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Thread: Small form factor? No, absolutely tiny!

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    Small form factor? No, absolutely tiny!

    If you felt down in the mouth because your small form-factory Windows PC was made to look clumsy by Apple's Mac mini, you'll probably be relieved - or even further aghast - to know that there's a PC's coming that makes the mini look like a monster. That machine is called Jack PC and it's, well, er, just look at the picture lower down the page. Yes, it's small enough to fit into a network wall port - really!

    Find out more in this HEXUS.headline.
    Last edited by Bob Crabtree; 01-06-2006 at 10:16 PM.

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    I have GOT to get one of these


    These are perfect for LAN centres or Internet cafe's
    Last edited by DR; 01-06-2006 at 10:01 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by David
    I have GOT to get one of these
    One? Just one?

    And, knowing the sort of networking stuff YOU'VE got at home, this is probably a natural progression!



    Quote Originally Posted by David
    These are perfect for LAN centres or Internet cafes
    Oh, yes - but I'm wondering if the likkle corner internet places might not still find it cheaper (initially anyway) just to stick with a bunch of cheapo PCs.

    Any idea about that?

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    Well - if we spec up a cheap PC - I suspect it will cost the same amount - but the kensington locks may well push the price up.

    They are £209 each (pricing I can find!)

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    Need to leave the preview key in the URL

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    Oh and unless it comes in chrome or other colour ranges it won't get wife approval factor. Especially if you mention the server array that you'd need in the loft.

    You can't really compare the price of one PC to this as it's useless without a decent server. If you had 5 PC's with say £1000 for the server and £200 for each JackPC then it starts to add up
    Last edited by Iain; 02-06-2006 at 08:43 AM.

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    • Barkotron's system
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    True, but this kind of thing looks decent value to me if you're a business who doesn't mind shelling out for a couple of meaty servers to sit dishing out terminal sessions to a bunch of hotdesking users.

    If like most office workers they're running Outlook, maybe Word, Excel and maybe a database client of some kind, and doing some work-related browsing, then a terminal session for that kind of thing isn't going to use up a whole bunch of resources - depending on the amount of employees you probably wouldn't even need all _that_ beefy a server.

    Besides that, if you've got a few hundred users using these instead of even el cheapo Dell machines or whatever, that's got to add up to a decent power saving - I know the power requirements for the building I'm in right now (6-700 people, all with at least one fairly high-spec Dell P4 desktop machine, forgetting the other two buildings on-site) are horrific. Cut that down by what, 90% ish per user, add a bit more for the chunkier server you'll need, you're still probably going to be looking at a decent saving on the bill, I'd guess.

    Or maybe I'm just making up excuses for them because I think they're cool .

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    Will work for beer... nichomach's Avatar
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    Errrrrmmmm...wow, actually; I can really see the advantages of these, although you'd really need PoE switches to get the most out of them as well as a moderately capable terminal server. Gorgeous idea, though. Of course you'll need TS CALs, which do cost a fair bit more, but then that's kind of a swings and roundabouts deal. I'd have to say it's the one with DVI and future 1600x1200 support that looks most attractive; I use DVI for the screens at work here wherever possible. The Jade site doesn't show a photo for the EFI6900 with DVI, however; only a VGA connector. Maybe they're just using the same product shot for all variants.

    And yes, they are VERY cool .

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    It looks nice, But I forsee two problems with It:

    1. It's an Alchemy cpu and that is rumored to be on AMD's chopping block.
    2. Here in the USA We use that size for Junction boxes, Ceiling lights and fans, As the Majority of houses use the half as wide box for electrical plugs. But It is nice, Might even make a good Seti cruncher with the right software, Too bad It's not x86 though, Then It'd be really cool.

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    • Barkotron's system
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    The first thing might be a problem if you're right, but I don't see how the second one is an issue - this just isn't a piece of kit for the home. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a couple of little machines just stuck in the wall, but this implementation just isn't enough yet. For a large corporate, or someone already using some kind of terminal server for their main environment, it looks fantastic, but it just wouldn't really make much sense to put it in a smaller setup, oi reckons.

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    Will work for beer... nichomach's Avatar
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    TBH, I don't see the CPU as being a problem either; it's not there to do any real work - it's a thin client, so all the muscle's on the server end.

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    Seething Cauldron of Hatred TheAnimus's Avatar
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    I have to say i like the idea, there are many situations where a thin client for the desktop makes more sense, not to mention the power management ease too. Its very easy to put the whole back end on a UPS'd until desil kicks in, with thin clients like these you need not worry about the front end, all their documents will be fine.

    I think these would be great for schools, and labs where people don't do anything thats intensive.

    Also why are people moping about the CPU, these AMD RISCs are ment to be VERY good, problem is thou you need your code to be in native or .net!
    throw new ArgumentException (String, String, Exception)

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    • Barkotron's system
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    Quote Originally Posted by nichomach
    TBH, I don't see the CPU as being a problem either; it's not there to do any real work - it's a thin client, so all the muscle's on the server end.
    I think the problem lies in the idea that they might be for the chop - I don't see lack of gruntiness in the CPU being an issue either.

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