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USB Stick PC - Very tiny PC built for $25

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JODY:
This could have some uses for those wanting mini machines.

http://www.geek.com/articles/games/game-developer-david-braben-creates-a-usb-stick-pc-for-25-2011055/

BobA:
Amazing what they can put into very small spaces now.   Will be following this one with interest.  Thanks :applaud:

alfonzotan:
You beat me to it, I was just reading about that on Slashdot:

http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/05/06/122233/A-25-PC-On-a-USB-Stick

Definitely has huge potential for MAME and other emulation builders... vastly simplifies and makes cheap the PC component.  Plug one end into your controller (or USB hub) and the other into a monitor.  Load up an appropriate version of Linux MAME and your ROMs of choice on the SD storage card, and you're set (although the article doesn't address audio).  The PC horsepower described in the article should be plenty for classic-era games.

You could easily set up a 100% portable controller setup with one of these... no need for a full PC power supply, fans, etc.  Heck, the computer would be much smaller (and cheaper!) than a standard keyboard emulator...

alfonzotan:
Sorry, butterfingers...

MonMotha:
I'd hesitate to call this a "PC" on a stick.  It's supposedly a 700MHz ARM11.  The ARM11 series (if I had to guess, it's probably an ARM1176ZJS, as those were the most popular) is no slouch, but don't expect miracles.  Depending on what you're trying to do with it, expect CPU performance comparable to a 300-400MHz P6 era Celeron.  These ARM SoCs are usually designed around the assumption that software will make heavy use of specialized hardware acceleration facilities, which MAME especially just doesn't really do much of.

The 128MB of RAM is also a bit constraining for some applications, but you can probably deal with it.   It sounds like it's probably a PoP SoC like one of the TI OMAP chips, so don't expect to upgrade it.

You'll also have to deal with the fact that it's ARM and not x86.  This shouldn't be too terribly hard, but you will have to either compile MAME yourself or find a suitable ARM build.

The price also seems aggressive, though possible if you're willing to accept essentially no margin and have reasonable volume.  I'd be worried about it being vapor.

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