Greener Than An Apple: Cherrypal's $250 PC

[Guest]

Mountain View (CA) - The Cherrypal computer isn't especially stylish, functional or cheap.

Greener Than An Apple: Cherrypal's $250 PC : Read more

 

[Pei-chen]

In November 2007, I put together a $250 computer for my sister with the following spec.:

Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Brisbane $65.99
GIGABYTE GA-MA69GM-S2H $79.99
Antec earthwatts EA380 380W $44.99
COOLER MASTER RR-CCH-L9U1-GP 92mm Hyper TX2 $24.99
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD7500AAKS 750GB $149.99

The total comes to $371.79 but Newegg was having a Thanksgiving 25% off sale which brings my total down to $278.84. I reused my OCZ 2GB ram, old Antec case and a Samsung DVD-RW drive which might cost an extra $100. But you can always squeeze the $100 by using the stock cooler and a cheaper HDD especially now when everything is so much cheaper.

EarthWatts EA430 is $35
Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Brisbane 2.3GHz $50
Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 750GB 32MB $90

 

[nekatreven]

The difference is that the PC market is huge and prices have scaled to the levels you've described. The market for the Cherrypal and VIA's car pc line is smaller and these products are mostly custom engineered which really raises the price.

You can easily see this for yourself: price out 256mb ram, a 4gb flash chip, and a low end asrock mobo. Good luck hitting $100. I'd say a high estimate for that freescale cpu might be $40. So the cost is not all in the components.

I think the big point is that if these smaller type units got any real market share their prices would scale down infinitely better than regular pcs.

 

[jhansonxi]

@Pei-chen
Now all you have to do is put your system into a compactor and squeeze it down to 1.3Hx5.8Lx4.2W inches.
Any idiot can throw a bunch of parts into an old case and make a cheaper system. The cost is in the size reduction and thermal management.

 

[Pei-chen]

[citation][nom]jhansonxi[/nom]@Pei-chenNow all you have to do is put your system into a compactor and squeeze it down to 1.3Hx5.8Lx4.2W inches.Any idiot can throw a bunch of parts into an old case and make a cheaper system. The cost is in the size reduction and thermal management.[/citation]
For the bigger size, I got a lot more utility out of my system. I doubt this thing can even run Google Map considering the underpowered CPU and non-existing graphic processor.

For the same size I think Apple's mini is more impressive as it scales a lot better than this toy. Asus' tiny notebook is too.

 

[Pei-chen]

Oh, I've forget to add that my original message is a response to Wolfgang Gruener's claim that for $250, you are likely to end up with a new or refurbished system from discount PC companies ....equipped with a single-core processor, 512 MB or 1 GB of memory and a hard drive with 160 to 250 GB capacity. $50 more will get you a new PC ... similar equipped.

 

[nvalhalla]

So this is aimed at whom exactly? Not people who use computers seriously. Not the techo ignorant. Not the low cost market. Who could use something like this? I can see a car pc application, but this seems even underpowered for that. Is desk space at such a premium that people are willing to forgo all functionality for a small footprint? I get the feeling I'll never hear of this company again.

 

[JonnyDough]

I keep having to ask this question in response to "going internet" with movie downloads and stuff. What about those of us that live out in the country and don't have access to fast broadband? I use wireless broadband, which seems to be a bit slower than DSL most of the time...not exactly "video streaming" speeds or "everything online" speeds either. Thanks, but I'll keep my files at home where nobody can claim I don't own them. If I lose them, I'd rather it be on my own head than some company's head a million miles away that I can't even find a telephone number for. If I lose them, then it's on me for not keeping good care of my files. I don't want to have to "access" my own files. That's like typing in a password to turn on my television or go into my room and use my bed. There's a reason I pay for my media (I'm not a jerk pirate). I pay for movies, music, and software because I want to OWN them. I don't want to spend all my money RENTING things and then never own them. Sorry, but when banking went private 100 years ago and we became an indebted society paying nearly 50% taxes to the rich people in this nation...I think that was enough. I don't need to rent my entire life from someone else. I'll take ownership any day. TANGIBLE ownership. Not "accessible" ownership.

 

[gwolfman]

So if you internet goes down, what's left to do with this computer/device? lol