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You are here: MacNN Forums > Community > MacNN Lounge > Do you know Jack? 5 Watt computer, powered via Ethernet. Pic!

Do you know Jack? 5 Watt computer, powered via Ethernet. Pic!
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Posting Junkie
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Jun 4, 2006, 08:47 PM
 
Do you know Jack?



There is a DVI model as well. It will be really nice once these things get faster CPUs and HD support. (Right now they are claimed to be as fast as about a 1.2 GHz Pentium series chip, and support is up to 1600x1200.)
     
Mac Elite
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Jun 4, 2006, 08:52 PM
 
That is pretty awesome.
     
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Jun 4, 2006, 09:32 PM
 
Pretty nifty.
     
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Jun 4, 2006, 09:57 PM
 
Put blue tooth in it and it'd be 100% awesome™.
     
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Jun 4, 2006, 09:58 PM
 
So does it just network boot? Those would be handy for something like an info booth where what the computer shows is limited and controlled, I think. (PS they still have as many USB ports as any Mac...)
     
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Jun 4, 2006, 10:13 PM
 
Originally Posted by Gossamer
So does it just network boot? Those would be handy for something like an info booth where what the computer shows is limited and controlled, I think. (PS they still have as many USB ports as any Mac...)
It has 64 MB flash (for the OS) and 128 MB RAM. They run Win CE with IE 6, but I'm thinking someone could flash a *nix on it too.
     
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Jun 4, 2006, 10:16 PM
 
Wow, that is highly impressive.
     
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Jun 4, 2006, 10:31 PM
 
WW!

I could use something like that at work. Something like that would be a whole lot easier to use to deploy interactives in the exhibit galleries than our current methodology of full-size CPUs and singal extenders--The design of the media distributions system was approved before I came on-board.

If you check out their website they have a whole line of modular "jacks" that plug into a connectivity infrastructure. While the infrastructure costs might be expensive the modularity of it could be beneficial for an office building with frequent change-over of tenants: New tenants come in and just change out what "jack" they put in the infrastructure as opposed to re-doing it from scratch.

Thanks for this heads-up.
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Jun 4, 2006, 10:39 PM
 
Seems nifty. I don't know if it's a huge deal to have it powered off of an ethernet jack, I imagine having a power adapter for a wall plug in would be a nice option for one with built in WiFi.
     
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Jun 4, 2006, 10:46 PM
 
Originally Posted by Salty
Seems nifty. I don't know if it's a huge deal to have it powered off of an ethernet jack, I imagine having a power adapter for a wall plug in would be a nice option for one with built in WiFi.
You've obviously never snaked CAT-5 or romax in your life.
     
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Jun 4, 2006, 11:04 PM
 
nice.... I'm all about ultra compact computers these days. Think of how nice these would be in an office, dorm, or school? Wowzers.
     
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Jun 5, 2006, 10:23 AM
 
Nice.
     
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Jun 5, 2006, 10:33 AM
 
Originally Posted by Railroader
You've obviously never snaked CAT-5 or romax in your life.
What do you mean? What I thought Salty said was that having an external power adaptor is a nice feature just in case a unit has wi-fi and isn't connected to ethernet, aka it's power source. Unless you mean to say running Cat5 is easy and there's no reason they wouldn't, but that doesn't make sense.

Also, with only 128MB of RAM and the processor it has, I'm not sure if it's really ready to completely replace a desktop system. Like others have said, it would work for an information booth or a simple word processing/web browser interface.
     
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Jun 5, 2006, 11:21 AM
 
Originally Posted by Gossamer
What do you mean? What I thought Salty said was that having an external power adaptor is a nice feature just in case a unit has wi-fi and isn't connected to ethernet, aka it's power source. Unless you mean to say running Cat5 is easy and there's no reason they wouldn't, but that doesn't make sense.
The external power source for 110 v would be the size of the computer.

And you'd have to have a 110v plug and a place to put the computer + the 110v power supply.

Running off ethernet power you simply have to run CAT-5 where you want the computer. And that is very easy to do.
     
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Jun 5, 2006, 11:24 AM
 
Originally Posted by Railroader
Running off ethernet power you simply have to run CAT-5 where you want the computer. And that is very easy to do.
Gotcha. I thought you were implying it's hard. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the PoE (power over ethernet) is not just a normal, say, switch and Cat5 cable, but a seperate standard that has to be specially installed as PoE, right? Or at least you can use Cat5 but the switch/whatever's on the other end has to support PoE?
     
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Jun 5, 2006, 11:29 AM
 
Originally Posted by Gossamer
Gotcha. I thought you were implying it's hard.
No, I was commenting on the fact that he has obviously never ran either cable and doesn't understand how much easier it is to run ethernet cable vs. power wires.
Originally Posted by Gossamer
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the PoE (power over ethernet) is not just a normal, say, switch and Cat5 cable, but a seperate standard that has to be specially installed as PoE, right? Or at least you can use Cat5 but the switch/whatever's on the other end has to support PoE?
I admit my ignorance here. No idea.
     
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Jun 5, 2006, 12:07 PM
 
Originally Posted by Railroader
No, I was commenting on the fact that he has obviously never ran either cable and doesn't understand how much easier it is to run ethernet cable vs. power wires.
If you're integrating these into, say, a workstation, you're going to have to have power anyway, so that shouldn't be an issue right? But you're right, if you're putting these out in the middle of a lobby or something, the PoE is very handy.
     
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Jun 5, 2006, 12:27 PM
 
if you open your eyes you will see that the "jack pc" has a 5v input jack on it as well, afterall how are you supposed to power the monitor? PoE will not handle that!

Zach
     
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Jun 5, 2006, 12:29 PM
 
Originally Posted by phantomdragonz
if you open your eyes you will see that the "jack pc" has a 5v input jack on it as well, afterall how are you supposed to power the monitor? PoE will not handle that!

Zach
I did see that. Salty was saying that that was a nice feature. And only an ADC connection powers a monitor through the display port. A VGA or DVI monitor will both have a seperate power cord. Meaning you'll have to place it near a power outlet anyway.
What was your point?
     
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Jun 5, 2006, 12:32 PM
 
Originally Posted by Gossamer
Gotcha. I thought you were implying it's hard. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the PoE (power over ethernet) is not just a normal, say, switch and Cat5 cable, but a seperate standard that has to be specially installed as PoE, right? Or at least you can use Cat5 but the switch/whatever's on the other end has to support PoE?
You have to install special switches, but you can use it over a standard Cat5 network. There's nothing special about the actual cables themselves, just standard ethernet. If you have any worries about cross-signal like normal phone, you can always buy shielded ethernet. In any event, it should work over any standard network, provided you have the PoE switch and supported devices.
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Jun 5, 2006, 12:36 PM
 
Originally Posted by Gossamer
What was your point?
i did not see saltys comment... I only noticed the bickering about PoE, I did not think anybody had mentioned the power port on the front of it.

Zach
     
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Jun 5, 2006, 12:37 PM
 
Originally Posted by phantomdragonz
i did not see saltys comment... I only noticed the bickering about PoE, I did not think anybody had mentioned the power port on the front of it.

Zach
Bickering != asking a question
     
   
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