On Wed, Jul 07, 2010 at 04:33:39PM +0200, Robert Schuettler wrote: > I finally got around to put together the "Perfect Thin-Client" poll > results.
So if we take it apart, here are the most important features (more than half of the participants selected these): > 98% (42) | network bootable > 86% (37) | Linux hardware-support out of the box > 84% (36) | low price > 81% (35) | low power consumption > 77% (33) | no rotating parts > 72% (31) | silent > 67% (29) | diskless > 63% (27) | gigabit (GBE) ethernet interface > 56% (24) | fanless Perhaps not really all that surprising: Most people want a cheap and silent machine that makes life easy for the Linux admin and has a fast network interface. .-) Next in line is graphics: > 49% (21) | possibility to attach to screen (VESA mount) > 35% (15) | high resolution (at least 1920x1200 for 24 TFT) > 35% (15) | good graphics card (3D and/or HQ video support) And overall usability / user-experience: > 33% (14) | good CPU power (fast) > 30% (13) | possibility to stand upright (next to screen) > 28% (12) | wake on LAN support > 28% (12) | DVI support > 26% (11) | 100% noiseless > 12% ( 5) | possibility to be placed under the screen > 12% ( 5) | lots of RAM (more than 1 GB) > 12% ( 5) | design (good looking) And we're at under 10% for: > 9% ( 4) | multi-monitor support (at least 2) > 7% ( 3) | integrated card reader > 7% ( 3) | completely integrated (screen + client are one) > 7% ( 3) | anti-theft (Kensignton lock or similar) > 5% ( 2) | lots of USB ports (more than 4) > 5% ( 2) | local storage > 2% ( 1) | wireless network interface build in > 2% ( 1) | known vendor (not a noname box) > 2% ( 1) | eSATA > 2% ( 1) | USB3 ports Pretty interesting that not many people need wireless. Local storage and "fast" local interfaces such as eSATA or USB3 aren't of high priority either. I would have thought that more people would want to attach more than one screen, but then you all may have opted for the "bigger is better" support above instead. No-one particularly needs: > 0% ( 0) | propritary client support (Citrix, etc.) integrated > 0% ( 0) | mutli-monitor support (more than 2) > 0% ( 0) | more than 1 network interface Sine we don't have local storage, "proprietary client support" is probably out of the question. No market for those guys here then. ;-) And adding more than 2 screens or a single network is obviously science fiction (at least in the Thin Client world). Let me pick up the comments: > Doug Hall (Monday, June 21, 2010 4:53:05 AM GMT-12:00): > Sorry for the double-entry. The "save" button is too close to the scroll > button. What's the difference between silent and 100% noiseless? If > something is silent, it make 0% noise. Perhaps you should combine the two > and rename it "quietness". Yeah, I guess that was misleading and "quiet as in Acer Revo" vs. "100% noiseless as in HP T5630W" would explain it better. But the overall results actually show that no-one wants _any_ noise or rotating parts (fans). > andreas (Friday, June 11, 2010 12:19:41 PM GMT-12:00): > A decent audio card is also important Agreed, but that also heavily depends on your scenario. Some users probably wouldn't even notice is there was no sound whatsoever. ;-) > An integrated Linux-compatible webcam would be a nice feature and an > integrated VOIP-adapter with RJ11-port to be able to connect a legacy > analog telefone would be just perfect! Webcam only seems to make sense if the Thin Client is integrated (screen + client are one). And does anyone actually _have_ a VoIP-setup as described? > chrisjrob (Thursday, June 10, 2010 11:44:41 PM GMT-12:00): > Performance is important, some hardware specifically designed as thin > clients can be dreadfully slow. I suspect that a reasonable graphics > card/chip is the key. It is not much fun if users have to "wait" in front of their Thin Client too much. I would agree that decent graphics, a sufficient amount of memory and a fast enough network connection are probably the key issues here. The CPU shouldn't be too crappy either, but that's probably always a trade-in for price and power-consumption. Best regards, Robert ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This SF.net email is sponsored by Sprint What will you do first with EVO, the first 4G phone? Visit sprint.com/first -- http://p.sf.net/sfu/sprint-com-first _____________________________________________________________________ Ltsp-discuss mailing list. To un-subscribe, or change prefs, goto: https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ltsp-discuss For additional LTSP help, try #ltsp channel on irc.freenode.net
