Well, I may still go for it just to have another little machine to play with but after finding out the processor was something like a 166mhz I decided to stick with the Zonbu. Plus the Zonbu had a 1.3GHZ proc, 512MB of mem instead of 128, a 4GB Flash instead of the 10GB HD, and a built in ethernet instead of a USB one. So overall I liked the form factor and everything better so it was worth the extra money. Now I did research the mini-PCI and new shuttle machines but to actually build out a PC would be in the 700 to 1000$ range admittedly for a much better machine. But my goal with this is a mythfrontend, nothing more so I really want small, cheap, and quiet. I'm still thinking thought that a small little dectop for a little mini-server or some such. Perhaps a box to do a wake-on-lan to my mythbackend right before it needs to record or if the mythfrontend fires up. Hard to say. Plus a little box like that for 75$ is hard to resist just to play with. --j On 10/7/00, nick thompson <nicholas.thompson1 at mchsi.com> wrote: > > J Cruit wrote: > > Cool beans, just to update you the site is now: > > http://www.dataevolution.com/dectop%20info%202.htm > > <http://www.dataevolution.com/dectop%20info%202.htm> as apparently > > they bought Norhtek. And the device is a dectop for only 99$ (or buy > > 3 get one free, anybody want to split an order?). So other than the > > fact that it doesn't have a flash drive as a hard drive and starts out > > at 128MB of memory thats a pretty good deal. But you can swap out the > > hard drive for a larger one and upgrade the memory too if you want. > > Plus the Norhtek sounds like it uses an AMD chip so there may be > > better compatibility than the unknown one in the Zonbu. Plus the > > Zonbu is theoretically "greener". > > > > But at 99$ versus 249$ I'm probably down with the Norhtek. Any other > > super small cheap systems out there? > > > > --j > I'd be in for an order. 2 people x $150 or 4 people x $75? Now that's > the question. :) > > Regards, > > Nick > > "All unix, all the time." > > http://npt.ath.cx > > > > On 10/2/07, * Spence Morris* <spence.morris at gmail.com > > <mailto:spence.morris at gmail.com>> wrote: > > > > Zonbu is pretty much a generic unit with their own variant of > > Linux tacked on. > > The idea of the network being the computer has yet to fully prove > > itself> > > There are other mini pc builders with fewer hooks and agendas- re > > again, Norhtek- > > based in Thailand. Michael C. Barnes sells a lot of his units > > here- At last look, > > he had four or five nice models to choose from and good ideas > > about use. > > Check out Norhtek.com <http://Norhtek.com> before investing in > Zonbu. > > > > On 10/2/07, *J Cruit* < j at packetgod.com <mailto:j at packetgod.com>> > > wrote: > > > > So I e-mailed Zonbu and got a quick response, I think this may > > be the exact platform I've been looking for to use for a small > > quiet Mythfrontend system. I'll have to figure out some sort > > of USB remote, and my TV does actually have a VGA input so I > > should be good there. My other options were a repurposed > > MacMini, a shuttle SD02 for 499$ (without memory, HD, > > Processor, etc but with a remote port). > > > > This is the response from Zonbu: > > > > "Yes, you are free to do as you wish with the Zonbu hardware. > > While we do not and cannot officially support running > > alternate OSes on the Zonbu hardware, several users have > > reported successfully installing other OSes (e.g. Ubuntu > > Linux) on the hardware without any problems" > > > > Hey, thanks much TCLUG for putting me onto this. > > > > --j > > > > > > On 10/2/07, *J * <j at packetgod.com <mailto:j at packetgod.com>> > > wrote: > > > > I'm tempted to hit this for their "249$ without service > > plan" and wipe > > it clean with my own distro. They must be using commodity > > hardware and > > many of those SFF PC cases start at 100$ for something 10 > > times the > > size. Small ones like the Zonbu are generally even more > > just for the > > case. So a complete Linux friendly SFF quiet > > environmentally friendly > > PC for 249$, while a bit light on the specs I wouldn't > > mind running a > > little home web/e-mail/SSH server off of it or perhaps > > just a mythfrontend? > > > > I think I'll do it, buy it and see if I can load my own > > distro by hook > > or by crook. I'm hoping by crook as I haven't had a good > > project for a > > while. > > > > --j > > > > Steve Cayford wrote: > > > Chris Frederick wrote: > > > > > >> G. Scott Walters wrote: > > >> > > >>> Anyone ever heard of Zonbu? > > >>> > > >> [...] > > >> > > > > > > > > >> Looks interesting. I've been looking at small form > > factor PCs for a > > >> while. They look very similar to these: > > >> > > >> http://logisysus.com/product/smallest-pc.htm > > <http://logisysus.com/product/smallest-pc.htm> > > >> > > >> >From the Zonbu site: > > >> > > >> Zonbu Desktop, Standard plan, Billing every two years = > > $412.95 > > >> > > >> Thats standard options after all discounts, plus $358.80 > > after two years > > >> for more support. Also, their "Cancel anytime policy" > > warns that if you > > >> cancel the membership service, your device will not give > > you access to > > >> your data after 3 months. They do have a free/no > > support option, but > > >> I'd probably want to talk to a sales person before I > > went with that. > > >> > > >> I guess it depends on what their support covers, but I > > don't see much > > >> there that strikes me as worth $180 a year. > > >> > > >> >From their site: > > >> > > >> Disaster proof storage - Very doable and cheap. > > >> Free automatic software upgrades - Most linux distros > > have this. > > >> Unlimited Internet support - You are reading this on a > > mailing list. ;-) > > >> Remote file access "anywhere, anytime, any browser (no > > plugins)" - That > > >> just sounds scary to me. > > >> Overnight free hardware replacement limited warranty - > > Nice, but that's > > >> an extra $60 a year. > > >> > > >> My $0.02 would be that everything looks nice, but > > personally I'd rather > > >> pay more up front for something without a huge service > > contract, or > > >> required membership service. > > >> > > >> ymmv, > > >> Chris Frederick > > >> > > > > > > It seems to me that there could be a pretty good market > > for something > > > like this. Not for us on this list, but for the > > proverbial "my > > > grandmother." Folks who want a web browser, email, office > > suite, and > > > some basic games and who don't want to deal with updates, > > spyware, > > > system administration, etc. Considering how much people > > spend on > > > services like Geek Squad the rates don't seem too > outrageous. > > > > > > -Steve > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > > > tclug-list at mn-linux.org <mailto:tclug-list at mn-linux.org> > > > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > <http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list> > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > > tclug-list at mn-linux.org <mailto:tclug-list at mn-linux.org> > > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > > tclug-list at mn-linux.org <mailto:tclug-list at mn-linux.org> > > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > <http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list> > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > > _______________________________________________ > > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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