Fwd: Small Form Factor PCs

[markw-FJ05HQ0HCKaWd6l5hS35sQ at public.gmane.org (Mark Woodward)]

On 06/13/2011 08:28 AM, Chris O'Connell wrote:
> 1)  This is something I would like to productize eventually.
If this is so, an up-front investment in sing Linux will be make your 
life much simpler.
> 2)  Preferably Windows XP or Windows 7.

Ok, so it isn't too specifically Windows. Depending on I/O requirements 
it may be possible to use Linux with Wine.

> 3)  That's what the home automation software runs on.  I didn't write it.
Which software is it? Is it for X10 hardware or something else?

> 4)  I want something small with maybe 2GB ram, 16GB of storage, hard 
> wired 100MB ethernet (or more).  I want something prebuilt (IE, I 
> don't want to have to assemble myself).
There are a lot of these systems available. The embedded market has some 
keep and small PC type computers.
>
> The FIT-PC seems to be pretty good, but it's price preloaded with 
> Windows on it ($500 is the cut off point).  This little start up 
> project is going to cost me at least 1,000-1,200 with all the accessories.

There are a lot of small systems available, here's two

http://www.amazon.com/Athlon-1-5GHz-Barebone-System-ZBOXHD-AD01/dp/B0043DMPTO
http://www.mini-box.com/Car-PC-Automotive-Computing-Solutions
> Chris

One last postscript. IMHO and this being a Linux/UNIX mailing list, you 
should really try to go Linux on this. It opens up far more 
possibilities. I'm not sure what home office automation software you are 
using, but I'd be quite surprised if there were not an equivalent system 
on Linux. Then, when you productize, you don't have to buy a Windows 
license for each unit.

Also, there are a bunch of guys on this board that are really smart, and 
I bet we'd have a bit more emotional investment in helping you succeed 
if you weren't using Windows :-)


>
>
> On Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 4:06 PM, Mark Woodward <markw-FJ05HQ0HCKaWd6l5hS35sQ at public.gmane.org 
> <mailto:markw-FJ05HQ0HCKaWd6l5hS35sQ at public.gmane.org>> wrote:
>
>     On 06/12/2011 10:31 AM, Chris O'Connell wrote:
>
>         ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>         From: Chris O'Connell<omegahalo-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org
>         <mailto:omegahalo-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org>>
>         Date: Sat, Jun 11, 2011 at 11:49 PM
>         Subject: Small Form Factor PCs
>         To: blu<discuss-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org <mailto:discuss-mNDKBlG2WHs at public.gmane.org>>
>
>
>         I'm looking for a very small form factor computer to install
>         some home
>         automation software on.  The software is not very resource
>         intensive.  Here
>         are the key requirements for the system:
>         1.  Must be able to power back up  without human intervention
>         if power to
>         the unit is lost.
>         2.  Should be small and less energy intensive than a regular PC.
>         3.  I would like it to be less than $500.
>         4.  Must be capable of running Windows (so either an AMD or
>         INTEL cpu).
>
>         Can anyone make any suggestions about what might work well for
>         me?  I was
>         looking at the Dell Zino, but am unsure if a better option exists.
>
>     I know I replied once already, I want to ask a quick couple questions.
>
>     (1) Is this a on-off or do you intend to productize your system?
>     (2) What version of Windows? You can use Wince.
>     (3) umm, why Windows?
>     (4) What do you expect for $500, a full PC or just the components.
>     $500 is, IMHO a very generous number.
>     (5) If this is a one-off, I have a VIA-800 miniitx motherboard
>     with 512M of ram and an IDE compact flash adapter that makes a
>     neat little  pseudo-embedded disk-free system that was removed
>     from my robot last year. I could probably let it go for $100 bucks
>     with a standard ATX power supply.
>
>
>     With regards to #1, if you are going to product-ize this, you may
>     want to consider a lower cost platform such as ARM.
>     With regards to #3 and maybe #1, unless there is a REALLY specific
>     need, Windows is a very poor platform for this type of application.
>
>     Also, take a look at www.mini-itx.com <http://www.mini-itx.com>
>
>