Cybernet's all-in-one keyboard computers get an upgrade
By Joshua Topolsky 
posted Mar 24th 2008 10:31AM
posted Mar 24th 2008 10:31AM
[Thanks, stagueve]
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Vic20 FTW
Man I would hate to spill my cup of coffee on this thing.
"Load "*",8.1"
Nah, in-mouse computers are waaay better.
I've had one of these for a few years except mine has built in battery backup and is a little smaller. It a laptop that the screen cracked off. Its actually the perfect bench top computer, when the power goes out or I trip a breaker I don't loose what ever code I'm working on. Very few cables to get tangled in with the projects, serial port and parallel ports are very accessible, no mouse to plow through the piles of parts everywhere....
Laptops with broken displays also make nice low power servers. They don't take up much space, have built in backup power, they are generally pretty quite(depending on the model and manufacturer). The only thing they generally lack is storage space. A few USB 2.5" disk can solve that. Or with a custom backup power supply 3.5" externals.
Sooooo, basically it's a laptop without a screen, eh?
No, it's an all in one keyboard without a laptop.
bet it sounded so good when they were brain storming
No, we are coming full circle and re-inventing the Commodore 64!!
No, it's a half-man, half-bearpig.
Looks hawt.
Commodore 64!
Amiga 500!
M
Atari ST!
Linux!
Apple IIc!
Radio Shack Color Computer!
Two words: Commodore 64.
Actually is 3 words: Commodore sixty four
It's two words. "Sixty-four" is a compound word which should have a hyphen.
I thought it was one word and one number...
it's 5 words and 6 numbers duh.
5 letters and 2 numbers
Actually, it's twelve characters including a space, two numbers, and one capital letter.
Actually, it's just the name of an old computer. Sheeesh.
unless this thing is designed for lefties, the trackpad is too far away from the right.
I'm sure these might find a place in low budget technology classrooms but unless it can play CRYSIS I can't even look at one of these.
"but unless it can play CRYSIS I can't even look at one of these"
You must walk into things a hell of a lot
I think the trackpad is in about the right spot. I stopped using an external mouse on laptops quite a while ago, so I'm used to using laptop trackpads for most of my computing. On almost all laptops the trackpad is right under the space-bar, just like here. It just looks weird because it's got a full keyboard, all those extra keys off to the right. Your hands will still be over the main QWERTY keyboard, though.
yeh it is just a laptop without a screen.
But the point is it kl :P
If there were some way to have wireless video output, and if it can run on battery, then it would be perfect for an HTPC. Especially if Blu-Ray were added at some point, this would be amazing. Just hook up wirelessly with an NAS for storage, hook it up to the TV, and that would be amazing. Anybody know if wireless video is available in any form yet?
Yeah, I always play my wireless DVD's.
Yup, I think you can just about do 1024x768 wirelessly, possibly 1280x1024
Or just run video cable under the floor. Not too hard to accomplish.
If there's a carpeted floor in the apartment, it's actually very hard. Can't really run it there, what with all the staples and such holding it down.
Er... Kind of bulky for an HTPC don't ya think? What with all of a PC's innards in the keyboard on your knees... Better to have a decent HTPC case and a good wireless keyboard - but that's just my 2 cents [^_^]
Damn, you got to feel really sad if you spilled your drink on this keyboard.
Oh look! The Amiga 500 got a touchpad =)
THis is cute and everything, but if they really want to sell these things they are going to have to either bring the price down or use shittier components.
Po0p.
I cannot think of any reason I would buy one, but I do *really* like it.
Thing is, if I wanted a really small form factor PC, I would either get a laptop or one of those dinky HTPC or Micro Systems. Maybe I'm having a blonde moment, but I don't know where there is any significant market for these.
Don't assume that because Engadget has seen these only a year ago, this is a new concept. Cybernet has been making these PCs for at least a decade, and they have lots of customers, especially in the industrial/public sectors.
If you can't think of a use, just have a look at the description on their site:
"Space saving solutions for industries including: Medical, Financial, Education, Industrial, Kiosk, Government".
It all makes _a lot_ of sense; just think about PCs in these environments. They cannot be laptop PCs. The less space they take, and the more integrated they are, the better; you get rid of the annoying box, the unnecessary cables, and you are not stuck with a particular monitor.
@giuliop
Yeah, I remember seeing them advertising in the back of Computer Shopper in the 486 days, when 1GB drives were the new thing.
To all the people who say this is a stupid idea, they've been in business for a while now, so obviously it's not that stupid. Just because it doesn't fit into your life doesn't mean it can't have a thriving niche market.
I was thinking about these while I was out earlier:
A, If I got one where could I use its funky groove styling.
B, I bet they would be great in embedded systems like touch screen kiosks and indusry.
So yeah, on reflection there must be loads of places in industry and non-domestic applications where these are very popular.
This is really cool, but like TubeTop100.com said, I'd hate to think of what happens when you spill your coffee on it.
Man this is a great idea. If only it wasn't so useless I'd definately want one!
We have the old ones and they tend to overheat a lot.
But does it blend?
Yes and it plays Doom
WUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
This is my new gaming rig. I am referring to my tetris craze.
You guys are not funny at all. Jokes about doom and blending things are so fucking stupid, get over it already. I really don't care if you want every electronic in existence to play doom.
lol @ low rank! haha!
Reference: http://www.willitblend.com/ [for those of you not in the know]
Everyone already knows, THAT is why you got low ranked. It's not funny anymore.
On an unrelated matter: Do you blend?
@ James....haha...good one!
Oh and its still FUNNY! Plus when's the last time someone brought that up, come on!
If it's got composite (or RF?) video output so I can hook it up to the big tube TV in our den, then I'm sold.
:D
except that you can't get it with XP MCE or Vista so no media center
Wait you just saw that a year ago. That company has been making those things for years. A lot if inventory warehouses and stores love them.
My wrists hurt just looking at this thing.
Worst. Idea. Ever.
What if you want to use a different keyboard? All of a sudden you have a long, ugly computer you have to fit in a corner somewhere (where nobody can see it, in an attempt to avoid embarrassment).
Cube PC's (microATX cubes, Mac Mini, etc) make much more sense than this, IMO.
You do not make any sense at all.
And what if you want a different keyboard in a laptop? Or a different monitor in an iMac? Do we stop making them because their parts are not replaceable?
This is designed to be like an All-in-one PC, with your choice of monitor. No clutter on the desk, no cables except for the power and the VGA ones; ports and optical drive are easily accessible.
Perfect PC (family or office) for those who don't need to upgrade and don't have the space for a separate box, or simply don't want it around.
If you want a different keyboard, this computer would be a very bad choice. It's actually a pretty good setup as the person above me explained. If I was out looking for a computer and didn't build my own, I wouldn't mind buying this at all.
What's with all the cables? They will break soon. And add to the ugliness of course. POS.
But maybe it would have some use when you could connect it to a TV (and print Hello Kitty on it).
You'r Welcome Koshua ;)
Well, the price is not that attractive anyways.Basically a PC with no monitor..no good
www.egsmartsys.com
Why do people think this is the worst idea ever? Back in the days before PC's happened, computers WERE all in one with the keyboard - Spectrum, Atari, Commodore etc were all made in this form. The keyboard is a great place to put a computer.
2 references to the ti99 in one day WOW
You guys are young, this looks more likea TRS-80 Model 1, $499 at Radio Shack for 4k RAM!
My first thought exactly...
Can you backlink Stagueve please ?
It has no screen and no OS. $699 sounds good until you have to ad XP Pro for $160.
Base starts at $629.
I setup some of these 15 years ago. They work great in a factory environment - at the time they didn't have a fan that would suck in dust and such.
I'm having a serious case of nostalgia. It's a neat idea. It would make a lot more sense if you were able to connect wirelessly to a monitor - then you could include it in a home system. Without that, I'd much rather have a laptap or small 'mini' system with wireless keyboard/mouse.
They only use Intel proccessors? Oh well, guess I'll have to swap it out. Anyone want an Intel Core 2 Quad?
Well Im with PEZ theres no way ill pay that much for this i mean its nice and all but plz $629?
These things really are great in space-constrained environments like labs.
They have computer-in-monitors with touchscreens now, too, AFAIK. Cool company.
Hmm, brings back the good old AMIGA memories... though the AMIGA 500 was silent (you know, the 80s and early 90s, fan-less home computing—incredible) and had a decent keyboard.
Hunt the Wumpus cartridge not included.
This makes me want to hook it up to the TV and make it print Fuck over and over on screen while me and my stupid friends giggle.
How well will it run text adventures?
I don't see this....contraption catching on too fast. They are just following the trend with the new Apple desktop design, then the Gateway One, and then the Sony Vaio glass picture frame PCs (my pic). For their price tag I cound build someone a low profile LAN party PC with a 22" monitor. Plus the placement of the mouse touchpad is just too far to the left to be used effectively. If they through in a nice monitor, move the touchpad to the center, and take the ugly out they could undercut the competition in price. 5 out of 10
See my other post on this company in this thread. They aren't following the current trend; these things have been around since at least the mid 90's to my knowledge, and if they are following any trend it's the all-in-ones from the 80s such as the Commodore, TI-99, Tandy CoCo etc. Then again, perhaps you were born in the 90's and that's all ancient history. Not a slight on you, just an observation.
NO biggie. Thanks for the knowledge.
What, No one said.... "sinclair"??
Maybe, TRS-80 Model one! Comes with a cassette player for backup storage!
I had one of these back around 1998 or so. A friend had bought a few to use as POS (Point of Sale) machines at a business that later flopped, and he unloaded one on me for about $20. It looked just like the old IBM keyboards, beige and heavy. It had a mini-itx-sized motherboard, years before those were even thought of, with a soldered-on Pentium 75 and 64mb of soldered RAM. No optical drive; a 850MB laptop drive and floppy were the only storage. As I said, at that time Cybernet marketed these as POS and thin client machines. Anyway, yes it ran DOOM, and that was about all it was good for. I set it up as a game/educational machine for my girlfriend's nieces and nephew, as it ran all of their educational stuff just fine. I haven't asked the ex-girlfriend about it (we're still close friends to this day) but I'm sure if they dug it out of whatever closet it got stuffed in that it would still fire up and run. That thing was a tank.
reminds me more of the Amiga 500.
We used diskless workstations very like this where I worked back in the 80s. It was based on an Intel 80186 and had built-in ARCnet, which at the time was just as fast and much cheaper than coax Ethernet. It was perfect for the trucking companies and such that bought out software, because it was small, simple, fairly rugged, and had no fan.
I have a TI-994a that still works...Munch man was my favorite game....Munch man...
It's 18.5" x 9". The desktop keyboard I'm using now is 14" x 4".
It's footprint is 3x a normal keyboard.
As executed, this is the stupidest idea ever.
Pure awesomeness :)
Would be nice having that thing on my tiny desk :)
AMIGAAAAAAAAH!
The company should buy the rights to use the Commodore name, I think it would be a great investment.
Wow, this is a nifty piece of equipment, when my screen went out on my old HP I had to essentially do the same thing. Hook it up to an external screen using a VGA output, it sucked but I had no other option. Now I have a macbook and this thing is wayyyyy more reliable. I was thinking of getting a nice keyboard like this, without a computer in it. I was looking at http://www.ergoware.com but I am pretty picky. They keyboard needs to be affordable but dependable, what do you guys suggest for a nice ERGONOMIC KEYBOARD for windows/mac?
Everyone should realize the company makes these almost strictly for business purposes. Not a gamer computer, not a multimedia computer. I do know they are very big in banking at CSR/teller stations.
TI 99\4A