Slimmed-down PCs are hot right now. But most of the innovation in tiny computers is taking place in the notebook and mobile-phone industries, not the stodgy enterprise desktop space.
(Credit:
Lenovo)
No matter, Lenovo has announced that it will launch a tiny, 45-watt desktop computer the size of a phone book. It's called the ThinkCentre A61e, or "Blue Sky," and it will be primarily aimed at businesses and customers overseas--where they still buy desktops.
The company has bestowed the "Blue Sky" moniker to denote its green qualities. Lenovo says its power supply is 85 percent efficient, and the 45-watt AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual core and Sempron processors will cut energy costs in half compared with its previous models.
It also weighs 8 pounds. The smaller form factor is meant to appeal to education, medical and financial industry customers. The price, however, will likely appeal to everyone: $399. It will be available on Lenovo.com in October.
Apparently it's Miniature PC Release Week and nobody told me.
On Monday, Fujitsu officially announced the U810 mini-notebook, and on Tuesday, Stealth Computer released a mini PC that it says will fit into a human palm (well, sort of). Though I'm sure the results will differ for everyone, suffice it to say, this is a wee computer.
Stealth Computer's Little PC. Disembodied hand not included.
(Credit: Stealth Computer)It measures just under 3 inches tall, 6 inches wide and 10 inches deep. The Little PC--not the most creative or specific name, but whatever--will have Intel's Pentium and Celeron M series processors, and lots of connectivity options: LAN, serial, USB 2.0, FireWire, video, audio, and more.
The tiny PC can be customized too. The PCI card slot means the owner can add a wireless or video card, or really, whatever they want. The 160GB hard drive is built to absorb extra shock, but it can also be swapped out for a solid state drive or flash drive. A DVD/CD-RW drive is standard, but a DVD burner can be substituted.
It's Windows Vista, XP or Linux-compatible, and the price tag is $995. The Little PC is available now on Stealth's Web site.
At CES 2007, AMD announced a plan to standardize the motherboard, chassis and basic components for those popular "small-form-factor" PCs. The goal of its new DTX standard is to help component and system makers focus on common layouts for motherboard inputs, mounting holes and other design elements to encourage more companies to carry Shuttle-style and even smaller PCs. Motherboard manufacturers Asus and MSI have already committed to producing DTX hardware, and AMD expects to send a reference design to system builders some time this quarter.
More of these for everyone.
(Credit: CNET Networks)If you recall Intel's BTX initiative, you'll remember that it was designed largely to deal with the massive amount of heat generated by Intel's Pentium D processors. But AMD's DTX standard, which will be open to processors from any manufacturer, is more of an attempt to push broader adoption of the smaller PCs that consumers seem to want. Both Intel's and AMD's chips have either reduced their power consumption or have special low-power versions of their processors that have been primed for new system designs, but the infrastructure for developing new types of affordable PCs on a mass scale hasn't really been in place thus far. The DTX initiative is an attempt by AMD to alleviate that problem.
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