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Hardware

Portable Linux Box 134

Posted by CmdrTaco from the now-thats-a-trick dept.
libertynews writes: "Last night at the Kitsap Peninsula Linux User Group meeting we had one of our members bring in a new Linux product that he's been working on for the last year. It is a hardbound-book sized Linux PC. Complete with sound, video, touchpad, SVHS output, docking bay for floppy and cdrom, 2 USB ports. It's called the Nano PC by a local Washington State company called Linux-Works. It was running with a 533MHz Celeron and 128Mb of ram and Caldera's Linux distribution (dual booting with win98). And its only $799!" This thing has wearable potential no doubt. Very cool looking, and under a pound. Wow. Good to finally see these things (almost) in the wild.
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Small, Portable Linux Box More

Small, Portable Linux Box

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  • Power draw on this thing is probably way to high for any hopes of using it as a wearable. Unless you want to tote around 20 lbs. of batteries that is.

    -Vercingetorix
  • The computer can be operated with the Windows® operating systems as well as Linux..

    When o when will it be "The computer can be operated with Linux as well as Windows® operating systems."
  • Under a pound? I thought you said it was $799?

    Oh! You meant one of those old-fasioned kilogram things? ;-)

  • I bothered to look at the page, you nitwit. Actually, I literary copy-pasted from it...
  • I use a pretty cheap Coolermaster on it. Now if I were to get one of them Icebergs I might start some serious overclocking, but on the other hand, 800 Mhz seems like it's enough for the moment.

  • Re:PCMCIA IS MISSING (Score:4)

    by Riplakish ( 213391 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2001 @10:19AM (#413831)
    PCMCIA would allow for a modem, ethernet card, or even better an Iomega PocketZip [iomega.com]. Granted you can get USB version of any of these periperals, but USB modems and etherenet cards are notoriously slow and buggy. PCMCIA cards are easier to transport.

  • got a little penis envy there, bud?

    --

  • I don`t know about you, but I wouldn`t buy a PDA that forced me to Wince in order to do anything. Ha. Ha. Ha. WinCE. *bang*
  • Would be to make this thing into a car MP3 player. It's got the hard disk and sound card, and in a car at least it would have access to some power.

    Off Topic: All those ACs posting about open source girl friends must have been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer last night and noticed the "Windows NT Explorer"-like internal interface on the girlfriend-bot.

  • Back of the envelope for battery life (Score:4)

    by drenehtsral ( 29789 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2001 @10:24AM (#413835) Homepage
    The SONY Glasstron glasses (the cheap TV version without the VGA) have an SVHS in, which is sweet, 'cause it just happens this little bugger has a matching SVHS out... The power draw is a bear though.

    Their power supply output is 15v DC @ 3A (45W).
    Now, Sealed Lead Acid batteries (the best power per volume i have been able to find for my wearable) run about 13 Watt Hours per Pound. Now i figure the average draw of the machine is probably slightly less than half the supply rating, (although we still want to source the peak current when needed i'm more concerned with average when figureing out how long the batteries will last), so to be save we call it 20 W. So we need just under 2Lb of battery per hour of battery life. That's something to think about. Right now if i carry all 8 pounds of my wearable battery bank, i get 12 hours out of it (WITH DISPLAY!), wheras here we're talking 4 hours, not even counting that we'll need another 18w according to SONY's specs, so call that 2 hours with display carrying 8 pounds of battery. That sucks.

    Now for plan B. We go for high capacity Li-ion batteries, more expensive, larger, but bettwer power-weight. Okay, now we get 34h/battery, and i can't find the weight spec, but i think they are a little more than a pound, but they cost $114/each so 8 pounds gets us 4 hours or so with these, but that's probably over $1500 in batteries. No good =:-( Doh!

  • The original poster had it right judging from my experience. The laptop goes straight from docking station at work to docking station at home (and yes the individuals switch it on at home and yes they plug it into a nice large monitor). It virtually never gets used on the daily commute, only on very long journeys.

    So for many people it could replace their laptop. In reality, would someone rather show off to their colleagues a shiny small box or the latest Sony Vaio?

    I can see it would be useful for presentations. With a good IR/radio mouse and keyboard, you could actually tape the box to the overhead projecter. Don't people always trip over the PC leads in the dark no matter how carefully you try and tuck them away?

    Phillip.
  • This IBM laptop [warehouse.com] is nearly the same price and specs (no S-video out but so what and neither comes with a NIC) as the Nano. So if small, cheap, portable is the mission than I think I'd rather go with something that has batteries. Otherwise if you're trying to impress a client than this tiny box might be the ticket.
  • >>2) want a quiet low profile firewall in your >>server closet (what? you mean everyone doesn't have a server closet?)
    >
    >I've got a server corner of the room, which means >I'm jealous :), but I put together a quiet low >profile firewall (granted not this low) for $350.

    Don't be too jelous. My server closet is under my desk. I wish I had a corner :)

    >This is a great idea!, but what a niche.

    I think they realized this, which is why the next generation (available in Japan already according to an earlier slashdot article) incorporates a NIC card, and the floppy/DVD drive into the unit. The device is bigger, but I can see where it would be useful.

    1) Telecommuter who doesn't need the device while in route (Corporate executive?)
    2) Security orginization. This would essentially allow them to have people work at 'real' computers, and then check them in to a desk or lock them up in a safe at night.
    3) Sales Presentations/Conference Demos. Just add projector. Why bring a laptop? the integrated pointer is perfect for giving demos, (all you need is a mouse durring a presentation), or add a 'happy hacker' keyboard (as small if not small then a laptops. Heck, with the size of projectors nowadays, you might be able to put the device, keyboard, and projector into the same size as a laptop, but with more flexability (being able to give presentations also, or project onto the nearest whiteboard to do some work).

    Granted most of this is still a niche market.

    Heck, if I knew someone on a budget, for 800 they get a decent computer in a small space. I know one or two people who would jump on that. Add a flatscreen, keyboard, mouse, and low profile speakers, and this might be nice for anywhere where space is at a premium (Int. Space Station?).

  • If you want to go portable or even just a travel keyboard, try a Twiddler [handykey.com]. It means learning a how to "chord key" but it is reasonably fast to learn and includes a mouse AND a keyboard in ONE HAND.
  • This device has a lot of potential and can be used for various applications. Seeing as it supports a standard laptop hard drive and can use 1 standard DIMM, some of the things that spring to my mind are:

    • Nice box for the hotel - Hook it up to your TV
    • Portable Storage - Carry files around
    • PowerPoint Loaner - Use it for presentations
    • Development Machine
    • High Security PC - Encrypt your files and take it with you.
    Although it does have a lot of potential, there are a set of pretty glaring issues that I think should be dealt with. The cost is really nice however, and I'd pick up one of these in a second.

    • No Ethernet - needed for use as an IA
    • No Infrared - no sync'ing with PDAs
    • No Modem - lack of connectivity out in the field
    • No Battery Support
    -Pat
  • Why would I buy this again?

    I have to agree with most people posting on this, it is neat to get something to that size, but what market were they thinking of? It's not a PDA, it's not a notebook, it's not a PC.

    Just another expensive item that has no handle on it, so when you loose your grip you have to drop another grand to replace it.

  • It doesn't run on batteries. Sure, you could hack something together, but it wouldn't be as pretty.

    When it was first mentioned (as the Espresso) that was the biggest problem everyone had with it.

    It's neat, but not yet portable.

  • Yeah! All you need is a power source, a monitor, a keyboard, a set of headphones or speakers, a DVD drive, and some of that non-existant Linux DVD software, and you can watch movies on a plane.

    ...or you could just buy a laptop.

  • I'm not sure if this [pfuca.com] is the smallest but it does rock and it is *very* small.
  • If it used AMD's duron instead of a Celeron it would be even cheaper or it could have more RAM for the same price. And you could also keep your hands warm with it in cold winter days, since durons produce quite a lot of heat. :)
  • At $799 it's not a really good value. For that price you could get an Athlon, at some of the cheaper PC manufacturers [deeonesystems.com] with 256MB of RAM.


    Of course, the NanoPC's design is neater, but I wouldn't consider buying it unless it came with Ethernet built-in. It's not even an add-on option! If it came with FireWire built-in also, I would actually buy it right now.


    If the NanoPC was improved with these two features built-in, and had a reasonable price, I think it'd be a killer product. One could get away from having big inconvinient boxes that need to be opened up all the time, and instead have a bunch of smaller components that can be hot-plugged into each other, as it's suitable at the moment.

  • That's twice today. Either you copy-paste this story too much or I'm spending too much time on this website...
  • Look at the Linux-USB.Org [linux-usb.org] page again. See the big colored arrow saying "Check here or on the linux-usb mailing list for device support"? Click on that.

    You end up on this site [www.qbik.ch], and the "device overview" and "Networking" links show you this USB Networking frame [www.qbik.ch].

  • Well then, my G4 is portable. I can carry at around just fine. It's got handles and everything.

    Josh Sisk
  • Not to mention, how truly portable is this thing if you also have to lug around a monitor!
  • There are small keyboards that you use with one hand for character input only. Not very fast on typing but practicle for a wearable device.
  • Hope she doesn't mind - I dug this link up a couple months ago. her site [mit.edu]. Think it'd be better to put all that in a backpack.
    I was actually considering the cappuccino because its onboard eth it has now but I may more likely go with a sony picture book.

    for those interested in other alternatives [blu.org]
  • Not exactly much for portability then, hey?

    - A.P.

    --
    * CmdrTaco is an idiot.

  • What type of availability do these things have? Special order? Production line?
  • Remember the Newton? For the technology available at the time, Apple's Newton was pretty much the same thing. It never flew, so I don't expect this thing to. Especially running Linux or Windows. I wish companies would stop trying to put Linux and Windows on handhelds, because both OSes suck on them.
  • Windows on it costs extra, and Linux doesn't?

    All that means is that they are charging you full price for both operating systems. :)

  • Another neat idea (Score:3)

    by JediTrainer ( 314273 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2001 @10:45AM (#413858)
    Since it's so small, it looks awfully useful. However, if only it had a 10/100 ethernet port, I'll bet that these would make great servers. Sure, they don't have any redundancy at all, but if you can probably shove a dozen or so (or I guess about 20 even) into 2U of rack space, it'd probably catch someone's attention.

    Even better - if you need to work with it, just remove it from the rack, and there's its display, right in front of you.

    Am I missing something here? Looks like they offer up to Celeron 766, 6GB hard drive and up to 256MB memory. Hell - doesn't sound too far off from a low-end server, except for all the redundant parts.
  • What kind of wearable displays are available commercially? What kind of resolution, etc? Are there any displays available commercially?
  • It doesn't have a built-in modem and/or ethernet port, or a PCMCIA slot to add one. What good is it?
  • Take a look at the post and the url given.... the posted specs say 533 Celeron, but the page says 600-800mhz celeron or pentium.... so no 533 according to the specs on the page..

    Also, it the pic there looks EXACTLY like the Espresso [slashdot.org] from a post a week or two ago.

    Sure, if it is the real deal it would be cool.... but it looks bogus to me.

    Steve

  • No wearable potential here (Score:4)

    by Sealoth ( 243147 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2001 @09:01AM (#413862)
    The thing pulls ~45W, going by the power specifications (probably padded) of 15V, 3A. Sure, you could rig this up as a wearable, but you'd have to truck around a backpack full of batteries to get any use out of it at all. I guess it's kinda cool that they made a computer that's small like this, but with that kind of power consumption, it's really not all that useful.
  • Okay, so it runs Linux, big woop, so do a lot of things. Things that are much more portable then this. Not to mention that in the article itself it links back to an earlier article.. of the same product! Did this really need to be posted again?

    And what's this wearable potential BS? You have to plug it into the wall, at best it's a good pc to have in a car, but hardly wearable. You could get a nice MicroATX case with one of those motherboard with everything build in and have something about the same size (with the CD/DVD drive attached)
    --

  • A battery.

    What's the point of a "portable" PC that you still have to plug into the wall?

    Josh Sisk
  • The cool thing about it is that it's a nice little machine that managed to get little without using a whole bunch of hardware that isn't compatable with Linux. Pretty much there really isn't anything all that great about it except that it's a small, sharp looking case that isn't locked into WINCE or something equally nasty.
    _____________
  • If you go to the Nano-PC link mentioned in the submission, you see that Caldera Linux is the "standard" and that putting Windoze on it costs extra. That's close enough to a "Linux box" for me.

    Besides, whether it's a Linux box or not, it still looks like something I'd like to find under my Christmas tree!

  • Ok so this wouldnt be too good for wearable applications (powerconsumption, etc), but it could be perfect for areas that are none too big (e.g. dorm rooms) where people need or want multiple boxen.

    And of course the obligitory "Imagine a beowulf cluster of these"

  • First, I wouldn't refer to anyone as well-armed as ESR as a "dork", if I were you B-)

    Hey, who sez I don't have weapons of my own? ;) 'Sides, even though I give ESR crap for some of his embarrassing statements, I trust him as a gun owner not to abuse the right. And I wasn't declaring him King of all Linux (Linus still has that role), just head of the dork faction. (See: Obi-wan costume ;)

    I wouldn't mind debating the true value of VA Linux sometime, but my original post wasn't making any kind of value judgements on the stock itself -- I was just using that fact to show what's happened to the paper value of a certain zealot that we all know...


    Cheers,

  • Pretty useless for hooking up to your local LAN without a ethernet port or at least a PCMCIA slot.

  • This is similar to the HP e-pc [hp.com]. It's not what I'm looking for, though.

    I'm big into network games, and I want a small system that I can easily tote to LAN parties or to friends houses. I haven't been able to find anything that fits the bill. Neither the Nano PC or the e-pc will work because of the lack of good 3D graphics, or an AGP slot. (The i810 3D graphics decelerator is laughable.)

    What I'm looking for would be in a slightly larger package, and have the following features:

    • P3 or Athlon CPU
    • AGP graphics slot
    • At least 128MB RAM
    • Integrated sound with headphone port
    • Integrated network
    • Internal HD, at least 18GB (so I can dual boot Linux and that other OS)
    • CDROM or DVD-ROM drive
    • USB ports

    In other words, I want something virtually identical to the Nano PC, except for the addition of an AGP video slot. I know you can't do that with the i810 chipset, but I'd rather have it based on an Athlon anyway.

    Has anybody seen such an animal in the wild?

    I've also been looking for smaller desktop cases to build my own small system with, but I haven't been able to find any at all. Every desktop case I've found, on the web or in shops, is huge, with lots of drive bays I don't need. They're actually bigger than the mini-tower I use for my gaming system now.

  • Also, I've heard the audio outs on it are very bad (this was in a review of it a few months back.)

    Although I have no intention of getting one, I've seen a few expressos at conventions demoing software, and they are neat little boxes.

    As for the sound, I read that review as well, and it turned out that the person doing the review had either reinstalled Windows, or otherwise screwed with the sound drivers, and that the sound hardware itself was great - the drivers (not the ones that came with the unit) were what was causing the degradation in quality.

    But don't even begin to ask for a URL - I just remember reading the same review and the retraction/ update.

    --
    Evan

  • Looking at the web page, I find it hard to tell if it was a realy small PC or a laptop like device =) My suggestion to them is to clairify this (espicaly when they have a picture of the device in the palm of someones hand with the words "DESK TOP POWER IN THE PALM OF YOUR HAND" under it =) )
  • Well, actually, I believe that she owns all
    original copyrights. So I really have very
    little to do with it.
    -CrackElf
  • I've been using these (under the EspressoPC name, yes, slashdot found them for me a year ago) at tradeshows for some time.

    While it isn't a mobile machine, it is a portable machine.

    Think about it. If you're like 90% of the laptop users out there (myself included), you take your laptop to work, where you plug it in to a real keyboard, mouse and monitor, then carry it home, where you plug it in to a real keyboard mouse, and monitor.

    So tell me why I'm carrying four pounds of LCD, keyboard and battery, when I all I need to carry is one pound of CPU and HD?

    -Z

  • [...] because that will give the people running it a choice to go back to Windows, which is not what I want to happen.

    Yes, we all know that Linux zealots like you don't want people to have choice, which is why your ilk ranks around the bottom of the social totem pole.

    Oh, and here's something to ponder the next time you're masturbating about Linux: VA Linux's stock dropped another 25 to 30 percent today, so the king dork of Linux, ESR, has now seen the value of his stock officially fall below 1 million dollars. And such a shame, too, after hearing him brag to his worshippers about how cool-n-wealthy he was ($40 million back then, how time flies).


    Cheers,

  • Bingo!

    While I think this is a step in the right direction, the problem is that it is in fact a traditional PC masquerading in a very large PDA's body. The absence of character input, battery power, and display simply makes it a lighter desktop box. And is it me or is the touchscreen input useless when you consider that if you need to carry around a keyboard, monitor, and power plug you had might as well carry a mouse or trackman with you.

    I think I'd rather have a nice slim Vaio or Portege running Linux.

  • I was looking around and saw the epc. About the same pirce with cd, floppy, MODEM, AND ETHERNET, for a few hundred more. Sounds alot more useful, especially if ya throw in somthing like a cy-visor. Just my thoughts.
  • Liquid Image [liquidimage.ca] makes the M-1, a $500 HMD.

    As for power usage on this PC, even if it was the same as a regular laptop (which it isn't since it doesn't have the same kind of power management as a laptop), you'd still only get a couple of hours of use out of it. A wearable needs to get a minimum of eight hours of continuous usage.

    -Vercingetorix

  • This is exactly what I always though a portable PC should be like. Stick it in your pocket to take with you, plug in a monitor and keyboard to use it at home. No need for a laptop or Palmtop. One computer for all the jobs you can think of.
    Im just pissed off about it because I just bought a visor, Now it seems like a poor substitute.
  • This is such an obvious troll. Did Signal 11 get bored being an AC?
  • If the news story is about a portable device which runs Linux, but has no display screen, no keyboard, etc. and costs $799,...

    ...what's the big deal?

    My laptop is portable, has a 12.1" TFT screen, runs Linux exclusively, and has been around for quite some time. Nobody seems to think it's a particularly unique device (although many have seen it and commented, "Hey, what version of Windows IS that?").

    Oh, by the way: I bought it for $799, brand new.

    -William
  • Whee, you were trolled pretty good there!
  • Don't know about you buddy, but My Duron 800 doesn't exceed 30 degrees Celsius under a full workload...
  • Price _is_ important, but I really like my ~$2000 HP Laptop for linuxing.

    Isn't the average Linux user in need of a little more than basic hardware? The ability to use a ton of RAM, solid PCMCIA, decently big disk... I think you may get more at a pretty reasonable price in a real laptop and end up happier down the line with the power and flexibility.

    Just my opinion though.

  • Ok try a HMD and wrist mounted keyboard. I think the only real limiter on this device is its 15V 3A power requirements. I'm no EE But to me that sounds like a pretty heafty power requirements for a device of that size. Definitly not your average AA power consumer. Although I'm sure they make laptop batteries that you could rig up to it. It is kind of disapointing that they didn't have a setup you could purchase along side of it and a nice belt atachment so you could wear them at your waist.
  • Power draw on this thing is probably way to high for any hopes of using it as a wearable. Unless you want to tote around 20 lbs. of batteries that is.

    Slightly off with that comment.

    It depends what you plug into it. Maybe the full sized HDD might draw more power than a notebook sized HDD. But there's no monitor, which uses most of the power. Otherwise, it is essentialy a moble Intel PC in a small form factor.

    Does Linux support ACPI 1.8? Does the kernel power down the HDD, or enter the Intel STPCLK/SLP/DPSLP during the idle process? If not, Win2k/98 can effeciently use power saving features.

    I don't see how this is any different than a mobile PC w/o a monitor and (it looks like) a battery connection.

    Why would you wear it? Not a jab, but I'm curious. I haven't seen any affordable eyeglass-mount optics (like ocular HUDs, etc...)...


    ---
  • Unless I'm missing my guess, this thing has no built in display, making it pretty useless as a portable device. This puts it in pretty much the same category as the G4 cube: Pretty, but as much under the hood as we were led to beleive.

    Come on, guys! Let's see some low-priced tablet computers!
  • You're carrying four pounds worth of LCD, keyboard, and battery so that you can use your PC anywhere and at any time. While it's an interesting idea to actually carry around a very small desktop PC with you, I think that most people are just better off to get a real desktop computer at both locations (home and work). This way, the user doesn't have to unplug their computer every time they want to switch locations. Of course you'll have some synchronization problems, but you will gain flexibility that only two unique PCs can deliver. One ultraportable computer is going to be expensive to upgrade and offer less features than a desktop computer can.

  • Re:It's portable, not mobile. (Score:3)

    by Ian Wolf ( 171633 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2001 @09:41AM (#413889) Homepage
    Good point, but it begs the question, "Who is this product for?"

    The trend of late has been for corps to buy/lease laptops for many of their employees for a number of reasons.

    1. They can take the machines home with them and do work.

    Most individuals never even power their company's laptop on at home unless they need to. And I think you'll find with the possible exception of some techies very few people actually plug their laptop into a seperate keyboard, monitor, and mouse at home. Mouse and keyboard maybe, but monitor, I don't think so.

    2. They can take their machine on the road/plane with them and do work.

    I definitely don't think this machine can fit the bill for trying to get a proposal or piece of code done on a plane.

    3. The laptop gives their employees the ability to move around more, bring them to meetings, collaboration sessions, etc.

    I don't know about the rest of the world, but at my company this happens a lot and again this machine just doesn't fit there either.

    As for the home market, I don't see this replacing any laptops. Not very many people buy laptops for personal use only and those that do typically put the premium paid in its true portability.

  • ACPI support is spotty in the linux kernel (at least in 2.4.x).

    You're forgetting that the processor on this thing isn't the same as those that go in laptops. These appear to be regular desktop CPUs so you don't get speedstep or any of that other stuff that helps reduce power usage (of course all of them have that low power while idle mode)....

  • Not only that, but until the system will fit on my belt buckle, I don't want to haul it around. My palmpilot is annoying enough, and this thing is several times the size of my palm device. However, a PDA has a reason to be sizable; You have to write on it. A wearable computing device has no reason (other than logistics) to have any size at all, except for plugging things into it.


    --
    ALL YOUR KARMA ARE BELONG TO US

  • http://www.xybernaut.com/product/prod_picts/P00371 .jpg There is a picture of one to give you an idea of what it looks like from xybernaut.
  • Windows on it costs extra, and Linux doesn't? All that means is that they are charging you full price for both operating systems. :)
    Actually, you get $18 off if you order the thing with no operating system. I guess that covers the cost of the labor of loading Caldera.
  • ..a Beowulf cluster of these!
    --
  • "-600-800Mhz Pentium® Celeron or Pentium® III Processor"

    well, if you bothered to actually look at the page, you would see that the fastest cpu they sell it with is a PIII 700.

    they also list the hard drive as "6gb upgradable to 18gb", but have an option for a 20gb drive on the order page.
    --
  • Here's a keyboard you can roll up and shove in your pocket.
    http://www.plycon.com/flex.htm [plycon.com]
  • PC runs Windows® 95, 98, NT, 2000 or Linux Operating Systems

    I will take mine with Windows 2000, thanks.

  • For those who had the odd feeling it looked like the Espresso... here's why... it is.
    Or, at least, it's a machine built inside the same clone-kit.
    Here's the SaintSong Espresso [saintsong.com.tw] again.

    Check the CD-ROM dock, the holes in the case, etc.
    So I'm guessing this is like the PC-Book machine you see around and anyone can buy em, slap in a processor, HDD and RAM, load em up and slap their moniker on em.
    The Cappuchino [saintsong.com.tw] is still cooler. ;)
    TheBitch
  • I'll purchase something like this only when it ships with FreeBSD pre-installed.

    Why should Linux get all the eyeballs?

  • Linux has already been installed on this thing by ArsTechnica! http://www.arstechnica.com/reviews/2q00/espresso/e spresso-4.html [arstechnica.com]
    They had RedHat installed May 2000. They had many things running, just a little difficulty with the network adapter.

    Oh well

  • D'oh! I still refuse to believe it, though, that was just too perfect if it was really a troll. So good, in fact, that I'm sure the people that he was imitating were actually nodding their heads in agreement as they read it, so my post served as a counterpoint for them.

    Awww, fuck it, who am I tryin' to kid? I just wanted an excuse to let everyone know about ESR's current paper worth. ;)


    Cheers,

  • This thing is the size of a brick! Mini (Mili) PC would be more appropriate. Micro is a stretch. Nano? A nano computer shold be small enough to embed in your skull.
  • I'm guessing, since it's a complete computer, the battery life on it is going to be pathetic. Probably a few hours, at best. It's not exactly something you can slip into your pocket, either. Also, I've heard the audio outs on it are very bad (this was in a review of it a few months back.)

    This is far from the ultimate MP3 player. Something built around compactflash cards or IBM's microdrive would be much closer to that goal.

    - A.P.

    --
    * CmdrTaco is an idiot.

  • All it really needs is two NIC slots and it would be perfect for lots of applications.

    1) want to set up a linux game server for an impromptu Network game? :)
    2) want a quiet low profile firewall in your server closet (what? you mean everyone doesn't have a server closet?)
    3) I know someone who works in security. He lugs around two laptops, so he can test things out. Having one of these with an ethernet interface would be lovely. Just set it up to boot a terminal off of the serial interface. Assign it an IP address, and then telnet into it, and Viola. A much smaller solution to needing to lug around two laptops.

  • There is no battery, it runs on a conventional power plug.

  • This does seem to be the one missing piece. It makes it of marginal usefulness for a business machine. I'd love to be able to lug this back and forth from home rather than my 10-lb IBM POS.

    But network is essential. Not USB, not PC-Card. I can't remember when I last used my floppy or CDROM for anything. The network is the computer...hey, that sounds familiar...
  • Oh, and here's something to ponder the next time you're masturbating about Linux: VA Linux's stock dropped another 25 to 30 percent today, so the king dork of Linux, ESR, has now seen the value of his stock officially fall below 1 million dollars.

    Since when is ESR the "king dork" of Linux? First, I wouldn't refer to anyone as well-armed as ESR as a "dork", if I were you B-), second I think Linus would have dibs on "king anything" of Linux, third the validity of an idea has no relationship to the stock price of a company seeking to profit from that idea.

    Network Associates stock has fallen to about one tenth of its peak value. Does that mean that firewalls, virus scanners, and PGP are only one tenth as good ideas now as they were two or three years ago?

    Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/

  • The cappuccino G1 does come with ethernet (look at all the saintsong posts).

    Im considering it but possibly intead I may get a sony picture book($1,700 with my 15% discount) instead (firewire included and a monitor and keyboard that could be rarely used when called for and battery life should be a bit better - a con of course is the processor power - size wise it "may be" longer but thinner).

    There are pluses and minues to both of these systems.

    Course if your are not looking at size being critical and are not going to be toting this thing around all the time by all means buy a normal PC or laptop (perhaps a G4 titanium).

  • ???

    ...or that they hire blind men to mill out the holes for the speakers?

  • Hey, since you wouldn't have sex with Thu Lover's Arrival, would you have sex with me? I am pretty badly in need of a good fucking, too, ya know.

  • You know, you can click on links .. to read the website ;)
    You can customize your pc at: http://www.linux-works.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?key =Nano&preadd=action
  • Imagine one of these babies stuffed with your favorite tracks from Napster! Could this be the ultimate MP3 player ?

  • That's not a Linux box! (Score:4)

    by roman_mir ( 125474 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2001 @08:46AM (#413913) Homepage Journal
    You can put any OS on it, Caldera, Win 98/2000, a dual boot (Caldera and Windoze) or you can get it without a preinstalled OS. So what's the big deal?
  • Not if you pull yourself away from the monitor long enough to notice there are USB nics now. The article mentions this.

  • Note to Linux-Works marketing department... (Score:3)

    by boojit ( 256278 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2001 @01:18PM (#413915) Homepage
    Slashdot users (your target market, I assume) have spoken: For crying out loud, quit trying to market this thing as a portable PC. Why in the hell would I ever transport a computer that I have to plug into a wall, keyboard, and monitor before I start? What is the point?

    I've got to believe that the designer of this sexy little toy intended it to be the "big ugly putty box" killer. That's what the nano-PC should be marketed as: the future of the desktop computer.

    And about friggin' time too. Computer cases in general are my pet peeve. Why is it that I can buy a piece of home audio equipment for $200 with the most kickassedly(tm) designed case you've ever seen, but when I spend $2000 on a computer I get some putty-colored moster made out the cheapest, crappiest, ugliest plastic the manufacturer could find? OOH IT HAS A BLINKING GREEN LIGHT I'M SO IMPRESSED. Meanwhile, my crappy $300 car stereo can do this waay-fscked-up laser show that makes it just about impossible for me to see oncoming traffic at night. What is wrong with this picture?!?

    Why do you think Apple has been so successful with the iMac? They managed to come up with a case design only slighty less vomit-inducing than your average PC case, and the entire computing world lost its collective mind like a pre-teen staring at a copy of "Plumpers Magazine" for the first time.

    I think it goes without saying that the nano-PC is only about 1,000,000 times cooler sitting on your desk than an iMac. Actually, even one of those stupid miniature fridges from thinkgeek is cooler sitting on your desk than an iMac, but that is not my point.

    For once you've caught the big desktop manufacturers with their pants down. Your Prime Directive is clear: destroy them all while there is still time.

    And while you're at it, would it KILL you guys to put a real video card in the thing?!?

    DaC

  • Would that use the conventional notebook style battery or is the case too small for that? If it is too small, would the battery life be too short for the unit to be useful?
  • does this [slashdot.org] look familiar?
  • Do they already work under Linux? I can't find anything about NIC's on http://www.linux-usb.org/ [linux-usb.org]

  • It's the Espresso PC (Score:4)

    by lameland ( 23851 ) <epierce.usf@edu> on Wednesday February 21, 2001 @08:47AM (#413919)
    This has been posted before [slashdot.org]. This company is just rebranding an Espresso PC. They didn't even change the case or anything...just made up a new name.

  • Re:Depends what you do with it... and what OS (Score:4)

    by Ian Wolf ( 171633 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2001 @09:54AM (#413934) Homepage
    1) want to set up a linux game server for an impromptu Network game? :)

    True, this would even make LAN parties a little easier.

    2) want a quiet low profile firewall in your server closet (what? you mean everyone doesn't have a server closet?)

    I've got a server corner of the room, which means I'm jealous :), but I put together a quiet low profile firewall (granted not this low) for $350.

    3) I know someone who works in security. He lugs around two laptops, so he can test things out. Having one of these with an ethernet interface would be lovely. Just set it up to boot a terminal off of the serial interface. Assign it an IP address, and then telnet into it, and Viola. A much smaller solution to needing to lug around two laptops.

    This is a great idea!, but what a niche.

    I think the biggest problem I see is that it just doesn't have broad enough appeal.

  • According to the article itself:
    -600-800Mhz Pentium® Celeron or Pentium® III Processor
    -64MB Ram upgradeable to 256MB
    And now for the part that made me spit my coffee over the monitor: Based on the all new Intel® i810 series chipset.

    Now I've got nothing against Intel, but the 810 just doesn't cut it like it should. Does anyone have a clue what they mean by 3D Accelerator Integrated Graphics Chipset? AFAIK an S3 Virge fits that description as well, so...
  • Along with the internal speaker, does it have a line-out or headphone jack? 'cause then just combine it with a paid of those monitor-in-your-glasses, speakers-in-your-ears headsets, and you could get a few looks watching movies on a plane or whatever...

    Hrm. Needs a good portable keyboard, too... what's the smallest keyboard available these days?

  • Re:Battery Life (Score:4)

    by tang ( 179356 ) on Wednesday February 21, 2001 @08:49AM (#413942)
    It doesn't use a battery. This looks like the same product they used to make called the Expresso, I think. It is not a portable, you still need to plug it into the wall.
  • Beware ! Agents nearby ! This sensation occurs when they change something inside the Matrix !
  • Yes, but in normal slashdot style things have to be posted 3 or 4 times before they finally realize that the story has been posted before.

    Welcome to Slashdot, the department of redundencey department.


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