On Sat, 08 Apr 2000, Scott Kindley wrote regarding Idea's and a few resources (RE:
Terminals, like in the 'good old days''. ;-)):
> Only problem I run into with the Netwinder's are the cost 999.00 up to
> 1,995.00( I didnt locate a Sidewinder ). For what you are paying for one
> could buy/build a very nice PC and set it up to do the very same things
> this machine does. And these machines are not really X-Terminals.(
> http://shop.rebel.com/netwinder/pricing.cfm )
Yeah, thats true. But then again think how much more expensive that is if you
aren't in the US or Canada ;-) Could have been wrong about the Sidewinder bit,
sorry.
>
> IBM has a product called the NetStation. They are including software to
> run Linux on these machines now (
> http://service.boulder.ibm.com/nc/linux/linux.shtml ) which is nice but
> still the models reported to run Linux the 2200 or the 2800 series are
> IMHO overpriced 2800 starts at 899.00 while the 2200 starts at 679.00 (
> 2800 =
> http://commerce.www.ibm.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce/CategoryDisplay?cgmenbr=1&;
> c
> gnbr=Network+Station+Series+2800&cntry=840&lang=en_US ) ( 2200 =
> http://commerce.www.ibm.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce/CategoryDisplay?cgmenbr=1&;
> c
> gnbr=Network+Station+Series+2200&cntry=840&lang=en_US ).
>
I would suggest that any commercial offering is not going to be cheap. But then
if you have patience -- and as a married man one tends to develop this with
abundance :-) -- you will most likely get access to corporate cast offs in
regular capex cycles anyway.
> The I-opener from Netpliance ( http://www.netpliance.com ) is a very
> attractive hardware setup. Many resources on the net can be found on
> hacking this to get Linux to run on it. They have the kind of hardware
> and price I think an X-Terminal or thin client should have, well maybe a
> larger screen size would be better, at 99.00. Problem is they have the
> machines setup to connect only to their ISP and don't really offer
> alternatives such as a Lan connection or ability to use your own ISP. I
> and many other would pay more to get the features we want. But for now
> ya gotta hack em.
>
Does look very interesting though, especially since in this part of the world,
we don't access to that ISP. We also don't get much in the way of terminal
offerings so this whole area makes for great discussion.
> Perhaps the best idea I have found so far, which I have not pursued just
> yet is a bootable network card. I can slap it into any old small
> footprint box, set up a server and have a solution for a diskless
> X-terminal. Check out http://www.disklessworkstations.com/ where you can
> purchase very inexpensive bootable network cards. They also have premade
> diskless stations as well as servers. However, I still find thier
> preconfigured machines too expensive for what you get. Their prices on
> the Linksys bootable card IS very attractive though (
> http://www.disklessworkstations.com/cgi-bin/cat/100003?NTf5MxIh;;25 ).
> In conjuction with the Linux Terminal Server Project this could be a
> nice solution ( http://www.ltsp.org ).
>
I have to agree -- I looked through the info and it may even tempt me to do
something. I have been putting off terminal work stations for 7 years because
there was nothing on offer for home office use. Not without big bucks anyway,
or even bigger bucks for support services.
> I think with the proliferation of broadband internet access like xDSL
> and cable, along with a lot of families who would like multiple machines
> for family members, the "thin client" or "X-Terminal" can finally become
> more prominant outside of business uses. I even think business would
> benefit more from this too. For example, @Home offers ( in my area
> anyway ) up to three IP addresses. They also explain you can connect
> your cable to a hub or switch and do your own networking on their one
> cable connection at your home ( provided you don't run servers over
> their connection, check the terms of service to be sure ). Telocity
> offers DSL in my area ( as well as Covad and a couple others ) and I can
> see where either of these can make a family like mine happy by having
> the small lan in the house utilizing a "gateway/server" and a "Thin
> Client/X-Terminals" for the kids etc.
>
You guys sure are lucky having all these choices. Our local telco has the
market closed on ADSL -- like, "sure you can use ADSL, provided we are the ones
who are supplying it, and you are using the modems we sell" (we can't have anything
else because
they won't let it through, there is a company trying to expand cable offerings
down country but they have been beaten back with nasty local pricing from the
monopoly holder, and others are even trying microwave to avoid their
restrictive pricing regimes -- the high court just stopped the telco from
closing one small ISP's phone links because they dared to go through an
alternative supplier).
> But for me the magic number for cost is about $300.00 bucks
per station. > I would pay this for a setup similar to the I-opener. Ideally it
would > have: Small footprint, 10/100 Lan connectivity and ability to use ppp
> with included display ( like the I-openers display ), Linux for the OS.
>
I would say that $300 is OK for the terminal, but it needs to have a decent
monitor and there you are talking about $1000 plus. 19 inches are only adequate.
New LCD displays I have seen from Taiwan come with some very impressive
resolutions and bit depth.
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