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Saintsong Releases A New Mini PC

Posted by Hemos on Fri Aug 17, 2001 04:10 PM
from the pretty-new-hardware dept.
Hardware
A reader writes "Saintsong, our favorite manufacturer of tiny PC's (see here and here) is at it again. They've released the TX2 version of the Cappuccino PC everyone drooled over not to long ago. It's designed by Gingko corp., the same folks who designed the iMac. The new unit includes 2 Firewire ports and an additional 2 USB ports over it's predecessor, the Cappuccino GX1. Unfortunately it appears that Saintsong is only distributing it in kit form, so you'll have to supply your own socket 370 processor, RAM, hdd, etc. No prices are listed, but it's still a slick looking toy."
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  • Now if only I could find a dual ethernet version (Score:1, Redundant)

    by Skapare (16644) on Friday August 17 2001, @05:10PM (#2117133) Homepage

    Now if only I could find a dual ethernet version I could make a mini-firewall.

  • From the imac people... (Score:3, Funny)

    by RainbowSix (105550) on Friday August 17 2001, @05:19PM (#2117157) Homepage
    This is plain to see. The machine is small enough, you can mount it inside your CRT monitor and have your own x86 imac!

  • Worth looking into... (Score:1)

    by E-Rock-23 (470500) <lostprophyt@gmail . c om> on Friday August 17 2001, @05:31PM (#2117185) Homepage Journal
    After reading up on it, I'm actually interested. The modem issue can be circumvented no problem. Slap a fat HD in this badboy and you at least have a decent side box to store and work with differant media. The TV out is handy, and is the biggest feature I see. Might use it as an Arcade Cabinet brain. Stick in on a wireless LAN and you have some interesting gaming options...
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.

  • Its tiny (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Nastard (124180) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:14PM (#2122606)
    It looks kinda like a fat walkman. The idea that this thing can fit current technology (hdd, cpu, etc) is a pretty good indicator that "wearable" computers and other supercool technology isn't too far behind (in usable form, that is).

    And yes, I can imagine a beowulf cluster of these.
    • Re:Its tiny by Telastyn (Score:2) Friday August 17 2001, @04:21PM
    • Re:Its tiny by boskone (Score:1) Friday August 17 2001, @04:27PM
      • Re:Its tiny by Nastard (Score:3) Friday August 17 2001, @04:31PM
        • Re:Its tiny by Nehemiah S. (Score:2) Friday August 17 2001, @05:32PM
      • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
    • Re:Its tiny by ackthpt (Score:2) Friday August 17 2001, @04:37PM
    • Re:Its tiny by TeamSPAM (Score:1) Friday August 17 2001, @09:48PM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.

  • Pentium III, ]I[, 3, or PENTIUM !!! (Score:1)

    by OtakuVidiot (106926) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:30PM (#2126645)
    Heh. Take a look [saintsong.com.tw] at the processor spec. It just struck me as funny that they call the Pentium III, the "Pentium !!!"

    Clever translation of the logo into ASCII, if you ask me. Too bad they didn't italicize it. Pentium !!!

    Dong. Dong Dong Dee-Dong.

  • When is... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by swordboy (472941) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:18PM (#2132469) Journal
    When is the industry going to realize that we need a new compact format PC. This thing looks great but its pricey when you compare it to the costs of off the shelf components.

    How about a "disposable" PC form factor? Currently, you can get a mini-ATX with integrated LAN/video/modem/sound for well under $100 US. Pitch the dimm slots, processor ZIF socket, and PCI/ISA slots for non-expandable, non-upgradeable permanant RAM, processor and a firewire or USB expansion standard. This would cut even more overhead off the cost of the individual components. Buy them all on one small board. This improves reliability in harsh environments as well. Screw upgrading things on an individual basis. You can get a Duron 750 for under $30. Have you seen the price of RAM these days?

    There is so much computing power to be leveraged by other markets. This may very well be the thing that brings the PC to other markets.
    • Re:When is... by Rick the Red (Score:2) Friday August 17 2001, @05:13PM
    • Re:When is... by eric17 (Score:1) Friday August 17 2001, @05:18PM
    • A Console by Small Hairy Troll (Score:1) Friday August 17 2001, @06:57PM
    • Re:When is... by ackthpt (Score:1) Friday August 17 2001, @04:25PM
    • Re:When is... by mcspock (Score:2) Friday August 17 2001, @04:25PM
      • Re:When is... by DrSkwid (Score:1) Saturday August 18 2001, @05:46AM

  • Silly Video Card (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ink (4325) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:25PM (#2133447) Homepage
    Intel 82815, Video Memory 4MB (shared Memory).
    Supports up to 1280 by 1024-pixel at 24bits per pixel 15 pin mini D-sub VGA connector
    One S video port
    One AV video port

    They need to put in a GeForce mobility chip. If you're already going to pay a pretty penny for style, you may as well fork over the extra $80 for a somewhat decent video card.

  • Before you judge small PCs.... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by reaper20 (23396) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:53PM (#2134209) Homepage
    While visiting a friend for an extended stay, he lent me his Book PC [dansdata.com] to anything I needed to do. I thought "Thanks, he won't lend me a laptop or anything, I get stuck with a 'convergence' crap box that probably sucks." I was extremely surprised about how easy and fun this little thing is.

    Add a processor, mem, and drive, and it's good to go. Great form factor and most everything is built into the mobo, sound, USB, ethernet, and even a TV out. The intel iCrap chipset needs to go, but other than that, a BookPC with a Happy Hacker keyboard look great and run linux extremely well (except for the modem).

    If they only had one for Athlon chips, you'd have an extremely capbale '2nd computer'. I'm going to pick one up the second they have better video cards.

  • Those in the states can buy one here: (Score:5, Informative)

    by mac123 (25118) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:22PM (#2135086)
    http://www.ibuypower.com/product-pc/pocket-epc2.ht m
    • Prices by Fencepost (Score:3) Friday August 17 2001, @05:10PM

    • MUCH better price! (Score:4, Informative)

      by isaac_akira (88220) on Friday August 17 2001, @05:46PM (#2154676)
      the above poster is linking to the OLDER model, without firewire and with only 2 usb ports. if you want one of those older machines, check out this link:

      http://www.directron.com/ezgo.html [directron.com]

      You can get the barebones system (no ram, hd, cpu, etc) for only $420. Great if you already have that stuff lying around from previous upgrades.

      i haven't seen anywhere selling the newer machines yet.
      [ Parent ]
    • MOD THIS DOWN! by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Friday August 17 2001, @04:47PM
      • MOD ME DOWN! by jdcook (Score:1) Friday August 17 2001, @05:15PM
      • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
    • Re:Those in the states can buy one here: by jdcook (Score:3) Friday August 17 2001, @04:44PM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.

  • borken englush will humper siles. (Score:1, Troll)

    by fuckface (32611) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:51PM (#2139392)
    By using the bright sliver and dark gray colors to display a high tech and high qualify image.
    I too often use bright sliver to give a product a high qualify image. And sentance fragments! Tasty sentance fragments *drool*.

    Believing that this full function Mini Book PC, Cappuccino TX2, will bring you more working space and be far away from the table mess.
    Ah, yes I see. When you don't actually plug anything into the unit and just let it sit like a paper weight there's no mess at all.

    Don't get me wrong, it looks like a great idea and might actually be done right. Too bad their page appears to be written and editted by a 4 year old.

    I build you this mini-book PC in order to have your advice.

  • Imac designers? Hmmm ... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Wordsmith (183749) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:25PM (#2140365) Homepage
    Can we get some Imac-style flavors too? I want a Moccachino and a Frappachino PC, please.

  • I suspect you'll have to read it with lynx [browser.org], because Netscape 4.77 doesn't render it too badly to be able to read.

    I don't have any other browsers on-hand to test it with.

  • Not vaporware (Score:3, Funny)

    by Nastard (124180) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:34PM (#2143696)
    If I didn't know better, I would have assumed this to be vaporware.

    With a name like cappuccino, could we coin the term "foamware"?

  • Another brand and some place to get them... (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2001, @06:20PM (#2149960)
    Directron.com sells a similar, if not the same machine for much less than ibuypower.com. Search that site for ezgo and you'll come up with the machine. Also, check out www.atoz-ezgo.com.tw for information on the same sort of system. The systems seem identical. I thought the Saintsong site and the AtoZ site were different fronts for the same company, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

  • Power Requirements (Score:3, Interesting)

    by oldzoot (60984) <morton DOT james AT comcast DOT net> on Friday August 17 2001, @04:36PM (#2154353)
    Too bad it wants 18Vdc at 3A. If it were lower voltage, it would be trivial to power it from a car. Might make a neat auto-mobile computer. Also, I wonder why they will not support 512K memory modules??

    Z

  • Size Matters (Score:1)

    by ackthpt (218170) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:20PM (#2154368) Homepage Journal
    Believing that this full function Mini Book PC, Cappuccino TX2, will bring you more working space and be far away from the table mess.

    More likely, the way my desks go, it'll get lost in the mess. It's a good thing it's (UL) approved, but it looks like it'd still be difficult to balance a cup of espresso on.

  • Who designed the iMac? (Score:5, Informative)

    by axlrosen (88070) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:13PM (#2154381) Homepage
    This FAQ [everymac.com] says that the iMac was designed in-house by Apple.

  • *UNIX support (Score:2)

    by josepha48 (13953) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:29PM (#2154454) Journal
    I did n't see anywhere where it said it supported Linux. I think on the other 2 that they had they had Linux support or Linux compatable.

    I wonder if you can run anything other than windows on it???

  • Windows only?! (Score:1, Troll)

    by hey (83763) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:29PM (#2154455) Journal
    According to their page, the TX2 only supports:

    • Windows 98 Se
    • Windows 2000
    • Windows NT
    • Windows Me

    Well, that's no good

  • With all this convenient compact power... (Score:1)

    by El Camino SS (264212) on Friday August 17 2001, @05:34PM (#2155167)
    With the price, the size, and the styling.... I'm in. WAIT A MINUTE. HEY, where's the mini-stick port?

  • (OT) "kit form"? choke me with a penguin mint (Score:1)

    by Uberminky (122220) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:39PM (#2155186) Homepage
    Unfortunately it appears that Saintsong is only distributing it in
    kit form, so you'll have to supply your own socket 370 processor, RAM, hdd, etc.
    Reminds me of one of the professors I work with who teaches the chip design classes here. A student mentioned to him that he'd recently built a computer, and the professor thought that was pretty interesting. When he found out that by "built a computer" the student meant he'd done little more than plug the CPU into the ZIF socket all by himself, he replied to me, "Built a computer?! That's Lincoln Logs!"

    Yeah yeah, so it's off-topic. Anyhoo. The device does look pretty spiffy. Hey, maybe I could get a job proofreading Saintsong's English. ;) Well, back to lurking.

  • Fire Transfer? (Score:3, Funny)

    by hodeleri (89647) <drbrain@segment7.net> on Friday August 17 2001, @06:13PM (#2155242) Homepage Journal
    Two FireWire (1394) ports speed up fire transfer

    I didn't know that FireWire ports could also transfer fire. If only it had an internal battery it would be great for camping trips...

  • Handy (Score:1)

    by phallen (145919) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:47PM (#2155289) Homepage
    Desk-drawer web server/morpheus server/etc. Pretty cool.

  • re: kits only (Score:1, Insightful)

    by gnudutch (235983) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:43PM (#2155395)
    Righteous!
    • Re: kits only by bbqdeath (Score:1) Friday August 17 2001, @05:35PM

  • Adlib compatible! (Score:2, Interesting)

    by los furtive (232491) <ChrisLamothe&gmail,com> on Friday August 17 2001, @04:24PM (#2155431) Homepage

    Wow! People still use Adlib? I though Creative/Soundblaster nuked them off the face of the earth!

  • One more Ethernet port and I buy it (Score:2)

    by SurfsUp (11523) on Friday August 17 2001, @05:06PM (#2155586)
    With two more ethernet ports this would make a perfect dsl router/firewall. -- Daniel

  • drop the modem...add a 2nd NIC (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Windjammer (145853) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:38PM (#2155708)
    This thing would be very cool if they would drop the friggen modem and add a 2nd nic interface. I'd have my boss purchase one of these devices simply to make the thing into a firewall/proxy server......I know that I wanted to build one of those linux advanced radio terminals (lart)...but I don't have the $$$ or the experience to build the **** thing...
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • http://www.apple.com/powermaccube/

  • Just add IP over 1394 and ... (Score:1)

    by jimdesu (4951) on Friday August 17 2001, @09:31PM (#2171227) Homepage
    then you could do a beowulf in a breadbox!

    whee!

    // james

  • Legacy Ports (Score:2)

    by fm6 (162816) on Friday August 17 2001, @10:46PM (#2171381) Homepage Journal
    What's with the parallel and RS-232 ports? For a gadget like this, doesn't it make sense to pare the hardware to a minimum? If you can afford a gadget like this, you can afford to upgrade your peripherals, or at least buy adapters. I'm suprised it doesn't have a floppy drive!
    • Re:Legacy Ports by CityZen (Score:1) Saturday August 18 2001, @12:39AM
    • Re:Legacy Ports by Lproven (Score:1) Saturday August 18 2001, @09:55AM
      • PC Card? by fm6 (Score:2) Saturday August 18 2001, @02:12PM

  • mmm... home MP3 player (Score:2)

    by jacobito (95519) on Friday August 17 2001, @10:59PM (#2171417) Homepage
    God, this would make a cool MP3 player for my living room. If Linux IrDA support is good, maybe I could even use a remote control with it! I better start reading the LIRC [lirc.org] site... Even if it isn't easy, this would make a fun little project.

    And with MAME and Snes9x (plus a couple USB gamepads), I'd have a nice game console, as well. With some of the best games ever made, natch.

    Now, if only the whole thing were cheaper...

  • USB - Ethernet Adapter (Score:1)

    by zrail_2.0 (469830) on Friday August 17 2001, @11:15PM (#2171464)

    as stated here [html], usb to ethernet adapters are well supported by linux. buy 'em here [provantage.com]

  • super-small laptop (Score:1)

    by fraxinus (114503) on Saturday August 18 2001, @02:18PM (#2172911)
    When are we going to see a "full" laptop with this form factor? Perhaps a little larger due to a battery (and skip that CD-rom). Then one connects monitor/goggles and a keyboard (if needed) w/ touchpad, to work on the plane...

  • Availability in the UK? (Score:1)

    by ManxStef (469602) on Monday August 20 2001, @11:12AM (#2197618) Homepage
    Sorry if this is a touch OT, just wondering if anyone knows where to get one of these babies in the UK, and if so how much does it cost?

    Thanks!

  • Re:Silly Me (Score:1)

    by typedef (139123) on Friday August 17 2001, @04:39PM (#2155321)
    The site seems to use flash, which actually is supported by mozilla. I'm assuming you're running linux, so all you'll need to do is install the flash plugin for netscape, and create a symbolic link to it in /usr/lib/mozilla/plugins
    [ Parent ]
  • 17 replies beneath your current threshold.

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