Next FitPC and FitPC2i design problems

[kurylo]

Hi! I want to point to some design problems of Fit-PC2i, which will be great to fix and to create a new revision of FitPC2i
Here are some ideas:
1) The most important thing if the device is used as a router:
- WiFi has to work in AP mode, no link hangs, support for Windows and Linux/BSD; I am sure there are solutions which will do that without problems; 802.11n support will be great.
- Two Ethernet NICs is the great idea (one is looking to the internet, another to the home network), please don't miss that out! There should be a support of changing MAC address, because some providers lock the connection to a certain MAC.
- I'm not sure, but is there a vertical stand available for fit-PC's?
- The metal case for heat transfer (looks like plastic on the photo).

2) The most important thing if the device is used as a PC:
- The front mini-USB connectors will be better to replace with a standard USB connectors;
- The LEDs should not be bright, especially at night, just enough to see that the device is actually working.
- IR port on the front in case the device is used as a home theater to connect remote controls.
- I'm not sure, but is there a vertical stand available for fit-PC's?
- The metal case for heat transfer.
- SD cardreader support for SDHC.
- optical audio output.

Actually I don't know maybe some features are already incorporated into the PC2i revision, because I personally wanted to buy the device and use it as a router, but unfortunately this is not a solution for me, because the device's Wifi does not work in AP mode.
I'll wait till the AP mode will be available somehow.

[fly]

- WiFi has to work in AP mode, no link hangs, support for Windows and Linux/BSD; I am sure there are solutions which will do that without problems; 802.11n support will be great.

Indeed, but good, working 11n cards with low power consumption / heat featuring an USB interface (on fitPC2i all pci express lines are used; one of the drawbacks of poulsbo...) are rare to come by.. and not very cheap. You can look at the available cards at [1]. The problem is, that the hardware itself is capable of master mode...

- Two Ethernet NICs is the great idea (one is looking to the internet, another to the home network), please don't miss that out! There should be a support of changing MAC address, because some providers lock the connection to a certain MAC.

Does ifconfig not work? Haven't tried it on fitpc2 by now.

- I'm not sure, but is there a vertical stand available for fit-PC's?

There is a VESA mout available, which let you youse any VESA compatible stand or you could just built one yourself, e.g. using 3-4 L brackets..

- The metal case for heat transfer (looks like plastic on the photo).

It's not plastic, it's an aluminum case.

- The front mini-USB connectors will be better to replace with a standard USB connectors;

agreed

The LEDs should not be bright, especially at night, just enough to see that the device is actually working.

Haha, good one. Sometimes bright LEDs are a must have, but when you place them in your leaving or even bed room, they are a no go. I haven't tested the brightness of fitPC2's LEDs, but for now I am fond that they did not use blue LEDs. Quick fix would be to use duct tape

IR port on the front in case the device is used as a home theater to connect remote controls.

The fitPC2 (not i) is meant for more consumer oriented use and is indeed featuring an IR port.

I'm not sure, but is there a vertical stand available for fit-PC's?

see above

The metal case for heat transfer.

see above

SD cardreader support for SDHC.

I think newer revisions are SDHC capable. However, miniSD might not be the ideal choice. I, myself, would have liked to see CF card slot, but for most other users, SD or microSD would have been ideal...

optical audio output.

I think recent revisions of fitPC2i feature digital audio. There are converters from copper cable to optical ones. I doun't know if there is spare palce left for ana ditional audio jack... in fact they still use a multipurpose jack...

[1] http://linuxwireless.org/en/users/Drivers