The problem is fitting an ITX design into a Netbook; it really can't be done. We're looking at making two board designs at once. This is not unfeasible... in fact it may be the plan :)

Using a desktop design to validate all the software, drivers, and peripheral choices for the Netbook makes a lot of sense, and using it for a developer program makes even more sense.

But I would only concentrate on getting a Netbook out of it. Unless there is an opportunity for heavy production of a desktop/embedded design, it obviously will be available only in as limited quantities as the Pegasos and Efika were (for each less than 100,000 units in the world)

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Matt Sealey

Hurry up! The netbook trend won't last forever, like everything else in this industry.

It will last long enough. The trend to prefer notebooks over desktops is growing year on year, and the trend towards smaller notebooks over desktop-replacements also grows year on year. Netbook market has grown many times this last year after debut in 2007, moreso than you can put down to "they weren't available to compare sales figures the year before" :)

I think the market for 7" toy netbooks like the original EeePC is going to fall down but with the HP Mini 1000 and Asus N10 - there is some market demand for a slightly larger, higher performance, still portable netbook solution..

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Matt Sealey

I only want a Notebook that wights less than a 1kg (2.2lbs?)
And x86 outside.

I doubt you'll see that. It's quite difficult to get a decently performing system with screen and all the chassis components (although much easier if you can remove hard disks and use onboard NAND flash) at a REASONABLE and usable size (9"+) where it comes in that light.

A couple of examples, the HP Mini 1000 weighs 2.8lbs. The EeePC 1000 is 3.19 lbs. Contrast the original 7" EeePC which was less than 900 grams, had a processor not worth the effort of turning on, a tiny low-resolution screen framed by a 1.5 inch border, and a keyboard you need to be a pygmy to operate.

The MacBook Air weighs 3lbs, the MacBook weighs 4.2lbs or thereabouts. The MacBook Air costs $799 more and has fewer features and lower performance.

In all honesty weight is not that much of an issue as long as it hovers around the 3lb mark. I think this is a noble goal - no heavier than the Air or EeePC, but not too light as to be derived from stripping it of technology and features.

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Matt Sealey

What are your toughts on an eee top like device?

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=24 ... odelmenu=1

Yes. Asus started with the Netbook though.

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Matt Sealey

Yeah! That's the way to go! :-)

Read my last poject blog to see what i think about AIO pcs:
http://projects.powerdeveloper.org/proj ... /entry/639

After all the buzz started by freescale's announcement of pushing ahead in consumer market with ARM (i.MX515), and Genesi stating that this project is in the backburner, it's sad to review this thread, and feel an MPC8610 end user product was really, really close.
Comments from Matt, BBRV (citing the very Gerald Carda's positive feedback), Peter, all made us think we were almost there. Not to mention that, after the MPC5121e fiasco, this was the only PowerPC route ahead (and even, a short one).
Can't be something be done with NEC's Redtail board? Genesi now has i.MX515 development boards, and hopes to generate activity around it. Why can't this be done exactly the same, but with the Redtail?

@jcmarcos

We did say the project was on hold at the beginning of the thread. We do not have enough customers to support the cost of the development ourselves alone.

We did try to find a way to collaborate with NEC.

The 8610 will probably be the last chip ever developed with the e600 core. We have even tried to license the core. We were not ready to risk everything on a chip even Freescale is not excited about in the consumer space.

When you don't have any control over the chip or its pricing it is very difficult to bring a decent, well-priced product to market. At one point, we nearly had to close down Genesi/bplan when Freescale closed the Computer Product Division after Apple left for Intel.

We have a few 8610 and 8641D development systems. We have busied ourselves developing support for the platform.

http://en.opensuse.org/MPC8610

Perhaps, one day we will get lucky and have a chance to develop a great system around this chip. We would like to do that.

R&B :)

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http://bbrv.blogspot.com

Would be nice

second that

I hope so too! I just uploaded another update of Packman packages, compiled on my 8610 evaluation system. It has enough horse power for everyday tasks, and also works great as a compile machine.

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CzP
http://czanik.blogs.balabit.com/

I'd thought about the MicroAmigaOne in a laptop format. Even for a larger laptop, it would have come out clunky and thick due to the rear IO connectors if nothing else. I didn't want ugly, and a standard MiniITX board just won't fit into a modern sleek laptop shell no way no how. netbook, well, it'd be really big and clunky for a netbook!