>I wonder (topic change here) what it would cost to build a "cheapest" >off the shelf with new products wearable? Something based perhaps >around the inexpensive 386 cards that are out there? Well, that's >another thread. Well, your basic 8MB PC110 from T-Zone is somewhere in the vicinity of $350. For that you get a 650 gram 34 cu.in. (same volume as the Apple Newton) 486SX-33 PC (no FPU) that fits (just barely) in your pocket. 640x480 color STN display, sound, HP95-sized keyboard, small drawing pad (which gives a nicer mouse than the provided ez-track style thanks to Alan Cox and Robin O'Leary's driver), two PCMCIA II (or one PCMCIA III) sockets, one compactflash socket, a 2400 baud (ptui) modem, infrared, a socket for external keyboard and mouse (cable extra), and a socket for a port expander (extra). Standard Li-ion camcorder battery (Sony NP-530) runs it for ~90 minutes. Got my first one in April 96 in Akihabara and the second in T-Zone Sunnyvale some months later. Got a lot of use out of the 110, taken it on lots of trips and made endless phone calls to read email etc., usually connected via slip or ppp. See http://boole.stanford.edu/pc110.html for some 110 hacks like putting in an NP-F750 battery. Omitting gcc, the most-used (by me anyway) bits of Linux will fit on a 15MB compactflash (what I used until larger cards came out). But you really need the 16MB expansion if you're going to run X (which is included in the 15MB), or (also included) Netscape (but anything later than Netscape 2.0 is really too big to be practical on the 110). And if you want TeX/Latex you can fit the bits you're at all likely to use (including xdvi and fonts) in the 4MB internal flash. If you order the 20MB 110 from TZone it's $570 at the current exchange rate plus customs duty of $20-30 plus shipping and insurance. (I didn't see the 8MB unit advertised just now on TZone's site, but I'm sure they must still be selling it. Consider it only if you *really* can't use or afford the 20MB version.) But that's 1995 technology. Currently we're experimenting here with Cell's CardPC and JumpTEC's DIMM PC (which unlike the CardPC includes 16MB flash in its tiny 68 x 40 x 6 mm CPU board, again enough for Linux!). But that's a *lot* of work to make these into a usable system, whereas the 110 comes ready to run. What's really amazing is that no one's seriously trying to follow in the 110's footsteps. Vaughan -- Subcription/unsubscription/info requests: send e-mail with subject of "subscribe", "unsubscribe", or "info" toWear-Hard Mailing List Archive (searchable): http://wearables.ml.org
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