linutop.com— Linutop is a Linux-based diskless computer. It offers a completely silent, low-power operation in an extremely small package.Its main purpose is to surf the Internet.
Oct 10, 2006View in Crawl 4
Radio Shack et al tried the Internet appliance concept in the 90s. Maybe it will fly this time. I wish http404 could find and post a more informative link. This could be a great solution for the elderly relative still having trouble with Win 98.
It just wasn't profitable back then; they sold plenty of them, but the margins were much lower, and it just wasn't an affordable solution. Most of them were forced into using Intel processors because there was nothing else cheaper and embeddable, which drove up the cost to the $200-400 range.This device could theoretically be made for about ~$70, if made in volume. Imagine the device as the $100 Laptop without the LCD, without the crazy power supply, crazy plastic case, keyboard and touchpad, and WiFi. The OS is free, so there's no licensing cost there, sell the device for $99, get an LCD manufacturer to jump on-board and market them with low-cost panels (or sell them to libraries and schools which already have donated monitors but aging machines that are barely internet worthy). It's a great idea.The only thing I would like to see changed is an option for a CD drive of some kind. Because the system has such little persistent storage, I'd rather have the device boot and run off a disk. But, it's still a great device even without it, as it can easily boot up off a network server and be used as an incredibly thin-client machine.
"It's nice if you can accept it is a bit slow, but there is no pricing information. Also I doubt those "USB 2.0" ports are 480Mbps."It's 500MHz, which is plenty for surfing the web and writing papers, which is what most people do on computers anyways. There's no pricing information because it's *highly* likely they haven't finalized their bill of materials for the device, and they're still deciding on different aspects of the design. Oh, and as for USB 2.0, it depends; the device probably can support USB 2.0 devices, as it probably has a USB 2.0 Host Controller, but whether or not it allows for /high speed/ USB devices is still to be seen. However, it is highly likely that it will be able to support USB 2.0 High Speed devices, as it has become an increasingly trivial task for embedded processors such as the Geode. This makes external hard drive additions to this device a favorable option.
madotakuOct 10, 2006
this would be great for public libraries!
subgeniusdOct 10, 2006
Radio Shack et al tried the Internet appliance concept in the 90s. Maybe it will fly this time. I wish http404 could find and post a more informative link. This could be a great solution for the elderly relative still having trouble with Win 98.
baalzebubOct 10, 2006
<a class="user" href="http://linutop.com/">http://linutop.com/</a> is 404 from this location
geminitojanusOct 10, 2006
It just wasn't profitable back then; they sold plenty of them, but the margins were much lower, and it just wasn't an affordable solution. Most of them were forced into using Intel processors because there was nothing else cheaper and embeddable, which drove up the cost to the $200-400 range.This device could theoretically be made for about ~$70, if made in volume. Imagine the device as the $100 Laptop without the LCD, without the crazy power supply, crazy plastic case, keyboard and touchpad, and WiFi. The OS is free, so there's no licensing cost there, sell the device for $99, get an LCD manufacturer to jump on-board and market them with low-cost panels (or sell them to libraries and schools which already have donated monitors but aging machines that are barely internet worthy). It's a great idea.The only thing I would like to see changed is an option for a CD drive of some kind. Because the system has such little persistent storage, I'd rather have the device boot and run off a disk. But, it's still a great device even without it, as it can easily boot up off a network server and be used as an incredibly thin-client machine.
geminitojanusOct 10, 2006
"It's nice if you can accept it is a bit slow, but there is no pricing information. Also I doubt those "USB 2.0" ports are 480Mbps."It's 500MHz, which is plenty for surfing the web and writing papers, which is what most people do on computers anyways. There's no pricing information because it's *highly* likely they haven't finalized their bill of materials for the device, and they're still deciding on different aspects of the design. Oh, and as for USB 2.0, it depends; the device probably can support USB 2.0 devices, as it probably has a USB 2.0 Host Controller, but whether or not it allows for /high speed/ USB devices is still to be seen. However, it is highly likely that it will be able to support USB 2.0 High Speed devices, as it has become an increasingly trivial task for embedded processors such as the Geode. This makes external hard drive additions to this device a favorable option.
jonesinOct 11, 2006
I also wonder how much this will cost. The folks at Damn Small Linux sell a comparable Mini-ITX system for $250 that's twice as fast as these specs but its a bit too pricey for my needs. Have a look if you like.<a class="user" href="http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/store/Mini_ITX_Systems/Mini_ITX_BareBones_Computer">http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/store/Mini_ITX_Systems/Mini_ITX_BareBones_Computer</a>