You can also pick up a Thinkpad T400 laptop on ebay for about that amount. (Has absolutely crap video hardware, but plenty good for web development and educational purposes.)
An $89 remanufactured Ubuntu workstation
61–70 of 144 posts
Re: An $89 remanufactured Ubuntu workstation
#62Amazing price point. Are the computer parts refurbished? Otherwise I wonder where do you get 2GB RAM, 80GB HDD, and other older components at good prices these days? Usually, parts get cheaper as the become replaced by newer versions, but then become expensive again.
Yes, they're clearly reused parts from PCs that have been end-of-lifed by corporates. Edit: If you're in the UK and happen to want a supply of EOL computers, I suggest Morgan Computers, e.g. http://www.morgancomputers.co.uk/product_detail/14905/HP-Eli...
Morgan Computers! I bought a few bits from them nearly 15 years ago. Good to see they are still in business, I'd have thought eBay would have finished them off.
Re: An $89 remanufactured Ubuntu workstation
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
He is talking about power not cost to build it.
Cost to build likely includes the cost of power, no? In other words, if building an ARM SoC costs $10, the electricity cost in the ARM SoC is under $10, so if you save $10 in electricity by running the ARM SoC, then you've offset the cost of the energy used in manufacturing.
Energy is dirt cheap in comparison to labor. Therefore cost of industrial goods is correlated to labor not to energy / power costs. (with few exceptions in heavy industries.)
Re: An $89 remanufactured Ubuntu workstation
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
Until Raspberry Pi can get their power supply problems under control, they really aren't good enough to use as any kind of workstation.
They did, with the B+ in mid 2014, and the current Pi 2 with the same power design. The B+ and newer boards don't suffer the odd power supply issues that the older boards (even the B rev2) suffered. And I'm not just rehashing what someone else said; I've had one each of the original B, a rev 2 B, a B+, and now a Pi 2. I've used the same power supply on all four, and on the B+ and Pi 2 I don't have any issues with hot…
I can echo this; I actually am using a Pi2 as one of my daily drivers. Using the official adapter. No power issues at all.
Re: An $89 remanufactured Ubuntu workstation
#65They're cheap enough that my first thought was to pick up a couple and figure out what I'd do with them later, but the disadvantage here is that they're older boxes, which means they're going to be energy hogs (for the performance point, at least). That's what makes the eco pitch interesting - they're reducing e-waste, which is good, but energy efficiency on newer boxes (especially if you just need minimal performanc…
This has been one of the most amazingly non-intuitive things for me over the years. That operating a computer that is older can be so much more inefficient than operating one that is newer, that it isn't worth it. Literally the best thing you can do is crush the chips and mine the result for gold, silver, and the few rare earths that are left over. That at least puts a finite limit on the energy consumed over it, and…
Not sending it to places like the e-waste dump in Agbogbloshie, Accra, Ghana is a benefit. I'm not sure how to weight each thing - the increased CO2 emmissions are bad; not poisoning poor people who do things like burn the PVC insulation off cables to get the copper is a good thing.
Re: An $89 remanufactured Ubuntu workstation
#66If had no fan, I'd buy one for my kids.
I recently bought a Raspberry Pi 2, a nicer case than I really needed, a 64GB sdhc card, and a good power supply for not more than one of these cost. Going with a smaller SD card and a less-nice case you'd easily save enough to cover a breakout breadboard for the GPIO and maybe a couple of sensors.
Judging from its performance I suspect the original Pi would have disappointed me and been nearly useless for anything I might wanted to do with it, but the Pi2's a nice little device. It's silent and it sips power. The support and software ecosystem around it is well worth a few extra bucks over similar devices (the first time it saves you even 30 minutes of hair-pulling frustration, which likely won't be long after you open the box, you'll be glad you went with a Pi)
Re: An $89 remanufactured Ubuntu workstation
#67They're cheap enough that my first thought was to pick up a couple and figure out what I'd do with them later, but the disadvantage here is that they're older boxes, which means they're going to be energy hogs (for the performance point, at least). That's what makes the eco pitch interesting - they're reducing e-waste, which is good, but energy efficiency on newer boxes (especially if you just need minimal performanc…
I deleted a post about the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradox and how these machines were in fact not green. I was wrong. Given the right uses, like an elementary school computer lab for learning Scratch, Logo, etc; they would be fine. The problem is they are right on the cusp of the next cycle of Moore's Law, Raspberry Pi is now quad core and 1GB, it puts it in the same class as this machine. The cost of "g…
The main power draws of these systems will probably be the monitor they are attached to, the older PSU inside, and the hard disk. Keep in mind that for a RPi based solution, you still need to provide all of these. The tiny PSU needed for a RPi will probably be quite efficient, so maybe count that one out.
Also, as great as the RPi 2 is, I still don't think it is the same class as these machines, which have a 3x clock cycle advantage, plus much wider CPUs. For web browsing, this is going to matter way more than 4 cores.
Re: An $89 remanufactured Ubuntu workstation
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree, I love the concept, but you also have to add the cost of a monitor + keyboard + mouse AND the fact that everybody wants (needs?) a laptop these days.
"you also have to add the cost of a monitor + keyboard + mouse AND the fact that everybody wants (needs?) a laptop these days." Not really... with RDP/SSH/Telnet/etc, you can access this without the need a dedicated keyboard/mouse/monitor. Also, I can live without a laptop due to my "phablet". I already have a desktop. Something like this would be a good for hiding a server (or two) somewhere. The question is... the…
>with RDP/SSH/Telnet/etc, you can access this without the need a dedicated keyboard/mouse/monitor.
I think the target is to make this the terminal. I don't see too many people going out of their way to remote into a low spec machine like this.
Re: An $89 remanufactured Ubuntu workstation
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Until Raspberry Pi can get their power supply problems under control, they really aren't good enough to use as any kind of workstation.
They did, with the B+ in mid 2014, and the current Pi 2 with the same power design. The B+ and newer boards don't suffer the odd power supply issues that the older boards (even the B rev2) suffered. And I'm not just rehashing what someone else said; I've had one each of the original B, a rev 2 B, a B+, and now a Pi 2. I've used the same power supply on all four, and on the B+ and Pi 2 I don't have any issues with hot…
This reflects my experience as well. Not only did the B+ add a switching power supply, but there is proper USB power protection and soft-start as well.
Unless GP is referring to the flash problem of the RPi 2.0, which is readily solved by using a case, piece of tape, or an epoxy blob (which I imagine is what will be added to the manufacturing line eventually)
Re: An $89 remanufactured Ubuntu workstation
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
Until Raspberry Pi can get their power supply problems under control, they really aren't good enough to use as any kind of workstation.
First I've heard of this; it does need a decent USB power supply, but that's a consequence of not shipping one and expecting the user to supply one of suitable quality.
I found the first model would sometimes brownout when trying to maximally utilize the ethernet. Which was not a big deal for a hobby device, but it did eliminate a number of possibilities.