Where are the cheap, tiny PCs?
I had to give a presentation at a meeting today and didn’t have a laptop with me. The solution: I grabbed a nearby Mac Mini (yes, I left a sticky on the display warning that the machine had been borrowed and would be returned), hooked it up to a projector, and the meeting was saved. But the experience got me thinking: Why aren’t there dozens of cheap, small PCs on the market? And by cheap, I mean about $100. After all, the parts required to produce such a PC are dirt cheap, and Linux is free. But most of the options in this class, like the Zonbu, are at least $200. In fact, in the sub-$100 class, there’s really just one option as far as I know: the decTOP. With a 10GB hard drive, mouse and keyboard included for just $99, this one seems like a steal, despite its underwhelming specs. And you can actually buy four for the price of three, getting the price-per down to $75 (or $87 with shipping). That’s a deal I may not be able to resist. What will I do with four of these puppies? I have no idea. But at least I know the next time I need to do a prezzo and don’t have a laptop handy, I can have one of these ready to roll on a moment’s notice.
