Linutop now available!

[PatrickMay16]

Hey everyone!

A while ago, on this forum I believe, people were talking about the linutop which at that time was not available.
Now, they've finally released it and it is available for sale at their site.
However, it seems that it is only available in europe at the moment.

Here's the link:
http://www.linutop.com/shop/

I hope this isn't considered spam. I seriously find the linutop to be very cool, so I'm letting you guys know about it.

[Niamor]

Thanks for the info, looks like a great mini mini computer :)

[WindowWasher]

So is this like a mac mini only linux and smaller? I think it would be cool if it came with a 40GB internal flash drive and a bit more horsepower. I'm not sure how useful a web only computer is but if that's all you want then it would be cool. I would like to see a model with a few more options.

[billdotson]

I thought that the OS and the software was in a 512MB ROM inside of the thing. I guess they have decided to have it on a flash drive now..?

Also you can surely use this for more than web browsing as if you want you can install programs to a USB flash drive and use them from there. Couldn't you technically run any program that you can put the install folder on a USB flash drive? could you also just plug up a external CD/DVD player and play music through it?

I don't know though.. for 280 euros (which I think is about give or take $550-600 US currency) I could buy a cheap laptop with an internal harddrive couldn't I?

Still cool though

[jm2003uk]

If the OS is on the flash drive then surely you could use any distro you wanted provided it would install onto a flash drive?

I think it's pretty cool though especially seeing as i spend most of the time on my computer surfing the net....although i'd wanna be able to watch films too, which would be a problem.

[hardyn]

280EU.... thats the price of a cheap notebook, with display, with hard disk., with more ram.
and a battery.

[Steveway]

280 € (Euro) is about 300$ (Dollar)
I'll really buy one but first I'll get a new MP3-Player, they have some nice 30GB ones from Targa wich use Linux. www.targa.de

[hardyn]

its closer to 400$, but point taken, i was ball parking from the last time i checked exchange rates.

[duff]

now, we just need this project finished --> http://njpatel.blogspot.com/2007/03/im-not-even-supposed-to-be-here-today.html

[towsonu2003]

very expensive indeed...

DSL is selling a similar thing, but it's expensive as well...

PS. thanks for the link

[SunnyRabbiera]

Too small for me, even the mac mini is more appealing then this to me as it looks like its going to be a pain to hook up what I need to it.
Even if this was sold in the US I would not do it, I rather buy a system76 koala or a mac mini

[aeiah]

its main problem is definitely the price. i cant think of a situation where id want something that wasnt mobile and was that small unless it could play films. if i wanted something just for web browsing in the kitchen id buy an old desktop for xubuntu and put it in a cupboard. for £35 :???:

[Lord Illidan]

Nice idea. Way too expensive...and in the end, a laptop can have wifi..this doesn't..

[billdotson]

oh I must've been mistaken.. I thought a euro was worth $1 US.. :/
yeah $400/280euro could get you a lower-end laptop.

also what do you mean by watching films? are you talking films like in movies or what? if it was DVD movies you could simply have an external USB DVD/CD drive, but then of course you would have to call up the MPAA negotiating a fee for using libdvdcss2 (that is if you want to take the legal route)

Yeah, honestly this product is as of right now a novelty with no real use unless of course you would use it as an embedded PC in a car, boat, airplane, etc. These devices that are small and pretty portable are cool but since they are that small they are often too expensive for any practical use.

if it dropped to $100 US I might.. but probably not.

Hey but technically speaking couldn't you make a mythtv box out of this? get a Linux compatible USB external TV tuner, put mythtv on your USB flash drive or external USB HDD, set up the thing so you can ssh into it (assuming you don't have a monitor for it, but set it up using your current monitor) set the times you want it to record and then have them record to your external HDD. then you could either ssh into it to watch the videos or plug your external into your main PC.

[Lord Illidan]

Hey but technically speaking couldn't you make a mythtv box out of this? get a Linux compatible USB external TV tuner, put mythtv on your USB flash drive or external USB HDD, set up the thing so you can ssh into it (assuming you don't have a monitor for it, but set it up using your current monitor) set the times you want it to record and then have them record to your external HDD. then you could either ssh into it to watch the videos or plug your external into your main PC.

Why go to all that trouble?

[openix]

Well I was real keen to get my hands on one of these a few months ago when I heard about it but when they emailed me with the cost of one of these things I nearly gagged!

It will cost me $550(NZ) plus import taxes etc.. I estimated $250 - $350(NZ) would be a good price for this unit but at $550 its way out of the question. If you add an LCD monitor and an external hard drive this would cost the same as a desktop with better specs or a even a reasonable laptop.

Their target audience seems to be business, education and government - I hope they can sell enough to make it worth their while considering Dell's aggressive marketing in these sectors.

[Steveway]

1€ is worth 1,3129 U.S $ at the time beeing this makes the Linutop 367.612 U.S $.
I don't know what a PC costs in the US but this seems like a fair deal.
A Ipod costs around 250$ but I can have a similar MP3-Player for around 180$.
A lot for the money goes for the style-factor, Uhhh an Ipod...what is that a cheap Ipod-ripoff?
Yeah...whatever I hope you understand what I mean.

[billdotson]

it would be kindof cool to have but it is definitely not worth the price

[troymcdavis]

I think a few people are confused. This isn't meant at all to replace laptops or mp3 players or DVD players. This isn't really for home use, either. It's meant for facilities that provide computers with basic functionality, like a library or school computing lab. We aren't really their target market.

[towsonu2003]

I think a few people are confused. This isn't meant at all to replace laptops or mp3 players or DVD players. This isn't really for home use, either. It's meant for facilities that provide computers with basic functionality, like a library or school computing lab. We aren't really their target market.

[price issue]libraries and computer labs are much more budget-sensitive then us geeks who drool over this weird stuff. if even we are saying it's expensive, libraries would say who knows what... [/price issue]

[troymcdavis]

[price issue]libraries and computer labs are much more budget-sensitive then us geeks who drool over this weird stuff. if even we are saying it's expensive, libraries would say who knows what... [/price issue]

You're totally right. But that still doesn't make us the target market. This isn't "weird stuff", this is very practical for those facilities, mostly the fact that they take up little space, don't require payment for an OS when a free one does the same thing, consume less power, waste no power/space/money on hard drives when they were probably going to hook it up to a network for storage any way, etc. One of the most important things is this hardware is likely to age very well. I agree that cost will be an issue early on, but several things will eventually bring down the costs. You're looking toward early adopters, such as airports, internet cafes, public and private grants/donations specifically for this purpose, etc to bear the initially high costs, which will lower costs by recovering R&D, creating a used market, and competition in this market. Saving by buying in bulk will probably be an option sooner rather than later.

[billdotson]

well when I can pick one up for $100 I might be interested.. but until then..