single board Pc

[kkrish]

Hi all,
Can anyone please recommend a cheaper, good, single board
computer brand based on x86 with VGA.
Thanks in advance.
Krishn.V.J

 

[Sjouke Burry]

Hi all,
Can anyone please recommend a cheaper, good, single board
computer brand based on x86 with VGA.
Thanks in advance.
Krishn.V.J

Google for p104,they range from 486 to
pentium 800mHZ
Google for "matchbox pc" if you want it
smaller.

 

[Eeyore]

Google for p104,they range from 486 to
pentium 800mHZ
Google for "matchbox pc" if you want it
smaller.

You mean PC104.

Also try googling SBC + 486, pentium, cyrix , low power etc...

Graham

 

[JW]

Hi all,
Can anyone please recommend a cheaper, good, single board
computer brand based on x86 with VGA.
Thanks in advance.
Krishn.V.J

Cheap:

http://www.ewayco.com/

 

[Allan Adler]

Cheap:
http://www.ewayco.com/

I've thought about experimenting with a single board computer from time
to time. Whenever I already know what I want (e.g. the specific sbc
used in some book that I thought I might want to go through), it turns
out to be too expensive for me. At the moment, when I don't know what
I want and don't definitely want something, I don't know how to look through
a list of SBC's such as one finds at http://www.ewayco.com and decide
what their characteristics and capabilities are and what it would be like
to try to use them. Maybe the latter subjective aspect becomes less
problematic after one has experimented with a few sbc's.

If anyone wants to comment on these aspects of the learning curve for
playing with sbc's, I'd be interested in reading what they have to say.

 

[Allan Adler]

I've thought about experimenting with a single board computer from time
to time. Whenever I already know what I want (e.g. the specific sbc
used in some book that I thought I might want to go through), it turns
out to be too expensive for me.

I still have some of these books. They deal with the following processors:
6502, 8085, 8051, Z80. I don't know whether boards are still available
for these processors. Just so it should not be a total loss to own these
books, I've downloaded simulators for all the above processors. But if
I want to practice interfacing, and I do, it would be better to have
SDK's or SBC's for them.

I'm not absolutely clear on the difference between a SDK and a SBC.
I think the former has a keypad and an LED display, while the latter
is just a board that one will plug into another computer. Is that correct?

 

[kkrish]

SDK is the tools that helps in writing programs for certain
environments or for some specific processors or processor based
systems.
Those programs will work actually on in the corresponding SBCs or
environments.

So SBC is the working environment for which we may write the software
in corresponding SDK.
Krishna.VJ.

 

[Allan Adler]

a SDK (system developers kit) typically has leds and input (buttons/toggle
switches) and a interface for loading programs into it from a PC, the SBC
(single board computer) just has I/O terminals

Thanks for answering my question about SDK vs. SBC. From your description,
there is no physical obstacle to interfacing to it. How do you enter programs
into a SBC?

 

[Joe Soap]

That depends. newer flash based micros can often be programmed in-situ
but older ones needed to be programmed (or have an eeprom programmed)
in an eeprom programmer before installing them in the SBC.

Or you install a PROM with a small suipervisory program that implements a
serial interface. User programs can then be loaded to RAM and run there.

 

[Allan Adler]

Or you install a PROM with a small suipervisory program that implements a
serial interface. User programs can then be loaded to RAM and run there.

If I understand you correctly, normally, before you buy a SBC, you have
to know exactly what memory chips it takes and you have to have an
EPROM programmer that specifically takes that memory chip. I didn't see
information about memory chips on SBC's at http://www.ewayco.com/.

 

[Joe Soap]

If I understand you correctly, normally, before you buy a SBC, you
have to know exactly what memory chips it takes and you have to have
an EPROM programmer that specifically takes that memory chip. I didn't
see information about memory chips on SBC's at http://www.ewayco.com/.

The manufacturers of the SBC usually include such a PROM, or sell it for a
small price.

My Comany used to make S100 SBCs, and a monitor PROM was included.

 

[kkrish]

Hi all ,
Thanks for your reply. STPC and geode include entire PC ports
inside including VGA . I thought the SBCs which use STPC or Geode will
be very small.But it is not the case .They are also of same cost and
size as the other celeron, pentium, etc based SBCs.