Fit PC

[WXMoab]

Not sure of the right place to post this. I recently got a VP2 and am uploading to WU and CWOP. Today I became aware of the Fit PC http://www.fit-pc.com/web/ and wondered if anyone was running one of these to serve their weather data. Seems to me it would be the perfect thing as it uses only 8W at full power and its tiny and silent. My desktop is a power hog to leave running 24/7 and its my main computer so it would be nice if all my weather stuff wasn't running on it. I had thought of using my laptop but it would be too much trouble switching back and forth between computers when I went somewhere with the laptop and it too uses a lot more power than the Fit PC. This is exciting because I feel this would be perfect for this application. This thing uses so little power I could probably solar power the thing with stuff I already have as its runs on 12V. It uses so little it hardly matters but it would be fun to solar power it anyway.

Just wondered if anyone had heard of these or had any opinions on the subject.

[SpartanWX]

FWIW...

I just bought an open-box "refurbished" Dell Mini 10 off of Ebay for $270 shipped.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&oc=DNCWEA1&s=dhs

This netbook has the same processor/specs/video system as the FitPC (Z530, GMA500 w/HDMI out, 1GB ram, 160Gb HD, wireless, XP home) but also includes a 90% full size keyboard built in, awesome multi-touch touch pad, and a 10.1" 1024x600 LED backlit widescreen.  Oh yeah, it also has a battery built in for up to 3 hours run time when the power goes out.  It also has MS Works included.  

To me that was finally the holy grail of what I had been looking for for a dedicated weather PC.  And like I said, it was only $270 shipped on EBAY.  Even if you wanted to buy the same thing new, at $399 it is the same price as the comparable FitPC2!

Observed power usage so far (with no tweaking yet) is 5 watts idle with the screen off (add a watt when the screen is on) and maybe 12-15 during boot (with the screen on).  I'm guessing if I went and threw a solid state hard drive in instead of the electromechanical one that is in there, I'll probably drop another watt or two.

Hopefully I get this beast hooked up and dumping info this weekend.  It's been a long time coming! (3 years).

[Bushman]

Actually it is 8 watts at idle.  But no matter - they look good.  When I was researching such things the price  dissuaded me.  For about half what they want for a Fit you can get a netbook.  Close  to the same power consumption.  More compact when you consider the built-in monitor.

[johnd]

As per the other thread where we've been having a related discussion, I'd personally be tempted to wait for a couple of months until the Pinetrail Atom PCs start to appear - these should have a better balance of price and low power consumption. The SCH US15W chipset in the current FitPC is more of a specialist chipset AIUI and priced accordingly, whereas Pinetrail should be more mainstream.

But even now you can get something like an Acer Revo (GBP149 at eBuyer in Linux version) for something that consumes only (let's say) 15-20W at the wall. Or the EeePC is just over GBP200 in the Windows version and is more like 15W draw.

[WXMoab]

Good points guys. It would be nice to have something with a screen and keyboard built in. The Fit would require remote operation via the network since I don't have a screen that would hook up to it (besides the one on my desktop). I would be happy if I could find some type of netbook for cheap that used less power than my laptop to dedicate to weather. I don't have money for anything now anyway so this gives me time to research the topic.

[Bushman]

Try your local refurb place  Up here in the GWN we have a string of shops (laptopdepot.ca) across the country that sell open box and refurb netbooks for under $150 USD!

[SOCALWX]

The Dell Mini 10 looks like a great option for low power--too bad it doesn't have a serial port!

[Bushman]

No netbook has a serial port AFAIK.  Some of them can use an external docking station that have serial ports, but that is it.

[SpartanWX]

The Dell Mini 10 looks like a great option for low power--too bad it doesn't have a serial port!

In few days long test with a serial-USB adapter I did not have problems with another computer running XP.

[ncpilot]

And, once Pinetrail comes out, watch for deep discounts on the existing Atom netbooks (maybe even better than some of the Black Friday prices?)

I picked up an 8" netbook some time ago, with the best intentions of using it as my dedicated weather computer, but alas, I have not yet made that conversion...

[Garth Bock]

I did a mini-ITX I bought from eBay. Mine had a dual core Atom and had 2 gb of ram. Running just VWS was fine. It seemed to handle ftp's and sending data to other sites. Performance was ok but not spectacular. When I tried to run VVPro and any addition weather station software then the performance hit stood out. It was sluggish to say the least.
While it only used 15w of power which was cool and it was small it lacked the horsepower in the long run for me. It lasted for about 5 months and then the mobo died...about the time the eBay seller decided to disappear which meant no warranty. The weather station is now hosted on a Dell with an Intel D 3.8ghz processor. Now I can run VVPro with VWS, Cumulus, WL without it really bogging down. Yeah I am burning more power but there is a trade-off for what I want to do.

[WXMoab]

Thanks for that. Right now I'm running VWS, WL, VWSaprs and of course VirtualVP. Uploading to WU and CWOP. My Athlon 64 X2 5600+ averages somewhere around 11% load (just a guess while watching it jump around) with the weather stuff only so it does take a little power. Without all that running it sits and 0-1% at idle. I will be interested to see how mrgpk does with his Dell Mini 10 or anyone else who may be using a netbook. I'm sure not going to jump on that idea until I know they will handle the load okay.

[ncpilot]

What's curious is the general idea that we shouldn't run a CPU hard... I've seen this sentiment in other forums (not weather related)... I wonder if this is a hangover from the early days of computers? With the efficient low power CPU's we have now, running at 10% or 60% probably doesn't represent much of a power difference--and heat isn't as much an issue either.

I guess one might argue that performance could decrease as CPU load increases, but what kind of performance do we really need for collecting and processing weather data? It it takes a few milliseconds longer, is that ok?

Just a curious observation...

[Bushman]

Before I dedicated my netbook to wx, I tested multiple apps.  Heavy graphics processing, FTP, office apps and it ran a half dozen apps simultaneously quite well.  As NC says, what is the load - really? - for weather apps.

[WXMoab]

Doesn't seem like it would require that much power to run a few weather apps. I feel like it would work just fine but I have never owned a netbook or even touched one.

[Bushman]

Honestly, unless you are running a bunch of really graphics intensive apps, a netbook is an excellent choice for wx server.  Esp. for a remote location.  Small, cheap, powerful enough too.

[SpartanWX]

Thanks for that. Right now I'm running VWS, WL, VWSaprs and of course VirtualVP. Uploading to WU and CWOP. My Athlon 64 X2 5600+ averages somewhere around 11% load (just a guess while watching it jump around) with the weather stuff only so it does take a little power. Without all that running it sits and 0-1% at idle. I will be interested to see how mrgpk does with his Dell Mini 10 or anyone else who may be using a netbook. I'm sure not going to jump on that idea until I know they will handle the load okay.

Preliminary report on the Mini 10. So far it has easily met my expectations. 

It has only been up for 12 hours but it has been rock solid with VirtualVP, VPLive, Weatherlink, Cumulus, and WUHU running continuously with WUHU sending CWOPs and rapidfire WU information.  The operating systems remains snappy and Firefox opens and browses the internet quickly without lag.

Total power usage between the Mini 10 and the console adapter is 7W (with the screen off).  I can live with that!!

Couldn't be happier =)

[WXMoab]

That's great to hear, thanks for the report! Now I just need money. Maybe some day.

[Strgazr27]

My wifes ASUS ran fine till I added Image Salsa to the mix and tried running the Logitech 9000 through it along with the Toshiba. As it's been said though, they do make a decent general weather system.

[Bushman]

Another thing to keep in mind esp. for netbooks, but frankly applicable to an wx box, is to nLite the OS - XP or vLite Vista/7.  Makes for a much smaller Windoze install that is faster and more reliable (how could it not be?    )

http://www.nliteos.com/

[Strgazr27]

Nlite is awesome. I also live by BlackVipers Tweak pages http://www.blackviper.com/Windows_7/servicecfg.htm .

If your running W7 there is also a FANTASTIC tweaker out for it called Se7ven.

[SOCALWX]

I took Bushman's advice and got a netbook to run my VPro2.   My power consumption on my Dell XPS Pentium 4 was 160 watts nominal--the Samsung N120 netbook runs at 12 Watts.  It handles all the program superbly.  The netbook runs about 7 hours on its battery as well.

[Bushman]

[WXMoab]

I finally bought a netbook and just got the 5 program and data migration done this evening and everything is working great so far. I bought an Acer Aspire One AO532H-2309 with XP Home. This thing has the new energy efficient N450 chip and LED back lit screen. I can't be happier. It's drawing 11 watts with the screen on while near its brightest setting and FTPing files. Screen off and no FTPing is draws 8-9 watts. This is huge as my desktop was sucking near 200 watts with everything on and that includes what the APC backup draws. I figured the desktop was costing me near $10/month. This netbook probably be less than $1.

[info]

Does the mini  computer get hot? I heard after long term  working they get hot .
I been wanting to get a mini. I'm using a older Dell desktop  xp with monitor off 95 % time.