[LINK] re: Computer Energy Standard Workshop, 8 February, Sydney

[Tom Worthington]

At 02:20 AM 9/02/2008, Brenda Aynsley wrote:
>... Have linkers seen the greenPC due to hit our shores imminently? 
>http://www.protac.com.au/gpc.asp ... Is it a marketing gimmick or for real? ...

This appears to be very similar to the Everex  GPC (Green PC) which 
went on sale some months ago through Walmart in the USA for 
$US199  <http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2007/11/everex-green-pc.html>. 
The WalMart model does not include a monitor in the price and appears 
to be lower specification than the Protac offering. But if you 
convert the price to Australian dollars and add a basic LCD monitor, 
then $AU499 would be about right.

It is a basic little low power computer in a big tin box, with just 
enough processing power and memory to run Linux, OpenOffice, Firefox 
and some other open source applications. There have been some 
grumbles on the WalMart web site about non-standard Linux and lack of 
drivers: <http://www.walmart.com/catalog/allReviews.do?product_id=7754614>.

Putting the unit in a standard PC case is a clever bit of marketing, 
although most of the case must be full of just air. The WalMart unit 
has the same processor as the Zombu unit I have, but as that is in a 
tiny box people have difficulty believing it is really a computer 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2007/11/zonbu-thin-client-linux-computer-in.html>.

I expect we will see more of these cut price computers. Some will be 
sold on price, others on their green credentials and ease of use. By 
the end of 2008, I expect that if you propose to buy a computer 
costing more than $500, then the boss (or your spouse) will want to 
know why: <http://www.tomw.net.au/technology/it/networked_organisation/>.



Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617                      http://www.tomw.net.au/
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, ANU