VIA EPIA mini-ITX motherboard + case?

[William Park]

On Fri, Dec 17, 2004 at 01:36:06AM -0500, Yanni Chiu wrote:
> Henry Spencer wrote:
> > 
> > Getting rid of the disk is the easy part -- that's been practical for some
> > time now with CompactFlash cards and CF-IDE adapters.  The hard part of
> > going 100% solid state is getting rid of the cooling fans.
> 
> See http://www.solarpc.com/about.html for a fanless system.

Thanks Yanni.  I just wish these outlets realize that answering
customer's email is good for business. :-(


Some more of my sales pitch...

Up to now, thin-clients were used to add "value" to a project.  They
were never successful as standalone retail item.  I think it's because
thin-clients of the past didn't give the feeling of "control" and
"ownership" like regular computer (either Linux or Windows) does.  They
were proprietary and couldn't be upgraded or expanded.  Also, they
required specialized knowledge to set up and maintain them.

I believe USB key drive (effectively portable harddisk) will change the
situation.  You don't need special skills.  If you can install Linux
distro to harddisk and configure it, then you have all the skill to set
up thin-client.  So, put together
    - mini-ITX
    - case
    - USB key drive
and you've got a thin-client.  If you wish, add
    - harddisk
    - cdrom
    - floppy
and you've got a regular computer.

-- 
William Park <opengeometry-FFYn/CNdgSA at public.gmane.org>
Open Geometry Consulting, Toronto, Canada
Linux solution for data processing. 
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