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Old 09-15-2018, 06:35 PM   #1
Quakeboy02
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Need something faster than an eeebox - have limited power budget


I live on a sailboat now, so I've got a very limited power budget. I've currently got an eeebox EB1012P that I use for movies and stuff. It drives a flat screen TV. I'd like to find something a bit faster in the same sort of physical format, i.e small. Any suggestions?
 
Old 09-15-2018, 10:26 PM   #2
faginbagin
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If price isn't an issue, you might like this 2-in-1:
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-SW512-52.../dp/B073PYXBBR
If you've got a MicroCenter near you, you can save a few dollars:
http://www.microcenter.com/product/4...mputer---black

My sister just got one a few weeks ago and, so far, so good. I installed ubuntu bionic along side windows 10. The gnome desktop mostly works, although the touch pad doesn't work at all and the touch screen and stylus support isn't 100% (left button functions work, hard to get right button functions to work, haven't figured out how to access middle button functions). Fortunately, it works well with either a USB mouse or a bluetooth mouse, so I haven't looked into whether newer kernels might have better support for the hardware.

The 7th gen core i5 should mop the floor of your eeebox's atom. I've got an older atom330/ion acer aspire revo and it's a dog, only useful with media player SW that support HW acceleration on the ION (I use it as a mythtv frontend). The acer switch doesn't have a built in hdmi port, but you can get an adapter to connect it to your TV, like this one:
http://www.microcenter.com/product/4...i-port-adapter

The power brick is lower wattage than your eeebox, 45W vs 65W, so it should draw less current, especially if the display is off, because you're using the TV. And if you're the only one watching, I'm sure the switch's display uses less power than your TV. The built in speakers are pathetic, so you'll probably want to use bluetooth or wired sepeakers (it does have bluetooth and an audio jack).

If you want to go really low power and cheap, Raspberry Pi might be an option, but I don't think it would meet your 'Bit faster than the EeeBox' requirement.
 
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Old 09-15-2018, 10:53 PM   #3
Quakeboy02
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Thanks, but I'm really looking for a screenless device like the eeebox. I've got an i5 laptop onboard already, but it's not a good fit for an entertainment machine. I'm looking for nearly the same form factor as the eeebox. I can mount that on the tv or somewhere close to it. I've got an external 4TB drive that has movies etc on it. Doing this with a laptop is just too clumsy.
 
Old 09-16-2018, 12:27 AM   #4
Timothy Miller
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I'd look into one of the compute sticks.

Like this one
 
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Old 09-16-2018, 04:16 AM   #5
fatmac
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I have an EeeBox too, & it is quite slow by todays standards, maybe this will suit you.

https://www.novatech.co.uk/pc/range/...ithdnpi34.html
 
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Old 09-16-2018, 05:12 AM   #6
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i use Shuttle barebones as a OpenBSD bridge firewall.
https://www.techadvisor.co.uk/review...eview-3668732/
just google shuttle barebones, i am pretty sure you can find what you need.
http://www.shuttle.eu/products/slim/...specification/

it runs well xfce and OpenBSD. i tried Ubuntu on it and it worked well also.

Last edited by //////; 09-16-2018 at 05:29 AM.
 
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Old 09-16-2018, 06:04 AM   #7
berndbausch
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An Odroid XU4 has 2GB RAM and draws 20W max. Should be good enough for displaying MP4s, even the lower level Odroids.
 
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Old 09-16-2018, 08:59 AM   #8
snowday
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This site lists a whole bunch of options in similar form factor to the eeeBox: http://www.fanlesstech.com/

Personally I would consider a Dell Optiplex 3050 Micro or 3060 Micro. 65 watt power supply, same as your eeeBox. The 3050 is Red Hat-certified and Ubuntu-certified; the new 3060 is not yet certified, but I suspect it might also be capable of running Linux quite well (as long as you use a recent distro).

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop...lex-3050-micro

Last edited by snowday; 09-16-2018 at 09:02 AM.
 
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Old 09-16-2018, 03:16 PM   #9
Quakeboy02
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Quote:
Originally Posted by snowpine View Post
This site lists a whole bunch of options in similar form factor to the eeeBox: http://www.fanlesstech.com/

Personally I would consider a Dell Optiplex 3050 Micro or 3060 Micro. 65 watt power supply, same as your eeeBox. The 3050 is Red Hat-certified and Ubuntu-certified; the new 3060 is not yet certified, but I suspect it might also be capable of running Linux quite well (as long as you use a recent distro).

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop...lex-3050-micro
The Optiplex 3050 Micro looks like a good possibility. I'll think about this for a bit.
 
Old 09-17-2018, 01:38 PM   #10
jefro
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Wonder of one of those android tv boxes running an ARM inside may suite your needs?
 
Old 09-17-2018, 11:08 PM   #11
Quakeboy02
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I was looking at a NUC7I5BNK earlier today. Is anyone running Linux on one? I guess I would really like that kind of power available. But, you can't put a 3.5" HD in it, so I'd still have to run the external drive. As you can see, I'm still figuring out what my real needs are, and I guess a 3.5" HD is one of them.
 
Old 09-17-2018, 11:28 PM   #12
Timothy Miller
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As far as sipping power, going to an SSD is one of the best ways to reduce the power requirements of a system. Consumer SSD's (as opposed to server level) use drastically less power than a spinning platter drive. Also makes a less powerful system FEEL faster due to the reduced latencies, and since there's no moving parts, they're actually more reliable in case of movement while running.
 
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Old 09-18-2018, 12:41 AM   #13
faginbagin
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Quakeboy02 View Post
I was looking at a NUC7I5BNK earlier today. Is anyone running Linux on one? I guess I would really like that kind of power available. But, you can't put a 3.5" HD in it, so I'd still have to run the external drive. As you can see, I'm still figuring out what my real needs are, and I guess a 3.5" HD is one of them.
Why do you need to put a 3.5" drive in it? I'll bet the EeeBox has a 2.5" laptop drive, not a 3.5" desktop drive. I'll also second what Timothy Miller says about SSDs being faster, lower power, and more reliable during movement, like on a boat.

Someone on the Amazon Q&A section for this box said they installed Ubuntu 17.10 on it and said everything seems to be working fine.
 
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Old 09-18-2018, 07:56 AM   #14
fatmac
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Quakeboy02 View Post
.....But, you can't put a 3.5" HD in it, so I'd still have to run the external drive. As you can see, I'm still figuring out what my real needs are, and I guess a 3.5" HD is one of them.
If you're looking to save power, then don't use an external 3.5" drive, use a 2.5" SSD, powered from the USB sockets of whatever computer you decide to get.

Last edited by fatmac; 09-18-2018 at 07:57 AM.
 
Old 09-18-2018, 08:55 AM   #15
snowday
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Quakeboy02 View Post
I was looking at a NUC7I5BNK earlier today. Is anyone running Linux on one? I guess I would really like that kind of power available. But, you can't put a 3.5" HD in it, so I'd still have to run the external drive. As you can see, I'm still figuring out what my real needs are, and I guess a 3.5" HD is one of them.
I personally had very bad luck with Linux on NUC, and I ended up returning it as a dissatisfied customer. But, that was an older generation; perhaps newer generations have solved these bugs?

If you do decide to go the NUC route, there are a few important things to keep in mind:
  1. NUC's are low-performance machines with 2-core laptop CPU's. Basically the "guts" of a 13" MacBook.
  2. NUC's are sold as kits. Some assembly is required. You'll need to supply your own RAM, storage drives, etc.
  3. Because it is a kit, whether or not the finished product is even usable depends on your skill choosing the right parts and assembling them. Don't expect the kind of support you'd get buying a complete system from a vendor like Dell, HP, or Lenovo.
  4. System76 sells a pre-assembled NUC with Linux pre-installed. They call it the Meerkat: https://system76.com/desktops/meerkat
  5. This site has a good list of NUC models and compatible parts: https://nucblog.net/

Last edited by snowday; 09-18-2018 at 07:22 PM.
 
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