Trident VESA PC in UK

[rmwlaw]

Folks:

I had looked into a company in the UK called Trident Microsystems (similar name to the old graphics chipset and graphics card manufacturer) regarding their computer, the VESA PC, which is strikingly similar in features and appearance to the Fiire Station VESA option (1" fanless wall mount version). They are willing to ship their computers stateside, however, they charge 563 GBP, which when converted to US Dollars, results in the following charges, not including shipping:

Thursday, August 30, 2007

563 British Pound(s) = 1128.71 US Dollar(s)

1 USD =to 0.4988 GBP
1 GBP = 2.00481 USD

So, it would cost $1,128.71, plus S&H, not to mention that they might even charge VAT.

The Fiire Station on the other hand, is distributed by a San Francisco based operation and they charge $899.00 plus S&H.

So, if you are interested in the wall mount option (or back of the TV attached version of a MD), then it appears that you should consider the Fiire Station. Thought I had something when I had come across that UK VESA PC, but, it clearly will cost too much.

[totallymaxed]

Folks:

I had looked into a company in the UK called Trident Microsystems (similar name to the old graphics chipset and graphics card manufacturer) regarding their computer, the VESA PC, which is strikingly similar in features and appearance to the Fiire Station VESA option (1" fanless wall mount version). They are willing to ship their computers stateside, however, they charge 563 GBP, which when converted to US Dollars, results in the following charges, not including shipping:

Thursday, August 30, 2007

563 British Pound(s) = 1128.71 US Dollar(s)

1 USD =to 0.4988 GBP
1 GBP = 2.00481 USD

So, it would cost $1,128.71, plus S&H, not to mention that they might even charge VAT.

The Fiire Station on the other hand, is distributed by a San Francisco based operation and they charge $899.00 plus S&H.

So, if you are interested in the wall mount option (or back of the TV attached version of a MD), then it appears that you should consider the Fiire Station. Thought I had something when I had come across that UK VESA PC, but, it clearly will cost too much.

This unit does look to be either the same or similar to the Fiirestation... except that they claim C7 @ 1Ghz & Eden @ 1.5Ghz where the Fiirestation uses a C7 clocked at 1.5Ghz so I am not 100% sure.

But A bigger gotcha is that with the VESA PC you will not get the Unichrome Pro II driver software that you need to make UI2 work... UI1 would work fine if you built the freely available Unichrome Pro drivers though.

[rmwlaw]

You know, it just hit me. What I really want to know is what brand and model case they are using. We can use our own motherboards in these cases, and the cost could be a lot less prohibitive. Why do we need to use the same exact components that Fiire has chosen? Can't we find a motherboard that would fit the bill?

[totallymaxed]

You know, it just hit me. What I really want to know is what brand and model case they are using. We can use our own motherboards in these cases, and the cost could be a lot less prohibitive. Why do we need to use the same exact components that Fiire has chosen? Can't we find a motherboard that would fit the bill?

The Fiirestation is based on a product from Via designed for the industrial & public signage markets (ie big plasma screen hanging on wall in your local Mall). The case is not available separately it is custom to Via and the whole unit is only available direct from Via. It uses the NX-15000 motherboard;

http://www.icp-epia.co.uk/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=252

We have one of these units on test direct from Via and it performs beautifully in every respect... under UI1.

So you could find an enclosure you like and add any one of several Via C7/CX700M motherboards and build your own unit... go get the Unichrome Pro dirvers from the Via-arena site and compile them. Then set the PXE boot option in bios and connect it to your LMCE core's LAN and your in business. But the gotcha is that with the standard Unichrome Pro drivers you only get UI1