Green Computing

[Scooter]

http://www.zonbu.com/home/index.htm

[spikey_richie]

That's a neat idea. The power consumption is tiny too!

It's basically a Via Mini-ITX or Nano-ITX in a nice case with a free Linux shell and free apps. But it has appeal to a huge audience.

It does mention updates and upgrades, so I don't know if that means they send you a new one every year as the hardware gets updated...

[drezha]

I dont reckon it's that great.

Is it a VIA CPU? It just says intel compatible. I guess that gets all the clueless people into the boat with it as I've actually heard somebody in PC World declare they didn't want one of cheap crappy fake intels (They meant AMD's and this is when AMD's were kicking Intels butt)

Anyhow, it's not as green as first thoughts. The main aim is to flog the PC with a deal right? Well for the deal, it would appear that the company has websapce for you on a webserver. Basically the money savings are your end but environment wise, it's still the same output of CO2 as they have to run the server 24/7 for you and others.

It's much better to flog people Via based PC's with hard drives attached that auto turn off after x time or something

[Nflight]

it is called the "decTOP" ! a What~? Yea that is what I said, but it uses only 8 watts... How can that be...
https://store.dataevolution.com/Prod...Code=DT%2D7001

and seen here: http://lifehacker.com/software/stuff...ter-290412.php

and seen here too: (Hint you will have to scroll down to close to the bottom to see it - blog does not have pointers) http://www.ecogeek.org/component/opt...limitstart,26/


Just how EcoGeek likes our men/women: tiny, cheap and simple. Today I've spent my computing day on Gmail, a little RSS reading and a small amount of document writing and editing. What I'm saying is that my whole day of productivity wouldn't have been that much different if I'd been operating on a computer with 128 MB RAM, a 10 GB hard drive and a 366 MHz processor.

Incidentally, I could pick up just such a machine for 100 bones from dataEvolution. But the thing that makes me want to throw a small, eco-friendly party is that it runs on 8 watts. Eight! That means you can count the watts on... two hands.
The box is Windows CE or Linux ready, but doesn't come with a preinstalled operating system. We've been seeing a lot of small, cheap, low-drain PCs these days, but this guy is the cheapest and lowest drain of the lot.

[meshmar]

Is it a VIA CPU? It just says intel compatible.

Via C7 1.2GHz cpu (The 'Eden'?) - or maybe the C7-M;
4GB of flash-based local storage sounds like no HD - that's why the on-line storage;
Hardware graphics and MPEG2 acceleration - that's in the VIA chipset, as well as the encryption (SHA-1 and SHA-2). If it uses the C&-M, AES is built into the cpu, and is VERY fast.;
Based on Gentoo Linux ...

This mobo? http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS3116742043.html

[Brucifer]

This is pretty interesting stuff really. At first glance it's easy to just look at it and laugh and think that there isn't anything there for the hard core cruncher fan. However there are more links involved that point to pretty intense high density computing applications, dual cores, etc., with the main thrust being less electricity and low cooling requirements in dense situations.... exactly my current (no pun intended) situation of having maxed out my electrical and cooling capabilities. I'm talking about the via itx m/b's in particular.

A parallel to this is car engines, Like muscle car engines in the 60's in the US, current cpu development is heading on the high horsepower thing with high clock rates and all, consuming wads of electrical power. Look at the 1/4 mile speeds and top end speeds of these little rice-rockets now days compared to the 60's muscle cars, and look at the amount of gas it take to run them.

Looking at output of d2ol for instance, how many little mini-itx systems would it take to equal the output of one of the current 3gig running systems now? Time for a rack of them? It is intriguing!

[Nflight]

Looking back at the day when owning a 32 bit processor that churned at a whopping speed of just 1 gig was amazing in the year 2000. One cpu mounted on a single chip of that day would consume approximately 120 watts. Today we have doubled that capability with a 64 bit processor, and as we view the new QUAD Cores with a rating of just 120 watts, this gives us 8 times the crunching capability with the same current draw ( pun intended).
V8 Muscle cars are now a thing of rich folks who can still throw money around with out fear of not making end of months rent. The rest of us look for the performance of just a 4 cyl that can usually out perform the heavier beasts of yesteryear. As with developments into smaller and lighter composites so shall the car enthusiast now focus on advanced technology to satisfy the more thirsty the planet's desire for consumables of Oil. New developments in reducing the weight of the Automobile are upon us in looking at the Rocky Mountain Institute in CO. http://www.rmi.org/sitepages/pid191.php
While I am still here crunching I feel my best attributes will be in the residence of waiting till the computers gain enough that I will never exceed my current current draw of energy but will be able to increase my output of stats all the better. This does mean that I will have to purchase new products as they are released to maintain my momentum, but only at my own pockets allowance. I feel the drive of the automobile and its predecessors will also drive my desire to be more fuel efficient as well.