My new PC Engines ALIX motherboard / computer arrived from Switzerland yesterday, here are some pictures:
This thing is awesome. It is my new “favorite”! Comes with 256MB of RAM, an on-board graphics card, 44-pin storage headers, compact flash slot, 10/100 ethernet, serial port, mini-pci port, full size pci slot, and on-board power supply (meaning you don’t need a separate power supply like the PicoPSU, you can just plug in a 12V power supply. Receptacle is 2.5mm id and 5.5 od - I think!).
Oh yeah, only uses 4-6 watts of power under normal use, and makes no noise as it doesn’t have a fan. It doesn’t even need a heatsink!
UPDATE August 16th, 2007: The plug receptacle is indeed 2.5mm id and 5.5mm od, at least that’s the size on my ALIX board. Check with PC Engines for exact measurements.
UPDATE November 11, 2007: More pictures of the ALIX-series boards:
ALIX 2B3 @ My-Tech-Deals.com
Hi,
I’m from Brazil and I am very interested in this specific motherboard. Could you tell me how this board is working? Which OS are you using? The shipping to you country was expensive?
Thanks for the attention, I’m waiting to hear from you
David Kwast
Hi David,
Obrigado! I probably spelled that wrong, but greetings from the USA! Glad you found our website. This board is awesome! I just did a bunch of tests on it using the geode-aes security block and the results are amazing for such a minimal board:
http://www.docunext.com/wiki/My_Notes_on_Patching_2.6.22_with_OCF
I’ve shipped a couple of batches from Switzerland and found the prices for using Swiss Post were much better than using UPS, more about that here:
http://www.informedshipping.com/blog/2007/08/24/ups-international-shipping-ouch/
The shipping for swiss post in my experience ranged from $30 - $50 USD depending on weight.
Where in Brazil are you? I visited Rio, San Paulo, and Brasilia as a youth - it is a beautiful country.
You spelled that right! Correct me if I’m wrong but I’ve found this board there in mini-box (http://www.mini-box.com/Alix-1C-Board-1-LAN-1-MINI-PCI?sc=8&category=99). I think that it may be a little cheaper than ordering from Zürich.
I am in Sao Paulo and incredibly I never went to Rio and Brasilia. I’m interest in this board to do multimedia applications like Jukebox controlled by XML-RPC, BlueTooth, etc.
I visited Disney World twice when I was young.
Feel free to contact me by e-mail to talk more about embedded solutions.
Best regards
Hi David, that is indeed the same board, I didn’t know mini-box had them in stock. I’ve also ordered from them and was satisfied with their service. FYI - the ALIX doesn’t need a power supply (but it does need an adapter), but mini-box makes some great power supplies for other mini-itx boards like the D201GLY intel little valley. See this information for more about that:
http://www.docunext.com/blog/2007/06/22/intels-little-valley-mini-itx-board/
I like the PW-200M for the d201ly, and the picoPSU for the dg965ss, though that board isn’t mini-itx.
What voltage is the electricity in Brazil? And plug design?