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[Drkirby]

Cool but I wouldn't call it a 'PC'. Although that is vague term, I'd say that it implies something that can run Windows.

That is only because of Microsoft and Apple commercials. Apple doesn't want their computers to be seen as a PC (They are), Microsoft wants you to think a PC is a device that run Windows (It's not)


A PC is simply a computer for individuals at home, and that can be used for any general purpose. It is why Consoles can't be considered PC (They are computers, but can't be put for use to general purpose), but they are still a computer.

A Mac is just a branded PC made by Apple that it intended to run OSx.

 

[Tenks]

could this do snes emulation? or even better?

My old 800 Mhz / 128 MB Dell couldn't do ZSNES with sound. I had to turn sound off to get any decent framerate.

 

[mj1108]

Do want.

Just tell me where to send the money.

 

[kehs]

This would be awesome...like five years ago.

 

[Drkirby]

could this do snes emulation? or even better?

Should be able to run SNES and Geneses stuff, and before. Neo-Geo and PS1 would be pushing it though, and I doubt an N64 emulator would work.

 

[Zombie James]

This would be awesome...like five years ago.

It would have been impossible to do five years ago.

 

[kehs]

It would have been impossible to do five years ago.

That's why it would have been awesome.

 

[Megadragon15]

Should be able to run SNES and Geneses stuff, and before. Neo-Geo and PS1 would be pushing it though, and I doubt an N64 emulator would work.

So you are saying a Pentium III equipped with a 3DFX Voodoo card is more powerful than this?

 

[Blutonium]

It all begins here.

 

[Angry Fork]

Absolutely incredible. Advancements in this form factor can have a big impact on education in third world nations.

Apple will buy the patent, put it in a white sleak package and sell it for 100$, essentially killing any good this would do.

 

[Mashing]

This would be awesome...like five years ago.

"And what's your contribution to society?"

Judging by the reactions in the thread it's still pretty awesome in 2011. With 128MB (and I assume the storage is from the USB stick itself) running Ubuntu (or some other distro of Linux), you can actually do quite a bit with it. Not useless at all.

 

[Plumbob]

Apple will buy the patent, put it in a white sleak package and sell it for 100$, essentially killing any good this would do.

The Mac Nano TM

 

[kehs]

"And what's your contribution to society?"

Judging by the reactions in the thread it's still pretty awesome in 2011. With 128MB (and I assume the storage is from the USB stick itself) running Ubuntu (or some other distro of Linux), you can actually do quite a bit with it. Not useless at all.

In this day in age, it's pretty useless.

If you want to compare based on cost alone, take for example a smartphone released last january. At the time it "costs" $175 to produce, and was entirely self contained including power source, display, storage, connectivity and input devices.

I mean, it's cool and all, but it's nothing close to amazing.

 

[Treefingers]

Apple will buy the patent, put it in a white sleak package and sell it for 100$, essentially killing any good this would do.

Apple will eat our souls

 

[malsumis]

My old 800 Mhz / 128 MB Dell couldn't do ZSNES with sound. I had to turn sound off to get any decent framerate.

what? I played ZSNES with sounds and a 2xSai filter with 60 fps constant on a 500Mhz Athlon and 64 MB of ram back in the old days... What did you do to it?

 

[GameplayWhore]

In this day in age, it's pretty useless.

I believe I gave a list of things can can be done well within the memory footprint of this device. That very obviously makes it not useless.

If you want to compare based on cost alone, take for example a smartphone released last january. At the time it "costs" $175 to produce, and was entirely self contained including power source, display, storage, connectivity and input devices.

You're comparing the end user cost of one item to the 500% higher production cost of another item.

I mean, it's cool and all, but it's nothing close to amazing.

The closest thing I've so far found to this that exists in the world costs a gigantic heap more of money. Perhaps I haven't been looking very hard, though, but it seems pretty amazing* to me.


*

Spoiler

NB: It seems amazing in concept. In reality, I doubt I'll be able to get this for such an insanely low price any time soon, as I mentioned above.

 

[Mike.83]

If they can do this now, imagine what we'll get in a few years if you add an extra £10 on to the price too. Exciting stuff.

 

[Eric_S]

Nice little pice of kit.

I'm currently playing around with an Beagleboard I want to see if it can be used to run an oscilloscope and a logger app. If all goes well I'll uppgrade to a Pandaboard for more CPU oomhp and RAM. And I've just got an Aurdino Uno board that I want to use as a PLC for testing purposes.

This fits in between the two spec wise (not counting I/O) and is cheaper to boot.

 

[thezerofire]

wait, so did they say if it gets internet in any way?

 

[GameplayWhore]

wait, so did they say if it gets internet in any way?

It has a USB port, as currently displayed, so it probably would access a network via a USB adaptor.

 

[Tenks]

what? I played ZSNES with sounds and a 2xSai filter with 60 fps constant on a 500Mhz Athlon and 64 MB of ram back in the old days... What did you do to it?

Hmmm maybe I'm thinking of my 75 Mhz HP ...

 

[kehs]

You're comparing the end user cost of one item to the 500% higher production cost of another item.

I'm not, that's production cost for a nexus one.

 

[GameplayWhore]

I'm not, that's production cost for a nexus one.

Isn't that what I wrote?

 

[mokeyjoe]

My old 800 Mhz / 128 MB Dell couldn't do ZSNES with sound. I had to turn sound off to get any decent framerate.

I used to have an 800MHz Duron with 128mb of RAM and that ran ZNES with sound just fine. I also played Half-Life, Deus Ex and Black & White etc.

In any case I think this would work just great as a retro gaming device. It should run Windows 98 or 2000 fine too, if you can dig out a copy.

 

[Zombie James]

I used to have an 800MHz Duron with 128mb of RAM and that ran ZNES with sound just fine. I also played Half-Life, Deus Ex and Black & White etc.

In any case I think this would work just great as a retro gaming device. It should run Windows 98 or 2000 fine too, if you can dig out a copy.

Uh, not unless Microsoft build secret ARM versions.

 

[Fusion Pizza]

I shall have fun with this.

 

[radios shipping overview]

Hey, that is the guy who made Roller Coaster Tycoon. I have full confidence in this device.

Edit: oh wait, he only ported it to the Xbox and made some expansions. I was thinking of Chris Sawyer.

Yeah, this is the guy who made Elite. Even better.

 

[wolfmat]

In this day in age, it's pretty useless.

You're apparently oblivious to the fact that anyone on the planet can afford this, and the three dudes who can't will get it as a present from me, and suddenly, all you need is a keyboard, an internet connection and a screen and you can fuckin learn math, physics, read about other cultures, watch po^W^Wchat with anyone in the world and so forth, that while until now, the computer age has reached less than half of the world's population.

So this is a paradigm switch. Computers for everyone, not just for the rich. This is not gonna turn into a rap just because stuff rhymes, sorry.

 

[neptunes]

i wonder if Microsoft would ever consider releasing an ultra Light windows OS if these thing ever get popular in the next couple years.

 

[santouras]

i wonder if Microsoft would ever consider releasing an ultra Light windows OS if these thing ever get popular in the next couple years.

they are porting windows to the ARM processor for this very reason

 

[Spectral Glider]

It's a cool concept but the execution is all wrong for commercial use. It should have a male HDMI connector and a bluetooth receiver in-place of the USB port. That way the entire device is simply a dongle you plug into a TV/monitor. It's small enough!

Plug it into your TV, pull out your bluetooth mouse and you're set. No need to lug around HDMI cables and wired mice.

This is what I thought it was until I saw the picture and I was like wait a minute, that's backwards. I'm with you, if that's what it was I'd buy two.

My old 800 Mhz / 128 MB Dell couldn't do ZSNES with sound. I had to turn sound off to get any decent framerate.

I used to run a ton of stuff on my old PII-450 Dell.

 

[thezerofire]

i wonder if Microsoft would ever consider releasing an ultra Light windows OS if these thing ever get popular in the next couple years.

they should do one for netbooks anyway

 

[Drkirby]

So you are saying a Pentium III equipped with a 3DFX Voodoo card is more powerful than this?

Well, it is not an x86, so it isn't a far comparison for the CPU, but the clock rate is about on par of the PIII. I don't think this thing really has much of a GPU though.

Plus, you would need new emulators. No x86 cpu and all, you are running an ARM baby!

 

[wwm0nkey]

Sorry for the bump but according to the official site they are working on the alpha boards and it will ship by the end of the year.

$25 version does not have LAN9512 and only 128MB of RAM (Model A)

$30-$35 version has LAN9512 and 256MB of RAM (Model B)

LINK to website

 

[Blackface]

If you could install nics it would be perfect for a home-made router/firewall.

 

[Enco]

Sounds pretty cool.

More people connected is always good. Just need a cheap HDMI monitor to go with it too.

 

[wwm0nkey]

Sounds pretty cool.

More people connected is always good. Just need a cheap HDMI monitor to go with it too.

Cant you get a small HDMI monitor for only like $100?

 

[WordAssassin]

This is so fucking cool

 

[Magnus]

Say whaaaaaaaaaaat

Bought

 

[KevinRo]

Why not just use an emulated terminal from one server broadcasted to say, cell phones and other devices?

 

[statham]

I'm so going to OC this.

 

[The_Inquisitor]

What is the status of this?

 

[wwm0nkey]

What is the status of this?

read a bit above

Will be available at the end of this year and there is a $25 and $30-35 version.

 

[wwm0nkey]

Ok so release is looking to be around November and there will probably be 10K units made by the years end.

 

[tedtropy]

It's neat tech, for sure, but probably has far more applications in the integrated/portable market then any sort of viable desktop/laptop PC replacement, but I imagine that's what it's really shooting for. Specs just aren't there yet for the later unless you're looking for something very basic.

 

[Raistlin]

Let's see if we can shove Win8 on it

 

[wwm0nkey]

Well they got the Alpha boards

Video

Also they are doing a logo competition so I know some Gaffers will be interested in that one.

 

[wwm0nkey]

They have a video of this running Quake 3 on their site

 

[Zombie James]

They have a video of this running Quake 3 on their site

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_mDuJuvZjI

Not 30fps, but still impressive.

 

[Lionel Mandrake]

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_mDuJuvZjI

Not 30fps, but still impressive.

That's pretty cool.