- Thursday, 8 January 2009
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I don't know what a monopoly is until someone tells me - Steve Ballmer
Green computing just broke its cherry
CALIFORNIAN COMPANY CHERRYPAL has just produced the greenest of the green computers, pulling just a meagre two watts in power.
It looks like a KVM switch, it has no moving parts, 80 percent fewer components as compared to other PCs and pulls in 112 fewer watts – with a cost of just $249.
For that one-off-fee, what you actually get is a thin client-esque computer still needing a monitor, mouse, keyboard and internet connection, but is still a PC nonetheless.
The CherryPal C100 boots within 20 seconds and is powered by Freescale MPC5121e mobileGT processor with 800 MIPS, or 400 MHz running an embedded form of Debian Linux. There’s 256 MB of DDR2 DRAM and a 4GB NAND flash-based SSD, although there’s access to a free cloud-based 50GB of storage, sans any monthly subscription fees.
The latter is all performed from the built-in 802.11b/g Wi-Fi or 10/100
Ethernet port, for all your emailing and reading The Inquirer needs.
In terms of software, there’s OpenOffice on board, iTunes, a media player, a
CherryPal-branded instant messenger supporting most IM programs and a
Firefox-based browser.
In fact, everything you need processing wise and even applications, all without killing the rainforests.
Incidentally, Cherrypal is also the very first company since the fruit logoed one with their dirty-macs to use a Power Architecture-based processor within a PC.
There’s a patent-pending software encryption system securing both the hardware and software within a single layer, known as HyperCloud. Traditionally, there have been three separate layers of security in a system. Here they’ve collapsed the operating system and browser into one layer, making the C100 faster and almost cancelling out any risk of bugs or viruses for the user.
On its website the company quoted some interesting and thought-provoking stats. "If you use a desktop computer eight hours a day, you will spend an average of $37 per year on electricity and emit about 300 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere. Using the C100, those numbers drop to only 65 cents per year and an average only five pounds of CO2”.
All of which goes in to making it the most energy-efficient computer on the market, which we’ve looked around into qualifying and were actually hard pushed not to.
So, we’re cheering the Cherry here at the Inq – let’s all save the world in our own way. µ
L’Inq
Cherrypal
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I wonder how much energy those servers use? And all the go-betweens to get the data there, rather than store it locally. Just a thought.
for general office tasks? Could it be a small pc for a car/van/delivery truck/ambulance/police/minister/taxi/contractor/surveyor/etc?
No optical drive and only 2 USB ports. So listening to an audio CD, and unless you have a USB hub, no saving files to a thumb drive. Nice option though for the kids to surf and play solitaire. :) Cheers, John
I somehow get the impression that at $249 it's interesting but not much more, while at $199 it would sell easily, and benefit from a nice hype.
Sounds like an unsustainable business model to me. $250 can't leave much margin on the box itself. And then how do they pay the costs of the online "cloud" system going forward? Unless they are planning to add a monthly charge *later*. And that would probably peeve off customers who had expected the service to remain free. Or else... <shudder> it is ad-based...
This + External hdd or NAS box = best torrent machine ever :D
Thank you for talking about the CherryPal C100. I am linking to this page from my blog, CherryPal for Everyone, at cherrypal dot blogspot dot com. I'm told that CherryPal will be coming out with a laptop as well. I agree with using the term "netbook" to refer to this category of machines, appropriate for both the desktop and notebook version, the difference being only the built in monitor and keyboard. I am excited about how the CherryPal can bridge barriers to people who have not had access to computers or the internet because of money, fear, education or other challenges. I will be commenting on my experience of using it on my blog as soon as I get my own CherryPal C100! Although it may seem hypocritical to require your own monitor and keyboard for a "portable" device, I can't wait to find out if the comfort factor will outweigh the convenience. You can use CODE CPP206 to get your own CherryPal for $10 less than purchase price at Paypal. http://cherrypal.blogspot.com
My full tower, runs the entire system off of an uninterruptable power supply which reports the wattage it is supplying at any instant. My maximum power usage never exceeds 150 watts, and my usual value is 120 watts. This includes, two internal hard drives, one cd/dvd drive seven usb ports, one external hard drive, one dsl modem, one wireless router, a twenty watt speaker system, and the keyboard, mouse, and monitor. None of which comes with the Cherrypal, and without most of which it will not do anything useful. Your power comparisons are like comparing the mileage of a semi-truck to a bicycle. Both unreal and useless.