[Wlug] Anybody want a really cheap computer?

[kstratton at fastmail.us]

On Sun, 05 Aug 2007 09:50:11 -0400, "Andy Stewart"
<andystewart at comcast.net> said:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA1
> 
> kstratton at fastmail.us wrote:
> > My understanding is that playing flash movies is still at the alpha
> > stage (gnash project http://www.gnu.org/software/gnash).  For that
> > reason alone, I would not give something like that to my mother.  Is
> > there a movie playing technology that is stable enough for general
> > purpose consumption?
> > 
> > One negative of the decTOP that is not obvious is that the decTop does
> > not have an integrated network adaptor (based on a web page), instead it
> > comes with a USB to network adaptor.  If anyone has any suggestions,
> > please let me know.  I am willing to consider ARM or MIPS boards.
> >     decTOP likes:
> >       1) low power usage (if I believe web pages, 8W)
> >       2) standard memory and hard drive interface
> >       3) video interface provided as well as mouse and keyboard
> >       4) low price
> > I still have to do some reading up on the TCP/IP protocol before
> > actually deciding to buy something.
> 
> Another thing that I like about the decTOP is that it takes a 12Vdc
> input.  That lends itself very well to ham radio related operations,
> where most equipment takes 12Vdc (think: car battery).  Also, a good
> percentage of the 8W is to run the hard drive.  I can imagine swapping
> that out for a flash card and saving lots of power, which would be
> important in some applications.
> 
> If it weren't for the $40 shipping, I'd probably have bought one of
> these by now.  Shipping for four of these was $45 (I think), so if three
> other people are interested, I'll split shipping with you.  Just let me
> know.
> 
> Later,
> 
> Andy
> 
> - --
> Andy Stewart, Founder
> Worcester Linux Users' Group (http://www.wlug.org)
> Chelmsford Linux Meetup Group (http://linux.meetup.com/393)
> Amateur Radio:  KB1OIQ
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
> Version: GnuPG v1.4.2 (GNU/Linux)
> Comment: Using GnuPG with SUSE - http://enigmail.mozdev.org
> 
> iD8DBQFGtdWTHl0iXDssISsRAlWYAJ0WhxA3RLXdi93qeepwscSzgVh2gwCfeiiG
> mx807TDl2mRou4IUN8okVW4=
> =djEY
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> _______________________________________________
> Wlug mailing list
> Wlug at mail.wlug.org
> http://mail.wlug.org/mailman/listinfo/wlug

Even though nobody said to do this, I personally would be careful using
the decTOP directly wired to the car battery.  I have seen car batteries
under charge with 15 volts or more at the terminals.  This is outside
the range of the ATX power suply standard for the 12V output (+-5%)
acording to: http://www.formfactors.org/developer\specs\ATX12V
PSDG2.01.pdf.  My greatest concern is for the 3.5" hard drive and
possibly the DC to DC converter that converts the 12V to a logic level
voltages. 

I was considering managing the power with some kind of script using
hdparm to bring the hard drive in and out of sleep, but there are more
than a few technical details to be worked out.
-- 
  
  kstratton at fastmail.us