Re: Multimedia

[Marc_F_Hult <MFHult@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, 19 Jul 2006 03:41:56 -0400, "Robert Green"
<ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
<n7SdnWfNdKNIfiDZnZ2dnUVZ_tmdnZ2d@xxxxxxx>:

>"IVB" <ivb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>
>> With the 3400, it's a full PC [$160 gets you a 10" P3-400 touchscreen].
>>That means no special card needed, just the CQC software for fully
>>distributed, networkable HA & HT control.
>
>That's a pretty good deal for the money.  A PIII-400's got plenty of
>horsepower for HA purposes - especially when used as just a "smart
screen."
>
>How is the screen?  Visible in daylight or when viewed at an angle?  Lots
>of them available on Ebay.  I just bought one to see for myself!

Jist so others do not misunderstand, the Fujitsu 3400 tablet PC  is *not*
a touch screen in the conventional sense. If you touch it with your
finger, or a celery stalk, or a pencil, nothing useful happens. It
requires a special wireless electronic pen.

Standard PC's and PC-XT's with standard-issue PC monitors were usable with
a wired pen even when they first introduced way in the 1980's. That
concept never caught on. My day-in, day-out laptop is a Toshiba Portege
Tablet PC with an electronic pen. I find that the pen is useful for some
special, non-HA purposes but awkward at best for general purpose use.
YMMV.

The subject of this thread is "Multimedia" which implies video. So it
might be useful to point out that full-motion, full-screen video can be a
an unsatisfactory experience on a  PC based on the PIII-400 as used in the
Fujitsu 3400 tablet PC. This is especially true if the PC is also trying
to do something else such as HA which sometimes requires near-real-time
response.

But yes, a Fujitsu 3400 tablet PC  has about the same horsepower as a VIA
mini-ITX EPIA-5000 and can be purchased used for about the same price as
just a mini-ITX motherboard alone (that is, without the case, power
supply, battery, screen, hard drive, keyboard, and pen that one also gets
when buying a Fujitsu 3400 through a vendor using eBay).

The use of laptops as a HA engine has been common for many years and may
be helped by increased standardization of notebook/laptop components by
Intel, ASUS, Compal, Aopen and others. Watch for upcoming standardized
"Verified by Intel" (VBI),  "Intel Interchangeability Initiative Common
Building Block" (CBB) notebook components,

http://www.intel.sc/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=6
http://www.intel.com/cd/channel/reseller/asmo-na/eng/products/mobile/vbi/271262.htm
http://www.asimobile.com/notebook_vbi.htm

and "Mobile On Desktop" (MoDT) and similar initiatives.

Here's a good write up on laptop CBB and VBI related to home energy and
control http://www.solarpc.com/laptops.html

... Marc
Marc_F_Hult
www.ECOntrol.org