Comments on: Tiny cubic PC

By: strider_mt2k

strider_mt2k — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 16:48:41 +0000

I was noting that my Nokia N810 Internet Tablet actually comes pretty close to this thing except perhaps for the VGA out and CF slot.

By: Tom

Tom — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 22:51:42 +0000

It’s cool, but, will it assimilate us?

By: bobdole

bobdole — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 05:33:23 +0000

haven't more powerful and smaller computers been available commercially for 5 years at less than a tenth this cost?

http://www.gumstix.com/waysmalls.html

not cubes, but I'll bet by volume they're smaller than these.

By: pipomolo42

pipomolo42 — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:05:26 +0000

Err, it doesn’t look that different from the meshcube or t-cube
which both exist for at least 5 years … Is there something more than a hardware upgrade here ?

By: Damion Fury

Damion Fury — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 00:31:49 +0000

The high price is probably due to an expectation (by the manufacturer) that their only buyer will be these space agencies, and only in limited quantities. A small and specialized market like this leaves little room for competition and economies of scale effects on the price. Additionally, it’s meant for government agencies. That almost always increases the price.

By: Sharky

Sharky — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:52:31 +0000

Yeah but its way too expensive. If it was 100 â¬ i’d buy it.

By: charlie

charlie — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:40:13 +0000

the bear does seem to be attempting to mate with it. hmmm?

By: Damion Fury

Damion Fury — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 22:13:31 +0000

@ h_2_o: I haven’t actually checked, but I don’t think you’ll be able to find a picoITX mobo with Spacewire on it. Also, I’m reasonably certain that the concern here was having a complete computer, with specific interfaces available, and fitting into a very small space. Space is very limited on any spacecraft; every millimeter counts. This device measures in at 52mm X 52 mm X 55mm. While the dimensions of the picoITX-based end unit will vary, just the motherboard is 100mm X 72mm (depth varies by board). After adding a picoPSU, hard disk, memory, and a case, you’ll be hard pressed to come in as slim as Shimafuji’s machine. Even if you manage to bring the depth of the finished unit in at the same as this little gadget (55mm), it would be more than 2.5x the volume (a bit over 2.66x, actually).

I’d say Shimafuji did a pretty good job.

By: Archibald Twang

Archibald Twang — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:28:20 +0000

You say Â£1,500. Do you actually mean GBP or is that meant to be USD? I hope you mean USD, as the weak dollar means that would actually only be Â£750-ish!

By: DA man

DA man — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:07:52 +0000

Kewl!

By: h_2_o

h_2_o — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:49:59 +0000

seems crazy for something that is not much smaller than a pico itx and is not nearly as powerful. I know it has a serial port on it but seriously there are not that many things that can not be run via a usb/serial adapter any more, IMHO fail on this product.

By: whitlock

whitlock — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 20:43:57 +0000

I know it’s juvenile, but I read the headline as “Tiny pubic PC”.