On what - an EeeBox? That’s a 1.6GHz Intel Atom 230 CPU with 1GB RAM. To a first approximation, I’d guess the Geode and Atom CPUs scale roughly pro rata with clock speed (I don’t think that the Geode is intended as a very clever/sophisticated CPU architecturally, its design priorities are as a cool-running CPU with low-power demand, ie just like the Atom, and so I’d imagine that the CPU architectures were not broadly dissimilar). So the Atom is around 3x faster - maybe rather more?
Sorry John, that’s useful info but I was actually referring to the “Fit-PC Slim” (sounds like a Japanese energy drink) in skyewright’s post.
If you are responding to David (skyewright) then maybe he is referring to the “Fit PC” which has 512 Mb soldered-in RAM and uses the “AMD Geode LX800 500MHz” CPU…see here
Edit: Posted at the same instant as Niko’s response…whoops
Mmmm, $300, that’s cute.
And as, err, mentioned in my post (just above the PS.)… 
It was too early in the AM, sorry, :oops:
No problem. It’s very easy to miss odd bits in all the volume of stuff here on Weather-Watch.
If you have any questions about the Fit-PC I’ll do my best to answer.
There is incidentally a dedicated Forum at http://www.fit-pc.com/forum/.
How well will a 2.5" HD hold up in a 24/7 application?
I always wonder about that too, but there are quite a few users running on laptops so they must be better than I think they are.
My home server uses a 2.5" IDE HD. They only use 5V and need an adapter to fit the IDE cable, but they run silent and I find not as hot as 3.5", but that may be my imagination. --Hans
Maybe I’m missing a big piece of HDD knowledge/experience here, but why wouldn’t you expect a 2.5" drive to run as reliably as a 3.5" one? The disk typically rotates slower (eg 5400) and the drive runs quite a bit cooler AFAIK. I’d have guessed that a typical 2.5" would last significantly longer than 3.5. I thought 2.5" drives were in use in network drives like the Buffalo LinkStation intended for long-term 24/7 operation and it’s difficult to believe that this would be done if there weren’t a lot of confidence in them lasting well.
Time will tell. Server applications are however among the suggested uses…
My LinkStation had a 3.5" HD and I sold the beast because it made more noise (fan and HD combined) than an F16. They are fun though because you can easily install Debian on them. --Hans
Sorry, I should of course have been more specific. I had in mind the LinkStation Mini - see:
www.buffalo-technology.com/products/network-storage/linkstation/linkstation-mini/
which definitely uses 2.5" drives and runs almost silent (have one here). Incidentally I like this also because it only consumes around 10W, which means that it will run for quite a few hours on a chunky dedicated UPS if the mains supply should trip out overnight, as sometimes happens here. So I can keep a network running and uploading 24/7 with fewer problems.
Edit: For anyone that may be interested, there’s a review of the LinkStation Mini here:
I see that’s a home rather than enterprise unit, not bad for the (US) price though. I see the disk drive guys are now pushing 2.5 as the next big thing for enterprise use so maybe the product has come of age, we’ll see…
I had just always read that 2.5 drives simply didn’t live as long…and has been my experiece in the laptops I’ve owned. Which were never abused or dropped.
I’d always have guessed that this was something to do with HDDs being more vulnerable in laptops due to being moved around when spinning - and inevitably jolted a little sometimes even with careful use - plus working in the generally hotter environment inside a laptop. It’s not obvious to me why the construction and hence MTBF at a given temperature should be any different just because the platter size is a bit smaller. But I’m no expert.
And I’ve just been told about, this
http://www.pcengines.ch/alix.htm
which seems to be a more DIY root to something similar…
A UK supplier
http://linitx.com/viewcategory.php?catid=177
even lists IP66 enclosures!
Or what about the Viglen MPC-L - see offer at:
http://www.viglen.co.uk/webmail/5star-offers.html
Apaprently available for just GBP79 if you order in the right way. I think this is probably a rebadged FIC ION something or other with a GEODE CPU. (Or is this already the same as one of the others previously meniotned in this thread?) But it does start to look like the right sort of price for a genuinely general-purpose but low power consumption Linux box.
Incidentally I like this also because it only consumes around 10W, which means that it will run for quite a few hours on a chunky dedicated UPS if the mains supply should trip out overnight, as sometimes happens here. So I can keep a network running and uploading 24/7 with fewer problems.
That would hold true if the internet feed you are using is also up and running during a power outage. The internet feed I currently have from my local cable provider will not run during an outage since the power inserters along the way currently do not have any power backup. This is going to change once we get a fiber optic line passing through to allow the cable provider to offer phone service over the cable service, forcing an upgrade to all of the power inserters to be battery backup equiped. But the battery backup will only be gauranteed for a half hour duration, there is no obligation to have the service fully functional for an entire power outage. Luckily we are in an area where the power outages are minimal since there are 7 power dams litteraly within 20KM of my house, the closest one is a 10 min walk from my house.