So I e-mailed Zonbu and got a quick response, I think this may be the exact platform I've been looking for to use for a small quiet Mythfrontend system. I'll have to figure out some sort of USB remote, and my TV does actually have a VGA input so I should be good there. My other options were a repurposed MacMini, a shuttle SD02 for 499$ (without memory, HD, Processor, etc but with a remote port).
<br><br>This is the response from Zonbu:<br><br>"Yes, you are free to do as you wish with the Zonbu hardware. While we
do not and cannot officially support running alternate OSes on the
Zonbu hardware, several users have reported successfully installing
other OSes (e.g. Ubuntu Linux) on the hardware without any problems"<br><br>Hey, thanks much TCLUG for putting me onto this.<br><br>--j<br><br><div><span class="gmail_quote">On 10/2/07, <b class="gmail_sendername">J
</b> <<a href="mailto:j@packetgod.com">j@packetgod.com</a>> wrote:</span><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">I'm tempted to hit this for their "249$ without service plan" and wipe
<br>it clean with my own distro. They must be using commodity hardware and<br>many of those SFF PC cases start at 100$ for something 10 times the<br>size. Small ones like the Zonbu are generally even more just for the<br>
case. So a complete Linux friendly SFF quiet environmentally friendly<br>PC for 249$, while a bit light on the specs I wouldn't mind running a<br>little home web/e-mail/SSH server off of it or perhaps just a mythfrontend?
<br><br>I think I'll do it, buy it and see if I can load my own distro by hook<br>or by crook. I'm hoping by crook as I haven't had a good project for a<br>while.<br><br>--j<br><br>Steve Cayford wrote:<br>> Chris Frederick wrote:
<br>><br>>> G. Scott Walters wrote:<br>>><br>>>> Anyone ever heard of Zonbu?<br>>>><br>>> [...]<br>>><br>><br>><br>>> Looks interesting. I've been looking at small form factor PCs for a
<br>>> while. They look very similar to these:<br>>><br>>> <a href="http://logisysus.com/product/smallest-pc.htm">http://logisysus.com/product/smallest-pc.htm</a><br>>><br>>> >From the Zonbu site:
<br>>><br>>> Zonbu Desktop, Standard plan, Billing every two years = $412.95<br>>><br>>> Thats standard options after all discounts, plus $358.80 after two years<br>>> for more support. Also, their "Cancel anytime policy" warns that if you
<br>>> cancel the membership service, your device will not give you access to<br>>> your data after 3 months. They do have a free/no support option, but<br>>> I'd probably want to talk to a sales person before I went with that.
<br>>><br>>> I guess it depends on what their support covers, but I don't see much<br>>> there that strikes me as worth $180 a year.<br>>><br>>> >From their site:<br>>><br>>> Disaster proof storage - Very doable and cheap.
<br>>> Free automatic software upgrades - Most linux distros have this.<br>>> Unlimited Internet support - You are reading this on a mailing list. ;-)<br>>> Remote file access "anywhere, anytime, any browser (no plugins)" - That
<br>>> just sounds scary to me.<br>>> Overnight free hardware replacement limited warranty - Nice, but that's<br>>> an extra $60 a year.<br>>><br>>> My $0.02 would be that everything looks nice, but personally I'd rather
<br>>> pay more up front for something without a huge service contract, or<br>>> required membership service.<br>>><br>>> ymmv,<br>>> Chris Frederick<br>>><br>><br>> It seems to me that there could be a pretty good market for something
<br>> like this. Not for us on this list, but for the proverbial "my<br>> grandmother." Folks who want a web browser, email, office suite, and<br>> some basic games and who don't want to deal with updates, spyware,
<br>> system administration, etc. Considering how much people spend on<br>> services like Geek Squad the rates don't seem too outrageous.<br>><br>> -Steve<br>><br>> _______________________________________________
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