dutky's Journal: Hacker's Handheld, part V (the revenge of COTS)

Well, Since my last entry I have found a couple sources for single board computers (SBC) that are just within my price range: I'm going to purchase an SBC from Cogent Computers that looks pretty good for my use (at least for a prototype), but there are other offerings from DigiKey and from EarthLCD (the EarthLCD mARMalade doesn't seem to be in production yet, unfortunately). I am also going to buy a cheap, 7.8" LCD from EarthLCD, and keep them in mind for production, since their prices are really good. Along with a spare 2.5" hard disk and some custom circuitry, I should have a working prototype by New Years.

Total cost, out of pocket, will be around $500. Considering that this is more of a tablet PC than a PDA, I think that's pretty good.

I'm still interested in desgining my own SBC, but I'll only persue that route if I really can't get anything in my price range from other sources. I've been told that I can get a custom design from Cogent, but I haven't asked what NRE and per-unit prices would be.