Fit-PC 2 nettop stays slim, gets an Atom upgrade
By Donald Melanson 
posted May 15th 2009 2:01PM
posted May 15th 2009 2:01PM
The original Fit-PC slim may have been able to proclaim itself the "world's smallest," but with an 500MHz AMD Geode processor and no more than 512MB of RAM, it had a bit of difficulty with the "PC" side of the equation. Fit-PC looks to have gone some way towards improving that with its new Fit-PC 2, however, which matches the current nettop ranks by adding your choice of an Atom Z530 or Z510 processor. Otherwise, you can expect the usual 1GB of RAM, your choice of 2.5-inch SATA hard drive, built-in WiFi, a generous six USB ports, HDMI out, XP or Ubuntu for an OS, and support for full 1,920 x 1,080 resolution. From the looks of it, this one is just starting to roll out now, and will set you back between $245 and $400 depending on the configuration. Still looking for more? Then head on past the break for a quick hands-on video.
That's still really small...
Yeah, I know, that's what she said.
she didnt say that to me ;)
Buy this bro,
Come on a 7 year old desktop,?
get with the times.0nly $245 about 8 hours of work.
...but she was thinking it (as she walked away laughing)
I wonder if this will be a decent HTPC? Lately the atom-based ones have really stunk. Just not packing enough power, in my opinion.
The form factor looks perfect though.
Ever heard of Nvidia Ion?
Yeah, if they added nVidia's Ion to this to offload video processing and allow perfect 1080p playback, this thing would be an absolutely killer HTPC.
Fitpc2 has the GMA500 and new chipset. So yes it could be used as a nice HTPC front end.
Plus it only uses a meager 7watts at full load.
Nice, if i was only in the market for one i would really consider it.
buy your son the wii or even an xbox , safeguard his future sexlife.
if you WERE only in the market
grammar nazi...
Wow... nice for my 5-year-old son to use
IMO, kids will like Wii more than this...
not my kids
get him the wii or xbox , safeguard his future chances with women.
A nice straight forward video as well.
Arrg! Why is it in Hebrew?!
Israeli's are smart, so smart, they don't care for English
apostrophe + S = POSSESSIVE
The website engadget linked to just did a review of the pc in hebrew, here is the website of the manufacturer: http://www.compulab.co.il/fitpc2/html/fitpc2-intro.htm (yes its in english :) )
Give me an option for a dual core Atom (and a link to buy one, as I can't seem to find one, even on their website), and I'll buy one (or two).
Do want.
can handle 1080p video playback? might be nice attachment to my HDTV
This video shows 1080p playback. looks decent. this would be awesome to mount on the wall behind my TV. Definitely want.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsijIVZ4MSk&feature=related
Hmm.. get a Lilliput touch screen and this would be a hell of an in-dash carputer.
i've got a fitpc 1 and a xenarc as an in car, its good that its small and fanless, bad that its 5v and needs 5a to run reliably, but its really slow on graphics and so on. hopefully the new one is going to be a big improvement, last time i saw the spec it was 12V.
getting it from israel was easy enough, just have to remember to pay the customs duty.
Make one with the ION chip and I might get one . . . But just with Intel graphics, forget-it . . .
they say on their website that it would be capable of outputting HD-video, but without an Ion chipset, I wonder how the crappy intel graphics is supposed to do the job...
The GMA500 graphics engine is based on licensed IP from ImagTec, so it's using PowerVR technology. It is more than enough capable for 1080p playback.
ION platform tacks on 30watts. This Fitpc2 is only using 7watts at load. Plus it's a complete package deal. Even with IR on the front for a remote.
Big deal. Aleutia H1 has a fanless Atom CPU, up to 4GB RAM, and the Nvidia Ion for the same price (once you factor in shipping).
Niiiiice. Good size for a carputer.
Install OSX on it and you have the ultimate Mac Mini!
It looks like it is set up for dual boot; that isn't the out of box experience is it?
I guess maybe they are using a demo model pre-loaded with a dual boot interface?
Would it kill them to put full-sized USB ports on it?
full size are on the back
So when you say Windows XP or Ubontu, you mean screw them and install Windows 7?
You misspelled CentOS (or Fedora/FreeBSD/whatever other OS the kids like these days).
Right now I leave my Dell XPS on all the time for torrents, that is a major power hog. Something tiny and extremely low power like this would be perfect for that task.
I bought a DNS-323 NAS, now with Torrent downloading ability, for that reason specifically, not to mention 2 bays and the 1TB Green WD's. Suuuper low power and my computers stay off more now. Makes me happy!
I can envision some very good uses for these... especially where digital signage and interactive kiosks are concerned.
ugly black box... looks like a switcher
Yeah, this has carputer written all over it.
How is an atom an 'upgrade'?
Ummmmm maybe a 1.6Ghz processor vs. the original 500Mhz one? Maybe? Maybe?
Nobody buys those number games anymore, so you are to be complimented on repeating maybe.
It's an atom, and those are just not that hot, literally and figuratively, which is only half good :)
And they probably 'upgraded' to save a few pennies while gaining more from the atom 'buzz' than from the atom's lack of oomph.
Hmmm- your average netbook (EEE) are now $250, and have the same exact specs, very tiny size, AND come with a free screen! Why not buy one of those, and simply rip the screen off? Anyone?
Well, the footprint of this thing is way smaller than even a netbook. Otherwise, you're right.
Why would I want to buy one of those instead of a netbook?
You are suppose to buy both, in fact you are suppose to buy everything mentioned on engadget, to help the economy, although if engadget lists 4 crapgadget in one article you are allowed to only buy 1 of them, such is the agreement.
Another great example of pointlessly using video instead a few decent still pics and some specs.
I'm still waiting for the Asus Eee Keyboard PC.
They beat you to it! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64
We have one of these at work to see if it can handle our real time operating system network. It's pretty a damned capable computer when you get rid of Windoze and much smaller than any netbook.
I'm thinking about trying out HomeSeer on it if they haven't wiped the drive yet.
so let me get this straight...is it it silverthorne with a dedicated hd decoder chip or does it have a ion nvidia chip in it? cause i know the crappy gma 500 chip cant do hd even it were taking sterioids.
How close are the iphone and blackberry to being able to do this?
http://fit-pc2.com/wiki/index.php?title=Fit-PC2_Specifications
Intel US15W SCH
GMA500 :D
Good enough for me.
It would be fun to nab one of these for a car computer.
I was informed the Fit2-PC was being shiped out last Wednesday. Has anyone recieved and tried one using BBCi Player in HD? and ITV's catchup player? Is the quality good?
BBC (and partners) block non-british IP's access (unless you are willing to go through the constant hassle to find a decent UK proxy), so you'd need to ask on a british forum I guess to get a better chance on an answer, because percentage-wise there might not be enough brits here.
The good news is that you can soon{?} use iplayer also if you are british from foreign IP's, while on vacation, by using your TV licensing info, which then will no doubt lead to people stealing brits's licensing numbers and eveybody then sharing that, especially since reportingly half of british computers contain trojans.
So once hackers release a few million numbers/keygens non-brits can be of assistance :)
Looks like something built off a PC104 based system..