Digital Home Thoughts: CompuLab Launches the Fit-PC2

"The Fit-PC2 is quiet, or even noiseless when ordered with the solid-state drive (SSD) option, says the vendor. The nettop is said to be capable of withstanding a high level of shock, vibration, and extreme temperatures. As a result, CompuLab is pitching it for a wide range of applications, from ruggedized industrial, automotive, and nautical devices, to applications where silence counts, such as a library PCs, desktop replacements, and point-of-sale (POS) PCs. With its IR receiver, DVI (via HDMI) interface, and 1920x1080 video capabilities, it is even pegged for home theater PCs."

The the original Fit-PC was released, CompuLab claimed it was the smallest full functioning PC. While that could be argued, depending on what your definition of a full functioning PC is, the Fit-PC is still a marvel of technology. Now the Fit-PC2 updates the line by using the seen-everywhere-now Atom CPU. The specs indicate that it'll do fine for light PC duty, but the kicker is the power consumption of 8 watts under load. It'll run both Linux and Windows XP and starts at $245. I'm unable to find any details if its VESA mountable, which would make it even better, but it does include an IR port. I really hope that's consumer IR. In all the years that I saw IrDA on laptops, I never found a use for it. It's got to be one of the oddest additions I've seen on a current generation PC. Still, I can see this as a great low power computer for the kids, kitchen, or bathroom. At 8 watts of power, I can leave it running doing little tasks without starting up big bessie. Anyone else see great potential in a PC that sucks just a bit more power than a nightlight?