AshleyT Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 I'm looking for a low wattage PC for my boat, I do a lot of office work on the PC and some gaming nothing much. I'm looking for just a basic PC would be nice if it could run off of the 12v does anyone know where I could buy one from or how to build on etc parts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEngo Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 I'm looking for a low wattage PC for my boat, I do a lot of office work on the PC and some gaming nothing much. I'm looking for just a basic PC would be nice if it could run off of the 12v does anyone know where I could buy one from or how to build on etc parts Buy a laptop- these are generally designed to be low power consumption items and can still drive a decent screen which won't be that power hungry though probably 240v. The laptop itself (though not a Dell which will work but not charge) can run off a Maplin 12v DC laptop power supply. N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 I'm looking for a low wattage PC for my boat, I do a lot of office work on the PC and some gaming nothing much. I'm looking for just a basic PC would be nice if it could run off of the 12v does anyone know where I could buy one from or how to build on etc parts This crops up regularly on here, have a search for existing threads. The consensus seems to be that all computing shovels power down from the batteries in spades, but laptops have smaller spades than desktops. The display is the main culprit. Laptops with smaller screens use less power broadly speaking, and the dimmer you set your display the less power. Finding a balance you are happy with seems to be the trick. MtB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalky Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Alternative is a car PC or a small industrial computer. We use some of the small industrial ones at work for development work and they are about the size of a box of cooks matches. No hard drive, everything is stored on SD cards or USB sticks. We link these up to a small 12V monitor and a USB keyboard. Not the world's most user friendly machines but they are low power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Having just googled 'car pc' it seems there are quite a lot about. Might be worth calling one of the firms to see what they can offer in terms of low-current devices and monitors MtB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jckm2000 Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Rasberry pi? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyT Posted January 31, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Thank you for the replays I've already got a tv which is also a monitor which uses 23watts max, I don't really got on with laptops long story. I ll have a look at them car pcs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattlad Posted January 31, 2013 Report Share Posted January 31, 2013 Rasberry pi? I was wondering exactly the same thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billh Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 Rasberry pi? Just been and got one...... velly interesting. Less than 5 watts, works with any old (or new) telly. Looks like it does most of the things other machines do, but efficiently because of "Defenestration" Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smileypete Posted February 1, 2013 Report Share Posted February 1, 2013 (edited) Rasberry pi? Nah, ODROID U2 maybe Or possibly the coming ARMBRIX Zero. cheers, Pete. ~smpt~ Edited February 1, 2013 by smileypete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyT Posted February 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2013 Well like I said in my op I do a small amount of gaming so I've spent some time doing research ether get this one from them see link http://aleutia.com/t1-fanless-eco-pc Or just build my own one with the intel atom chip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smileypete Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 Why are you not keen on a lappie? cheers, Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 Just been and got one...... velly interesting. Less than 5 watts, works with any old (or new) telly. Looks like it does most of the things other machines do, but efficiently because of "Defenestration" Bill So this prompts two questions in my furry brain: 1) How do you run all the stuff normal mortals need on their PC (Word, Firefox, a cheap printer, etc) without Windoze or a masters degree in computer science? 2) How much power does a telly use compared to a PC monitor? MtB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eightpot Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 One of these might be worth looking at as a cost effective boat computer. Although it comes with Android installed, it is possible to run another OS via an SD card. I've got one in the post on its way to me now, but I had one sent to a friend and he raves about it as a simple pc solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billh Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 So this prompts two questions in my furry brain: 1) How do you run all the stuff normal mortals need on their PC (Word, Firefox, a cheap printer, etc) without Windoze or a masters degree in computer science? 2) How much power does a telly use compared to a PC monitor? MtB I don't know yet- early days but this is my impression: It comes with a simple web browser that worked first time- I would imagine that Firefox would work , i'll try it eventually. As for Word etc, I wonder if "LibreOffice" , a good free alternative to Gates' Office can be installed? A networked or USB printer should be possible too? The point is , someone, somewhere will be trying all this and then posting a "How to" for it. The TV power consumption is in proportion to screen size- a few watts for a notebook size TV to a couple of hundred on one of those wall mounted monsters, your choice. I didn't get it to be a main machine, doing everything, more to fiddle about with in terms of programming and interfacing with " other devices". It's cheap enough for that. I am intrigued by its small size and supposed possibilities. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 I don't know yet- early days but this is my impression: It comes with a simple web browser that worked first time- I would imagine that Firefox would work , i'll try it eventually. As for Word etc, I wonder if "LibreOffice" , a good free alternative to Gates' Office can be installed? A networked or USB printer should be possible too? The point is , someone, somewhere will be trying all this and then posting a "How to" for it. The TV power consumption is in proportion to screen size- a few watts for a notebook size TV to a couple of hundred on one of those wall mounted monsters, your choice. I didn't get it to be a main machine, doing everything, more to fiddle about with in terms of programming and interfacing with " other devices". It's cheap enough for that. I am intrigued by its small size and supposed possibilities. Bill Very interesting, thanks for your reply. I was especially intrigued by your comments about using a TV screen though instead of a monitor. The vast majority of low-power PC consumption seems to be the display and I'm still not clear. Are you suggesting using a TV monitor instead of a PC monitor purely for convenience and economy, or because size-for-size, and brightness for brightness, a TV monitor uses less power than an equivalent PC monitor? MtB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billh Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 Very interesting, thanks for your reply. I was especially intrigued by your comments about using a TV screen though instead of a monitor. The vast majority of low-power PC consumption seems to be the display and I'm still not clear. Are you suggesting using a TV monitor instead of a PC monitor purely for convenience and economy, or because size-for-size, and brightness for brightness, a TV monitor uses less power than an equivalent PC monitor? MtB No, the Raspberry Pi has two video outputs, one is a simple composite video from an RCA socket , many older TVs have this , including routing it through the TVs SCART socket, the other is via HDMI cable, as on most newer TVs and * some * monitors. The HDMI is able to go to 1080 HD and carries stereo sound ( also output on a 3.5mm socket). It should be noted that there is no VGA monitor out, the thinking being that this format is now old hat,though I'm not sure I agree with that philosophy. In a nutshell, , it's designed to use more or less any TV, but not what I would say are the most common monitors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahoom Posted February 4, 2013 Report Share Posted February 4, 2013 It should be noted that there is no VGA monitor out, the thinking being that this format is now old hat,though I'm not sure I agree with that philosophy. In a nutshell, , it's designed to use more or less any TV, but not what I would say are the most common monitors. Can get an adapter to convert the HDMI to standard vga monitor - no problem (I have one for my raspberry pi). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bespin Posted February 5, 2013 Report Share Posted February 5, 2013 Just bought a raspberry pivot use as a media center. Look quite good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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