Dell FX160 Thin Client

[Forts]

Does anyone have any experience with these boxes? They look like they would be nice little machines for running audio feeds.

OptiPlex FX160 Desktop Details | Dell

There is one for sale on Kijiji local to me.. I might see if I can't grab it at a decent price and see what I can do with it.

 

[joetnymedic]

i actually have an optiplex 620 its nice and small and works very well with my feeds. just bought a couple is usb sound cards and going to try to ad these for a couple more feeds

 

[KD0TAZ]

Thin clients aren't regular stand-alone computers. The FX160 is nothing like the 620. They don't have hard drives, only a small (1-2GB) flash memory area to run a simple embedded OS. They're mainly designed to run a Remote Desktop from a server or some other 'server-centric' function like a POS system. Sometimes they are set up to boot directly from the server (ignoring any local OS). However I'm sure you can find a Linux distro that'll fit into the flash area or use a "Live USB" OS.

 

[Forts]

I picked up the FX160 yesterday and it's a great little machine. It's running WinXP Embedded and has no issues running multiple feeds of ScannerCast from USB audio dongles.

 

[grem467]

I use an HP 5720 thin client for all kinds of stuff. It has been everything from my DSD/Unitrunker machine to its current use of APRS digi/igate. Picked it up for $50.00 on ebay. I keep an 8GB USB thumbdrive for storage and remote desktop into it. Love the thing!