Here are the must have features:
1) Fanless design - low-power CPU and support chips (5W max)
2) Memory expansion to 4G [preferred] (DIMM or SODIMM socket)
3) Flash drive support (booting via USB or SD/CF card)
4) VGA connector and 1024x768x24bpp resolution
5) 12V DC powered
6) "Fast enough" Ethernet - gigabit nice, 100Mbps OK
7) Cost < $250, quantity 1
8) Support a popular linux distro (no video card oddities)
Nice to haves:
1) capability for dual Ethernet
2) Intel-compatible CPU (ARM or PPC are OK, though - it just needs to run Linux or *BSD) 3) VGA connector and 1900x1200x32bpp resolution
3) several USB and a few audio connectors
See the comments for what I've considered so far.
4 comments:
PC Engines
There is also the PC Engines line, noted in this post (http://www.howtoforge.com/debian_wrap_board_microdrive)
The WRAP line is discontinued, and the ALIX line
is almost appropriate (missing on memory expansion) - the Alix 3d3 line is aggressively
priced at ~$111USD) - http://www.pcengines.ch/alix3d3.htm
The Beagleboard comes close, but there is no memory expansion and no Ethernet.
I'd prefer not to need a JTAG cable unless there's an FPGA onboard.
The conga-BA945 (using the Intel Atom) is closer, costing $370 and supporting 4G of memory, but it misses on power and complexity. I don't need PCI expansion or the 10W power consumption of that board.
The OLPC Project's XO-1 motherboard is close, but misses on memory expansion and VGA output. It has no ethernet port, only wireless networking
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