on Mini ITX Modding 185
securitas writes "What's smaller than a breadbox? Or a toaster? Or a teddy bear? The New York Times has just discovered mini-ITX based computers (Google /CNET mirror, minus the pictures). It's a nice overview of the mini-ITX scene and suggests that small form computers are a hot growth area while the traditional PC business languishes."
What I would like to see. (Score:5, Interesting)
A new Linux distrubution, one aimed at including the most efficient
programs currently being developed: Blackbox, Thunderbird, Firebird, Dillo,
etc. Debian C3?
A 2.6 kernel running on these things so they're more desktop resonsive, work on swsup to be stable enough that the computer will always be instant-on available, thus
never needing a reboot.
Start a project that aims to develop extremely efficient programs designed
to run very well with slow procs like these. Hell if you can web browse
on a C64, this can be done.
If word of this can get out, then more people will question the Intel and
Microsoft monopoly.
Any other suggestions?
--
These are incredibly cool (Score:3, Interesting)
And that was without putting it in an ET doll or a fishtank.
I want to get my hands on one of these. With a wireless ethernet card and a set of speakers hooked to a built-in sound card you could make a very nifty wireless MP3/streaming audio player -- one that the wife wouldn't object to having in the living room.
Look out for XTX as well (Score:1, Interesting)
These are fun... (Score:2, Interesting)
They take load off my desktop box by doing things like DNS, httpd, dhcpd, fetchmail, procmail, qmail, postgres, etc...
However I would like to see them move to gigabit ethernet.
For the robot geeks these boards offer a lot [roboteq.com]
Putting together a low-wattage server (Score:5, Interesting)
After reading a lot of info about the various mini-ITX boards, cases, and so on, I settled on this configuration:
The total was less than $500, and I could have reduced it some more if I'd been willing to place orders with 3 suppliers, rather than getting everything from one place (logicsupply.com).
While this machine is underpowered for a lot of computing tasks, and is a joke for playing games on, it should do just fabulously as a SMB/NFS file server, web server for pictures of the new baby, and so on. I'm downloading the Fedora beta (Severn) as we speak.
The total power draw for this machine ought to be about 30W. Even at inflated California prices, that's less than $5/month to run. Plus, since the motherboard and case are both fanless, it should run very very quietly, and should be small enough to just tuck away on a shelf somewhere.
Now I get to wait anxiously and see if my expectations match reality.
OpenBrick is best (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:What I would like to see. (Score:3, Interesting)
--Pat / zippy@cs.brandeis.edu
Re:What I would like to see. (Score:1, Interesting)
YAWN... seen it before, NEXT! (Score:2, Interesting)
I think the NY Times needs to do an article on phase cooling or water cooling.
Everytime I tell someone I have a watercooled case with water pumping through my system I get to see the largest eyes this side of the Mississippi.
Re:Small is good? (Score:3, Interesting)
Smaller == cheaper - less materials, less labor.
Smaller == faster - less propagation delay for signals, faster switching time for logic.
Smaller == quieter - lower EMI through shorter transmission lines
Smaller == less power - all of the above add up to less juice spent as heat
Sorry but there is no way computers are getting any bigger. Say goodbyte to those big honking PCI slots because all that stuff is going to get integrated onto one little chip and you'll thank them later when you can buy the whole thing for $50.
Re:YAWN... seen it before, NEXT! (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually, once these miniboxes become cheap & commonplace, there is no need for watercooling. Living rooms will have the silent computer you can use for server tasks and random web access, while the gaming machine can keep a little bit noise because it's not on all the time.