| World's greenest PC? |
Mar. 17, 2009
 CompuLabs is a month from shipping what may be the smallest, most energy-efficient PC ever. The Fit-PC2 is based on an Atom processor up to 1.6GHz, and can be ordered with Ubuntu 8.04 pre-installed on a 160GB SATA drive or SSD.
(Click for larger view of the Fit-PC2)
CompuLabs is touting the Fit-PC2 as the smallest, lowest-power "nettop" yet. Intel coined the term "nettop" a year ago, almost to the day, when it unveiled the "Atom" branding around its low-power Intel Architecture chip family. The family includes Z-series ("Menlow") chips for mobile devices, along with N-series and x30-series CPUs ("Diamondville") respectively targeting netbooks and nettops.
Since then, the market has readily embraced netbooks. Meanwhile, only a few nettops have appeared (the Asus EEE Box and Shuttle X27 come to mind). Atom x30-series chips, therefore, seem to be getting more traction in thin clients (such as Dell's Optiplex FX160) than in nettops.
Yet, the Fit-PC2 suggests that the nettop category, too, may yet see some exciting offerings.
Interestingly, system integrators have felt free to use the Atom parts outside of their intended markets. For example, Dell uses the lower-powered Z-series Atom parts in its "Mini" netbooks (such as the HDMI-equipped Inspiron Mini 10). Meanwhile, the above-mentioned EEE Box nettop uses the N270, more typically found in netbooks. And, the Fit-PC2, presses Z-series embedded parts into nettop service, reaping significant size and power benefits, as a result.
Small, but spunky
The Fit-PC2 is a fanless, HD-capable system little larger than the typical DSL modem. With a gig of RAM, a 400MHz or 533MHz front-side bus, gigabit Ethernet, optional WiFi, miniSD expansion, optional laptop-sized (2.5-inch) harddrive or SSD, six USB 2.0 ports, an IrDA receiver, HD audio I/O, and DVI (via an HDMI-to-DVI adapter), the Fit-PC2 appears to be every bit a fully fledged desktop PC.
Fit-PC2
Theoretically, an even lower-powered nettop could be produced. Tapping Intel's 800MHz Z500 Atom chip in place of the 1.1 Z510 and 1.6GHz Z530 options available on the Fit-PC2 would spare about 1.5 Watts. However, performance would certainly suffer. Furthermore, with claimed power usage figures of 1 Watt on standby, 6 Watts under typical usage, 7 Watts rendering 1080p H.264 video, and 8 Watts under maximum utilization, the Fit-PC2 arguably leaves only diminishing returns where low power gains are concerned.
The Fit-PC2 will begin shipping this month, CompuLab says, priced from $260 in with a 1.1GHz processor and no drive, to $360 with a 1.6GHz part, WiFi and Ubuntu 8.04 preinstalled. Lots more details about the Fit-PC2 can be found in coverage on our sister site, LinuxDevices, here.
-- Henry Kingman
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