Fit-PC is the brainchild of the Israeli company CompuLab, a manufacturer of embedded, low power systems. In fact, if you check out CompuLab's web site, you'll find the ENC-iGLX, which is essentially the fit-PC without the operating system.
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Although the fit-PC web site mentions that it's shipped with Gentoo Linux, the system arrived on our doorstep with Ubuntu Feisty Fawn (7.04) installed. You can also download Windows XP drivers from the fit-PC web site, but you'll need to install Windows yourself.
The fit-PC offers two USB 2.0 ports, dual fast Ethernet (10/100) ports, a VGA connector, audio jacks, and an RJ-11 jack. The RJ-11 jack isn't a modem, but subs in as a dumbed-down RS-232 port. Two audio jacks are also built in.
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The CPU used in the fit-PC is an AMD Geode LX800, which is a fully self-contained System-on-a-Chip (SoC). The memory controller, graphics processor, and I/O are all self-contained inside the LX800, which clocks at 500MHz. The entire system, including hard drive and 256MB of main memory, uses 3-5W of total power. The built-in graphics can drive displays up to 1920x1440, but it's noticeably more responsive at 1280x1024 or less.
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The fit-PC is also useful as a small dedicated box. Since it has two Ethernet ports, it can be used as a Linux-based firewall or router. Since it's so tiny, it can fit into a myriad of locations that even a mini-ITX system wouldn't work. Of course, a display, keyboard and mouse take up room, but you can always control it via a network connection once you get it set up.
Alternatively, it can be used as a shared web browsing and email station where space is at a premium. Continued...
