Labarum wrote: > When you look at the cost of a small form PC, does that make the SB far > too expensive? > > This is cheaper that an SB3 in UK > > http://www.oyyy.co.uk/product.php/92102/acer-aspire-revo-r3600l-ultra-small-form-factor-pc-atom--n270--1.6ghz-1024mb-8gb-solid-state-drive-wlan-linux--geforce-9400--revo-multimedia-keyboard-and-optical-mouse?CAWELAID=346463406 > > Granted, it only has an HDMI out, but the eeeBox has an optical out > even if it costs more > > http://www.plemix.com/macc-asus-eeebox-desktoppc > > A small form PC can run silent and headless, and do all that an SB will > and more? > > The small form PC has more electronics in it, yet costs less. Why?
The VFD found in most SBs is expensive. The OEM price is probably close to $100US. And, you could raise a holy war here if you want to talk about the D/A converter used in SB vs. other D/A converters. I suspect the raw materials for the basic SB to be around $150. Roughly speaking, the price of a product should be about twice the raw materials. So $300 is about right. If you still think the price is too high, the server code and protocol used is open to the public. That is, there is enough information on the web to build your own client. Many have. I have suspected the cheapest possible client would be certain types of routers with a USB port and a cheap USB to stereo dongle. Some routers can be re-purposed (hacked) for internet radio: > http://hackaday.com/2008/12/19/wifi-streaming-radio/ ...it should not be very difficult to add a squeeze center client to such a project. This approach, cost wise, should not exceed $150. Actually, if you are frugal, the router should not be more than $50 and the stereo dongle not more than $15. Do not forget this is a hack and you will probably have to crack open the router and flash it with OpenWrt software. And, at this price, there is no local display, no local IR receiver and no remote control. But that does not mean you can't hack them in as well! _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
