Hi Christopher, Here is a brief description of that box taken from http://www.mini-box.com/m100.htm Size: 20 cm (W) x4.4 cm (H) x22 (D) cm Weighs just (1Kg) 2lb 2x20 LCD display + customizable 14 key keypad Will run as long as 12Hours from a 12V/7Ah battery Shipped with small embedded Linux distribution Retail Price: $495.95 The box is about the size of large book and portable. Of course you would need some kind of battery to make it usable away from the power source. The box is based on mini ITX motherboard which until recently came in two flavors, 533 MHz and 800 MHz. 533 MHz is fanless, ie. makes no noise, 800 MHz has a tiny fan. They both are good for some embedded applications. Motherboard specs: mini ITX size, (17 cm x 18 cm x 4 cm) embedded CPU (VIA processor, 800MHz) 1 PCI slot Audio: VT1612A AC'97 Codec 3 audio jacks 2 memory DIMM slots supports up to 4 ATA drives ethernet 2 USB ports TV out with 640x480 and 800x600 NTSC/PAL other standard ports Ituner is selling following components: power supply adaptor AC-DC (110/220 to 12V 5A) for $29.95 power kit which allows you to connect motherboard to 12V power source like car battery, etc. $49.95 at http://store.yahoo.com/ituner/posoformi.html Web site http://www.mini-itx.com/ has examples of people using mini ITX motherboard to build computers in all kinds of cases. Some are silly some are cute. For example, somebody modified old Commodore 64 into PC, another one used portable Commodore with CRT. Mini ITX motherboards with the CPU are cheap, around $129 I believe. For people without vision it might be a good option assuming you don't need power for other things like speech synthesis etc. I believe you could install a 2.5" disk drive in the box also. I happen to know the designer of this box personaly so I can pass some questions along ;-) If I were to use a computer based on that motherboard I would probably opt for a briefcase to mount everything in there. I built a compouter with XT motherboard and standard PSU for a demo project in 1988 so it should be even easier to do it with modern technology. You can order power adapter from Ituner, buy motherboard from the mailorder place or local store, and install all in your case for less than $350 I believe. I hope this helps you a bit. -- Rafael On Sat, May 31, 2003 at 12:19:24AM -0500, Christopher Brannon wrote: > ddunfee@xxxxxxxxxxxx writes: > > In the fiercely competitive computer world, manufacturers offer many > > claims to distinguish their products. Andrei Bulucea, a project > > manager at Ituner Networks, has a particularly striking boast for the > > Mini-Box M100: "It's completely silent. If you need to sleep with a > > computer, this is what you want." > > I've had this idea of building a talking "network computer" for a while. > You know, something silent which could sit on the dresser in my bedroom, > utilizing the hard-disk of a server in the dining room. I think this thing > is my answer. In fact, it seems like a better bargain than a laptop. > I want portability, but most of the laptops I have found are undesirable > for some reason or other. > I want something which I could carry to my university campus. An ethernet > jack could give me access to the Unix machines in our computer lab, when I needed > it. That's a good thing, because I'm taking a Unix System Administration course > this summer. Yes, I need a portable talking "network computer", and I think > I have found it! > > Just how portable is this machine? Have any of the sighted listers seen > it? Could I theoretically carry it in a briefcase, with a standard external > keyboard and a serial synth? An external hard disk would be nice too, > but its a luxury item. I am pretty excited about this device, but I need > to do some serious thinking before I spend $500 US dollars. _______________________________________________ Blinux-list@xxxxxxxxxx https://www.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list