$100 Linux "Wall-wart" computer launched

[sdsdv10]

Marvell Semiconductor is shipping a hardware/software development kit suitable for always-on home automation devices and service gateways. Resembling a "wall-wart" power adapter, the SheevaPlug draws 5 Watts, comes with Linux, and boasts completely open hardware and software designs, Marvell says.

In typical use, the SheevaPlug draws about as much power as a night-light. Yet, with 512MB each of RAM and Flash, and a 1.2GHz CPU, the unobtrusive device approaches the computing power found in the servers of only a decade ago.

Source

Edit: It is "Xtremely" small... Does that count as news?

[Greg83]

Pretty neat, for the price I might pick one up to turn into a pfsense box.

[acidpython]

small? Its very cheap What distro though? is it a specially modified one?

[alfaunits]

I just hope for ways to connect USB/eSATA disk and turn that into a small server machine.

[Dragy2k]

wall mart and pc seems strange .....can just see my wife trying to ram 2 slices of bread into that!

[madgravity34]

Im not quite certain how this is to be utilized. Would someone mind giving a clearer explanation than the article?

[EniGmA1987]

looks like a USB port on the bottom. You could probably get a powered USB hub and plug a keyboard, mouse, and USB hard drive in. It would be slow becuase of bandwidth issues, but it would be a fun little computer.

[faster3200]

Say it with me now... Cheap, portable, Linux servers... from Wall-Mart.

[Bojamijams]

LOL at all the people that think wall-wart means wall-mart

[Diverge]

here's more about it ($49 in the near future seems a lot better then $99):

Marvell has the technology and the vision, and if the company gets its way the world will soon be overrun by lilliputian Linux machines. Hiding in wall warts and the like, these guys will begin quietly taking over tasks that we once relegated to servers and desktop machines. To this end, the company has just announced that they'll be making the SheevaPlug dev kit available. This is the platform that PogoPlug is based on, consisting of a 1.2GHz Kirkwood processor, 512MB flash storage, 512MB DRAM, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and USB 2.0. This bad boy supports many standard Linux 2.6 kernel distributions, and the whole thing plugs directly into a standard wall socket, drawing "less than one tenth of the power of a typical PC" while in use. Currently available for $99, the company says that it anticipates a price drop to $49 "in the near future."

http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/24/m...power-adapter/

[HuffPCair]

Great another thing Walmart is going to try to F up I am sure. Next they will be making cars out of recycled cat hair or something.

[faster3200]

LOL at all the people that think wall-wart means wall-mart

Wow, I guess I need to pay closer attention. I totally misread that .

[Bodkin]

Those pin dont look like they will take much breaking, how strong are US plugs?

[Pontos]

Great another thing Walmart is going to try to F up I am sure. Next they will be making cars out of recycled cat hair or something.

Wow, Bojamijams is right: LOL

At first I also read Wal mart from the thread subject, but after reading the article I realized it was Wall Wart.
Just reading the part of "Resembling a "wall-wart" power adapter" is enough to realize it's not an hypermarket...

[Gogeta]

BEOWULF!!!

[azraeel101]

looks like a USB port on the bottom. You could probably get a powered USB hub and plug a keyboard, mouse, and USB hard drive in. It would be slow becuase of bandwidth issues, but it would be a fun little computer.

but where do you plug the display

[Sparky]

Great another thing Walmart is going to try to F up I am sure. Next they will be making cars out of recycled cat hair or something.

It isn't "Wal-mart" it is "Wall-Wart"

[Solus Corvus]

It's linux. Why would you need a monitor, keyboard, mouse, or any of that? It's got a network port - just SSH in and you have all the control you need.

[WhiteFireDragon]

i also don't understand how this works. is it like a desktop PC? linux is just the OS, so wouldn't you need mouse/keyboard and monitor also? where can you plug it in with something this small??

[acidpython]

but where do you plug the display

That confused me at first then i read properly.
"for always-on home automation devices and service gateways"

wonder if you could install openBSD on this thing and run it as a firewall lol.

[Solus Corvus]

i also don't understand how this works. is it like a desktop PC?

No, it's not like a desktop pc. It's like a mini server.

linux is just the OS, so wouldn't you need mouse/keyboard and monitor also?

Yes, linux is just the OS. No you wouldn't need a mouse/keyboard/monitor. Even if you did have a monitor plugged in all you would get is a console (ie. just text). That console interface can just as easily be sent over the network to another pc in your house or some other random place in the world.

Basically there is little reason you need to be seated in front of the computer when you can accomplish all the same tasks from any place in the world through a remote console.

where can you plug it in with something this small??

There is enough room on it for an ethernet and USB connection.

[acidpython]

I can see one problem with this; you couldn't install another distro without a monitor. Even reinstall, your stuck with what they give you.

Not necessarly a bad thing I would assume theres some basic package management software that allows you to install whatever you might want to chuck on.

[Solus Corvus]

You can build/install your next distro from within your current one. It's not that hard.

[BranNutz]

seems interesting and could be pretty usefull in the future.

[ABXG]

I could see hooking it up to an external HDD and getting some use out of it as a 24/7 seed box server /etc. Cool idea for sure, I may have to look into one if the price does drop enough that I can afford one on my university budget.