Desktop for EE student

[alm]

Do note that the Pandaboard has two HDMI/DVIs, onboard wireless, and onboard DC/DC. And I don't think the lowest end Atoms can handle 1080p video.

I don't see the problem, as long as the graphics chipset can do the heavy lifting. If you don't get an ancient Intel chipset (which is sometimes bundled with the Atom), 1080p should be no problem. You're right that HDMI pushes the price to a little over $100, and you need an external power supply. I doubt that you'll find dual DVI/HDMI on an Atom board, since they tend to be targeted at the low end.

The Pandaboard appears to lack any kind of high-speed connectivity. Slow 10/100 ethernet (most Atom boards do gigabit), no PCI-express, SATA or old-fashioned PCI. Only expensive/slow SD cards for storage, and even slower USB 2.0. Not a competitor for a PC-style Atom board at all in my opinion. Software support will also be worse: how much time and energy is spend on testing Ubuntu on ARM vs. x86(_64)? No Wine, can't run Windows virtualized, no proprietary drivers. I do get the cool factor of an open design, and an alternative architecture (I once played with Alpha and Sparc, too), but I believe you're in for a disappointment if you expect them to compete with the low-margin, large-scale manufacturing of companies like Intel and Asus, although I would love for them to succeed.

If you're just looking for a very cheap low power computing solution, a used laptop might be your best bet.

Sure, it's hard to compete with used hardware on price/performance, but that's a different issue. I believe we were comparing brand new products currently for sale.

[SuperMiguel]

i think ima go with a dual core atom,



what you guys think about this, i have a 30GB SSD around that i can use on this system.

[NiHaoMike]

The Pandaboard appears to lack any kind of high-speed connectivity. Slow 10/100 ethernet (most Atom boards do gigabit), no PCI-express, SATA or old-fashioned PCI. Only expensive/slow SD cards for storage, and even slower USB 2.0. Not a competitor for a PC-style Atom board at all in my opinion.

It won't be a good 100% replacement for a good PC (unless all you do is browse the web, edit documents, play media, and little else), but it would be much better than Atom for a netbook, where power is what counts and where gigabit doesn't matter. It would be a poor choice for a small NFS server, but you'll be using something like a modified SheevaPlug for that.

Software support will also be worse: how much time and energy is spend on testing Ubuntu on ARM vs. x86(_64)? No Wine, can't run Windows virtualized, no proprietary drivers.

Proprietary drivers are highly undesirable nowadays.

[Mechatrommer]

i suggest bigger PC , try to find quad core 2.66GHz who knows you may extend your spec of work. unless space is your limitation.

[sonicj]

i have one of those mini atx "desktop" things.
gigabyte GA-G31M-ES2L Rev 2.0
2.8ghz c2d
corsair monstrosity power supply
4gb gskill DDR2 667
asus en9600gso

its pretty much retarded. the case is too big to fit on a a/v rack, too big for on-top of the desk (small or medium desk) and too small for the floor. i'm not a huge fan of the case, but i guess it has its place if its your sort of thing. components went in much easier than i had envisioned. cable management is a must unless you have one of those nifty power supplies with the connectors on it.

btw, im typing this on MBP 
-sj

[SuperMiguel]

went with the D510MO and 2gb of ram

[Simon]

As I have to take a trip to Italy in a week and don't want to be without a computer i grabbed a 2GHz 2GB 12" laptop off ebay, I'll be making that my runnaround electronics computer when I get back

[DARKHORSE]

To be honest considering what you need the computer for a dual core with 2 or more gigs of ram and your set! Right now I'm running Pentium T4300 2.1GHz dual core with 4gb of ram and it can do anything I need it to.

[House91320]

The cheapest amd phenom with 4g ram with a good 9800 or above.