Details about the project LXBOX mini-computer
Hello!
In a previous post I wrote about the Linux Mint-based LXBOX mini-computer, which we brought to release and launched for sale in February of this year. Thank you all for the comments! For some, the presentation of the material seemed too fanciful, so I will write here in a structured way about what kind of animal it is, who gave birth to it and with what it is eaten. And it is a little about discounts for Habrovchan in the end.
The project was originally conceived by the Berlin company GSN, we (TONK Group of Companies) connected to it at one of the early stages. Since 2007, we have been engaged in the production of thin clients and with the help of partners we carry out projects (mainly for small business) to build computer infrastructure, including using virtualization tools. Our thin clients, on average, are 30–50 percent cheaper than their counterparts from Dell and HP with comparable functionality, due to this, as well as the client-oriented approach (in the case of extremely rare failures, the devices are not repaired, but are immediately replaced as a whole) Unfortunately, this is not the way until the end of the market in Russia.
')
Initially, the scope when creating the LXBOX was made specifically on the Russian market. In Germany, GSN uses LXBOXes exclusively as workstations in small projects. According to sales statistics for pre-production and production samples, at the moment I can say that most of the orders come from corporate users (some of our partner ’s projects were implemented using the LXBOX, we’ll write about their details later). However, we only started to launch the LXBOX in the retail segment in February, so perhaps the situation will change by summer.
The goal was to create an honest software and hardware product suitable not only for the office, but also for home use as a standard PC or media player. That is not a “piece of iron”, but a “solution”. The main requirements for the device were:
1) No noise and minimal power consumption (passive cooling).
2) The device should be ready to work "out of the box" and the most pre-configured.
2a) Current software versions must be installed. Among the programs, there must be an office, media players (media shell), browsers, torrent and disk tools, audio, video, photo and CAD tools for development and editing. Antivirus protection must be implemented.
And purely corporate gadgets and hardware requirements:
3) at least 2 video outputs, to be able to use the device for Digital Signage .
4) 2 LAN ports to work as a crypto-gateway (of course after a flashing).
We put on thin clients both Windows and Linux, but in this situation, the choice fell on Linux in a logical way. It is based on the Linux Mint 13 OS based on Ubuntu LTS 12.04, which is officially supported until 2017. MATE 1.6 is used as the working environment. The menu, interface and logic of operation looks as close as possible to Windows (XP, 7). At the moment, the assembly with serial number 21 is relevant. In 2013, the assembly was tested in the office segment and installed on LXBOX beta samples (several hundred pieces were sold).
As a result of the analysis of the found bugs, as well as the release of updated versions of the programs, an assembly for LXBOX was born. In addition to office programs, it includes purely home applications, including the XBMC media shell.
As a hardware platform, a proven AMD64 platform is selected with the following characteristics:
The platform is quite typical and not the newest, however, we must understand that passive cooling systems are 3–5 years behind the “fan segment” in performance, and users who do not need passive cooling, of course, have a choice of more attractive ones in terms of performance platforms But at the same time, the LXBOX is not a platform as such, but a “PC out of the box”.
There were about 1-2% of claims for warranty cases in 2013 and early 2014 (a total of 8 devices). We initially decided to bring this product to the home market only in the case of positive experience of at least six months of use in the corporate segment. And at the end of 2013, we finally decided that to go to the home segment to be.
In my opinion, large manufacturers do not have enough customer focus. Therefore, every LXBOX customer will receive a discount “penguin card” with a unique ID and a permanent 7% discount on our next products, advanced features on the site, as well as an additional 2 years warranty when registering a card on the site (thus the total warranty period is 3 years) . At the same time, we do not plan any shares in the future, and only regular customers will receive a discount. In general, over the past 3 months, several dozens of devices were sold out to the “close circle” (friends and relatives), we even started joking that it was time to make a “network sales system” a la Oriflame.
And, of course, we will not abandon our users - so, the firmware will be updated once every 2-3 months - the current versions of the programs will be collected in the new firmware, while the user data will not be affected during the flashing.
In addition to the computers themselves, the release of storage for HDD 2.5 "/3.5" with eSATA interface is planned, which, like the LXBOX, will be mounted on VESA and serve as a "padding" between the LXBOX and the monitor. There are other plans that I will not cover.
Actually very grateful to the portal Hi-News, made a review of the LXBOX , for such a clear segmentation of the target audience. And if I personally don’t consider using as a media player a priority, then I consider the use scenarios as an “advanced Internet typewriter” with full support for Flash and JAVA, as well as a “learning computer”, as more likely. And, of course, use in office needs remains among the priorities.
I would also be happy to hear your views on this.
The results of the survey from the previous article showed that, although some people consider the price of the device to be normal, it seems overpriced to the majority (11890 and 13890 rubles). If you look at the hardware platform, this opinion is absolutely true, because the AMD e450 platform, similar in characteristics to our older model, can be found in Moscow for 9–11 thousand rubles. In general, when placing an order through a special project on Habré or from our website indicating the login on Habré, the cost will be respectively 10990 and 12990 rubles. It is about orders of individuals, this offer does not apply to legal entities. The promotion is valid until April 30. For those who, based on my yesterday’s article, filed an application on the website, this also applies - just inform the operator of your nickname in Habré (orders are issued only on weekdays).
In a previous post I wrote about the Linux Mint-based LXBOX mini-computer, which we brought to release and launched for sale in February of this year. Thank you all for the comments! For some, the presentation of the material seemed too fanciful, so I will write here in a structured way about what kind of animal it is, who gave birth to it and with what it is eaten. And it is a little about discounts for Habrovchan in the end.
Who
The project was originally conceived by the Berlin company GSN, we (TONK Group of Companies) connected to it at one of the early stages. Since 2007, we have been engaged in the production of thin clients and with the help of partners we carry out projects (mainly for small business) to build computer infrastructure, including using virtualization tools. Our thin clients, on average, are 30–50 percent cheaper than their counterparts from Dell and HP with comparable functionality, due to this, as well as the client-oriented approach (in the case of extremely rare failures, the devices are not repaired, but are immediately replaced as a whole) Unfortunately, this is not the way until the end of the market in Russia.
')
Initially, the scope when creating the LXBOX was made specifically on the Russian market. In Germany, GSN uses LXBOXes exclusively as workstations in small projects. According to sales statistics for pre-production and production samples, at the moment I can say that most of the orders come from corporate users (some of our partner ’s projects were implemented using the LXBOX, we’ll write about their details later). However, we only started to launch the LXBOX in the retail segment in February, so perhaps the situation will change by summer.
Idea
The goal was to create an honest software and hardware product suitable not only for the office, but also for home use as a standard PC or media player. That is not a “piece of iron”, but a “solution”. The main requirements for the device were:
1) No noise and minimal power consumption (passive cooling).
2) The device should be ready to work "out of the box" and the most pre-configured.
2a) Current software versions must be installed. Among the programs, there must be an office, media players (media shell), browsers, torrent and disk tools, audio, video, photo and CAD tools for development and editing. Antivirus protection must be implemented.
And purely corporate gadgets and hardware requirements:
3) at least 2 video outputs, to be able to use the device for Digital Signage .
4) 2 LAN ports to work as a crypto-gateway (of course after a flashing).
Implementation
We put on thin clients both Windows and Linux, but in this situation, the choice fell on Linux in a logical way. It is based on the Linux Mint 13 OS based on Ubuntu LTS 12.04, which is officially supported until 2017. MATE 1.6 is used as the working environment. The menu, interface and logic of operation looks as close as possible to Windows (XP, 7). At the moment, the assembly with serial number 21 is relevant. In 2013, the assembly was tested in the office segment and installed on LXBOX beta samples (several hundred pieces were sold).
As a result of the analysis of the found bugs, as well as the release of updated versions of the programs, an assembly for LXBOX was born. In addition to office programs, it includes purely home applications, including the XBMC media shell.
As a hardware platform, a proven AMD64 platform is selected with the following characteristics:
- CPU G-T56N 1.65GHz for the older LXBOX 3 and G-T40N 1GHz for the younger (office) LXBOX 2
- Graphics Radeon HD6320 (6290) running drivers from Catalyst
- Video outputs HDMI, VGA for LXBOX 2 and Plus DisplayPort for LXBOX 3
- 4GB RAM
- Industrial 16GB DOM memory
- Ports Gigabit LAN, 4xUSB2.0, high-speed combo USB / eSATA port, Wi-Fi, audio input / output
The platform is quite typical and not the newest, however, we must understand that passive cooling systems are 3–5 years behind the “fan segment” in performance, and users who do not need passive cooling, of course, have a choice of more attractive ones in terms of performance platforms But at the same time, the LXBOX is not a platform as such, but a “PC out of the box”.
There were about 1-2% of claims for warranty cases in 2013 and early 2014 (a total of 8 devices). We initially decided to bring this product to the home market only in the case of positive experience of at least six months of use in the corporate segment. And at the end of 2013, we finally decided that to go to the home segment to be.
LXCLUB creation and prospects
In my opinion, large manufacturers do not have enough customer focus. Therefore, every LXBOX customer will receive a discount “penguin card” with a unique ID and a permanent 7% discount on our next products, advanced features on the site, as well as an additional 2 years warranty when registering a card on the site (thus the total warranty period is 3 years) . At the same time, we do not plan any shares in the future, and only regular customers will receive a discount. In general, over the past 3 months, several dozens of devices were sold out to the “close circle” (friends and relatives), we even started joking that it was time to make a “network sales system” a la Oriflame.
And, of course, we will not abandon our users - so, the firmware will be updated once every 2-3 months - the current versions of the programs will be collected in the new firmware, while the user data will not be affected during the flashing.
In addition to the computers themselves, the release of storage for HDD 2.5 "/3.5" with eSATA interface is planned, which, like the LXBOX, will be mounted on VESA and serve as a "padding" between the LXBOX and the monitor. There are other plans that I will not cover.
Who might be interested
Actually very grateful to the portal Hi-News, made a review of the LXBOX , for such a clear segmentation of the target audience. And if I personally don’t consider using as a media player a priority, then I consider the use scenarios as an “advanced Internet typewriter” with full support for Flash and JAVA, as well as a “learning computer”, as more likely. And, of course, use in office needs remains among the priorities.
I would also be happy to hear your views on this.
Prices and offer for Habr
The results of the survey from the previous article showed that, although some people consider the price of the device to be normal, it seems overpriced to the majority (11890 and 13890 rubles). If you look at the hardware platform, this opinion is absolutely true, because the AMD e450 platform, similar in characteristics to our older model, can be found in Moscow for 9–11 thousand rubles. In general, when placing an order through a special project on Habré or from our website indicating the login on Habré, the cost will be respectively 10990 and 12990 rubles. It is about orders of individuals, this offer does not apply to legal entities. The promotion is valid until April 30. For those who, based on my yesterday’s article, filed an application on the website, this also applies - just inform the operator of your nickname in Habré (orders are issued only on weekdays).
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/216787/
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