PC Engines: January 2009 Archives

Above: The Alix1b board. Prices are low for both the board and the cases, the power supply is on board (plug in a brick and you're in business ...), but don't think about asking for more than 256 MB of RAM.

Focusing on the embedded market (and seemingly well-liked by users of both Linux and the various BSDs) are the boards from the Zurich, Switzerland-based PC Engines.

The company has some extremely compelling and relatively inexpensive offerings ... if you're willing or able to run your application(s) in 256 MB of RAM.

The Alix1d features a 433 or 500 MHz AMD Geode LX CPU, 128 or 256 MB SDRAM on board, CompactFlash socket, 44 -pin IDE header (fits a 2.5-inch laptop drive), 12V DC, DC-DC converter on board, 1 10/100 Ethernet port, 2 COM, 4 USB, 1 LPT, audio, with VGA support in a 6.7" x 6.7" miniITX-size board with an Award BIOS.

Prices for these kinds of things are generally too high, but a look at the PC Engines pricing page shows the Alix1d selling for $132 with an enclosure for an extra $10 and AC adapter for $5.25.

This looks like a much-cheaper alternative to the likes of Soekris, and I can see assembling a very nice box (for embedded applications at least) to run under either Linux or any of the BSDs for way less than $200.

The only potential stopper for me (aside from the memory issue) is potential shipping charges from Europe. There are distributors of the PC Engines products located around the world, including the U.S., but I'll have to look more closely at both the prices and how to properly configure the OSes to deal with CF cards (or how to mount a 2.5-inch spinning hard drive).

(I should probably keep quiet about this, get a few more CF cards and just run the silent PC I already have, The Self-Reliant Thin Client.)

On second thought: I looked at the 20-page manual, which I've linked to below, and it looks mighty hard to get an OS on these things. Since there's no mention of it, I'm guessing there's no provision for booting from USB and that you have to use the 44-pin IDE header and somehow get it connected to a 40-pin CD drive, with drive power coming ... let's just say my head's starting to hurt. But these boards sure are cheap.

I'm retreating to the friendly confines of Logic Supply, in my opinion the best mini-ITX provider around.

But if you really know what you're doing, know how to generate boot images on CF cards and are thinking of buying lots of boards for some embedded use, PC Engines' products can seemingly save a whole lot of cash.

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