Hello,

Is anyone using one of the new crop of ultra small, low power, low noise computers - such as the fit-PC or Linutop?

The two I mentioned run on the AMD Geode line of processors, but there are other lines from other companies, such as VIA and Intel.

How do they perform? I know they are only ~500MHz and 256-512GB RAM, but how do they actually perform? What are the advantages and disadvantages of such systems? Are they viable as an actual desktop (non-gaming desktop, that is)?

I have a VIA single board computer (SBC) with 1GB RAM that runs Fedora 8 nicely. It is basically a development station for another embedded project at the moment. Depends on the unit but yes they could be used as a desktop.

They can used for thin clients, kiosks, test equipment and other embedded applications/appliances etc. They have limited RAM, I/O and expansion capability. Some can run strictly from flash memory.

Hello,

Thanks for the reply. What kind of VIA chip is it running? And how well does it work as a development system?

I am looking at getting a system with the VIA Eden chip (1.0-1.2GHz) with 1-2GB RAM and running on 2x 4-16GB CF connected with a CF-to-SATA adaptor in RAID. I can use onboard graphics (I work mainly in console or xterm) and most come with built-in NIC. I will be using it for:

development platform (i.e., kernel programming, C/C++ programming, shell scripting, perl, website development - using vim/gcc/gdb)
web-browsing (firefox; dillo; lynx)
email (web-mail; mutt)
text-editing (vim; groff)
image manipulation (GIMP)
typesetting (OpenOffice; GIMP; Scribus; xpdf; (la)tex; groff)
musical typesetting (lilypond)
writing correspondence (OpenOffice; vim)
systems administration (ftp; ssh; Midnight Commander; a gross of cli tools for systems administration)
pushing the limits, boundaries, and frontiers of simplicity and efficiency in computing



Do you think that these tasks are feasible in the above setup? Will they take 24 hours to compile a kernel or convert a file to ps/pdf?

Here is the specifics on my equipment.
http://www.mini-box.com/site/index.html
And the motherboard.
http://www.mini-box.com/VIA-EPIA-EX1...=8&category=99

I strictly use it to cross compile programs for an avioics bus transmitter/receiver box. Nothing elaborate but I do not see why it would not work for the tasks you have posted. I do not know how long it would take to compile a kernel but would not think it would be longer then a regular desktop with the same specifications.

Hello,

Thanks (though the links don't seem to be working - I think the site is down). Hopefully, I'll build this system this fall. I hear that Gigabyte has come out with a mini-itx built on the Eden CPU, but it is hard to get any details. Nor does it seem too widely available yet or inexpensive (the cheapest I could find was ~$170).

What do you hear of Jetway boards? And how does that EPIA work for you - any issues?