Really tiny computers

[Marks256]

**broken link removed**

I think they look neat. They look as if they would be fun and easy to use, too.

What do you think?

 

[mramos1]

**broken link removed**

I think they look neat. They look as if they would be fun and easy to use, too.

What do you think?

I did not read all about them.. Do they come with Linux pre-loaded? Interface to the board (if pre-loaded)? If RS-232, that would be pretty neat.

They are not cheap.

I will be ordering maxstream.com parts Monday. Company is gonna let me order them and play.. But that does look neat, loading Linux on them and via what interface, that could be some work.

 

[Marks256]

From what i got from the reading, Linux is pre-flashed. There is also a service (charges $10) for re-flashing. If i can get ahold of $130 i just might buy one... fun to play with!


I would like one of these better;
**broken link removed**


If i had the money right now, i would place a bid, but it is a little higher that what i can afford.

 

[Sceadwian]

Sure, biscuit PC's been around for ages. The question is what're you going to do with it? =)

 

[Marks256]

Is that the proper term for them? "Biscuit PC's"? Cool....


What couldn't you do with one? They look freaking awesome! You could load DOS and QB on it, and you would have a portable hack station! 486's rock.

 

[mramos1]

You can do Linux and QB on them too. Works well. On what I call the pizza box machines. They are 16" x 16" x 5"

 

[Torben]

You can do Linux and QB on them too. Works well. On what I call the pizza box machines. They are 16" x 16" x 5"

Also, for $130 US (not including dev kit/power supply etc) you can get a TS-7400 200MHz ARM board--about 6cm by 10cm or so. I've got one--works beautifully. It has a whack of I/O, and has several siblings if you need i.e. 10 COM ports or prefer DOS.

It can also boot Linux in 1.1 seconds.

https://www.embeddedarm.com (I am not affiliated in any way).

Haven't tried a Gumstix, but they sure look fun.


Torben

 

[Marks256]

Thanks for the link. They look great! uhh, i want a small computer sooo bad (no reason, just so i can play with it... )

 

[arunb]

Would the TS-7400 200MHz ARM board work in an industrial environment ??

 

[Sceadwian]

Shuttle makes minature cases that hold micro ATX motherboards. They're affectionatly known as shoebox PC's because they're about that big, good for lan parties, and that's about it.

 

[mramos1]

Shuttle makes minature cases that hold micro ATX motherboards. They're affectionatly known as shoebox PC's because they're about that big, good for lan parties, and that's about it.

Nah. Think smaller, not bigger.

SMDR report machine, parking lot RFID collection and reporting (also to tell the security recorder to snap-shot the plate as they swipe the card, and so on.

They have a lot of uses. Use the PIC or AVR to talk to them as well.

I am going to look at the X-Bee Pro to kill some of the wires I have to deal with next.

 

[Marks256]

Shuttle makes minature cases that hold micro ATX motherboards. They're affectionatly known as shoebox PC's because they're about that big, good for lan parties, and that's about it.

Shuttle PC are nice, but not quite what i would think of as "portable." Yes, they are great at lan parties (i have seen them in action), but not the most ideal computer for strapping your your belt.

I was actually thinking of a computer worthy of a HMD, and maybe a webcam with a few homebrew programs on it.... let your mind wander

 

[mramos1]

Marks256 (Borg-man), get a PDA phone and work from there. I can see you now with a Treo 700 strapped on.. And yes I have code on my phone (treo-650) I wrote..

 

[hjames]

Nokia's N800: utterly expensive, but it's a full-fledged linux machine with better specs than the first two laptops I've had - 128MB ram, 800x480 screen, 300MHz ARM. I think GCC run's ludicrously slow when compiling on it, but it is possible. Scripting languages would probably work better. That and a bluetooth chording keyboard, and you're all set. It even has the webcam built in...

 

[Hero999]

That sounds fast enough for most things I use a computer for. Firefox should work well and I could use ABIWord or OpenOffice 1.1.5 for wordprocessing, spreadsheeting etc.

 

[hjames]

That sounds fast enough for most things I use a computer for. Firefox should work well and I could use ABIWord or OpenOffice 1.1.5 for wordprocessing, spreadsheeting etc.

The N800 uses a slightly modified version of Opera, and the previous version (the N770 was a predecessor with 1/2 the RAM/FLASH and a slower processor), didn't have any problems with ABIword. I don't think anyone has packaged Openoffice on it yet, though. The footprint is probably a bit too large.

Personally, I was getting a kick out of using my N770 for maps - there's a mapping program that caches google maps, so that if you run through an area once, you can save the files for use off-line. Add in a bluetooth GPS, and you have a fully programmable GPS mapping device. It definitely is a neat, but pricy, toy.

 

[Torben]

Would the TS-7400 200MHz ARM board work in an industrial environment ??

I've never deployed one so I can't say for sure, but they claim it would.


Torben