October 8, 2009 at 10:23 Neoware CA2
In continuation of my research with the eBox-2300SX and thin clients, I want to talk about another device suitable for the role of a home server / seedbox / NAS - call it whatever you like :)
Meet - Neoware CA2.
Features Compared to the eBox-2300SX:
As for the price, it is worth noting the following - CA2, CA5, CA10 and similar models have not been officially sold for a long time, but they are present on it almost in unlimited quantities. Both new and used copies are sold, in various configurations and in various conditions, at prices from 15 to 60 bucks.
Of course, the platform is quite old, and yet it still significantly outperforms all new thin clients at a price of up to 5000 rubles.
And, frankly, this situation is completely incomprehensible to me. It feels like prices are artificially inflated, perhaps because thin clients are the entire corporate sector.
Okay, enough lyrics, let's get down to the review :)
I ordered it from the USA, used, cost 30 bucks + 40 bucks for EMS delivery (yes, that's unfair).
The delivery took one and a half weeks. And finally, I saw him.
Extremely concise design, nothing more.
I was very pleased with the indicator of network activity, in such devices this is a significant plus. You can always just take a look and understand what is happening (blinking - it means downloading, everything is fine).
A little distraction about the used device is probably lucky, but my CA2 came to me just in perfect condition. No cracks and scrubbing - only slight abrasions on the top of the case. Not a speck of dust inside. The adapter seems to have never been used, because It was packed in a sealed bag.
At the back, too, everything is as it should be - all the promised ports. It is worth noting that the pci-slot has a full height (in this case, the width) and even the healthiest cards fit into it without any problems.
We pass to the insides. There are 2 memory slots available, although, of course, PC-133 memory is now somewhat difficult to get. But, again, the same fuck to help.
Most of it is a huge radiator. However, during operation, it does not heat up at all, according to the bios, the processor temperature barely reaches 35 degrees, so you can not worry about cooling.
In general, in size, Neoware CA2 is approximately equal to my Lenovo S10 netbook, although it is almost 2 times thicker than the latter. It fits into my concept of small sizes, although, of course, I would like to have something smaller :)
It would be foolish not to use the opportunity to increase memory and a free pci-slot.
I found a 128Mb module in my magic locker and added it to the second slot. In total it turned out 256 MB, for a headless home server more than enough.
And in pci, I stuffed an unnamed 3 in 1 Card 2X SATA RAID + 1X IDE ATA 133 + 4X USB 2.0 card, which I purchased on ... well, you know where :), for 10 bucks.
Everything works just fine, raid0 and raid1 are supported. And of course, there are already 4 USB 2.0 ports. In my opinion, just the perfect upgrade for such a machine.
BIOS is quite functional, relative to the same eBox. You can disable unnecessary ports and controllers, boot from any device, including USB and LAN. There is also a simple monitoring of voltages and temperatures. Alas, no means are provided for controlling the frequency of the processor.
Absolutely no problem. Choose what you like, everything works out of the box. Of course, you will need a USB-sidyuk or an installation flash drive.
There is only one remark - you can not boot from those USB that are located on the pci-card, the BIOS at the boot stage for some reason they simply do not perceive.
So I had to endure OS installation on USB 1.1.
Performance is more than sufficient, I don’t even know if more is needed. The 100Mbit channel can at least be used completely without much processor time. Again, with the eBox-2300SX, copying at a speed of 5 MB per second completely eats up the percent.
In general, I am satisfied :)
Z.Y. Please don’t need me to write in the comments “buy a used netbook” or “build a full-fledged computer for 5k rubles.” It's boring. It is not interesting. This is commonplace. It's just too easy :)
Thank you for your attention, good luck to everyone!
Meet - Neoware CA2.
Features Compared to the eBox-2300SX:
| Neoware CA2 | eBox-2300SX | |
| CPU | VIA Ezra , 800MHz | MSTI PSX-300, 366MHz |
| FPU | Yes | Not |
| Video | S3 Graphics ProSavage | XGI Z9S |
| Memory | 32-512MB SDRAM PC-133 | 128MB DDR2 |
| IDE / SATA / CF | 1x IDE | 1x IDE, 1x CF |
| USB | 2x USB 1.1 | 3x USB 2.0 |
| LAN | 10/100 | 10/100 |
| Additionally | 1x PCI, 2x COM, 1x LPT, 2x PS / 2, Audio | 1x PS / 2, Audio |
| Power Supply | External 60W | External 10W |
| power usage | 25W | 8W |
| Cooling | Passive | Passive |
| Dimensions | 290 x 230 x 50 mm | 115 x 115 x 35 mm |
| Price | 1500 rubles | 4500 rubles |
As for the price, it is worth noting the following - CA2, CA5, CA10 and similar models have not been officially sold for a long time, but they are present on it almost in unlimited quantities. Both new and used copies are sold, in various configurations and in various conditions, at prices from 15 to 60 bucks.
Of course, the platform is quite old, and yet it still significantly outperforms all new thin clients at a price of up to 5000 rubles.
And, frankly, this situation is completely incomprehensible to me. It feels like prices are artificially inflated, perhaps because thin clients are the entire corporate sector.
Okay, enough lyrics, let's get down to the review :)
I ordered it from the USA, used, cost 30 bucks + 40 bucks for EMS delivery (yes, that's unfair).
The delivery took one and a half weeks. And finally, I saw him.
Appearance
Extremely concise design, nothing more.
I was very pleased with the indicator of network activity, in such devices this is a significant plus. You can always just take a look and understand what is happening (blinking - it means downloading, everything is fine).
A little distraction about the used device is probably lucky, but my CA2 came to me just in perfect condition. No cracks and scrubbing - only slight abrasions on the top of the case. Not a speck of dust inside. The adapter seems to have never been used, because It was packed in a sealed bag.
At the back, too, everything is as it should be - all the promised ports. It is worth noting that the pci-slot has a full height (in this case, the width) and even the healthiest cards fit into it without any problems.
We pass to the insides. There are 2 memory slots available, although, of course, PC-133 memory is now somewhat difficult to get. But, again, the same fuck to help.
Most of it is a huge radiator. However, during operation, it does not heat up at all, according to the bios, the processor temperature barely reaches 35 degrees, so you can not worry about cooling.
Sizes. Neoware CA2 vs eBox-2300SX vs lighter
In general, in size, Neoware CA2 is approximately equal to my Lenovo S10 netbook, although it is almost 2 times thicker than the latter. It fits into my concept of small sizes, although, of course, I would like to have something smaller :)
Upgrade
It would be foolish not to use the opportunity to increase memory and a free pci-slot.
I found a 128Mb module in my magic locker and added it to the second slot. In total it turned out 256 MB, for a headless home server more than enough.
And in pci, I stuffed an unnamed 3 in 1 Card 2X SATA RAID + 1X IDE ATA 133 + 4X USB 2.0 card, which I purchased on ... well, you know where :), for 10 bucks.
Everything works just fine, raid0 and raid1 are supported. And of course, there are already 4 USB 2.0 ports. In my opinion, just the perfect upgrade for such a machine.
BIOS
BIOS is quite functional, relative to the same eBox. You can disable unnecessary ports and controllers, boot from any device, including USB and LAN. There is also a simple monitoring of voltages and temperatures. Alas, no means are provided for controlling the frequency of the processor.
OS installation. Performance
Absolutely no problem. Choose what you like, everything works out of the box. Of course, you will need a USB-sidyuk or an installation flash drive.
There is only one remark - you can not boot from those USB that are located on the pci-card, the BIOS at the boot stage for some reason they simply do not perceive.
So I had to endure OS installation on USB 1.1.
Performance is more than sufficient, I don’t even know if more is needed. The 100Mbit channel can at least be used completely without much processor time. Again, with the eBox-2300SX, copying at a speed of 5 MB per second completely eats up the percent.
In general, I am satisfied :)
Z.Y. Please don’t need me to write in the comments “buy a used netbook” or “build a full-fledged computer for 5k rubles.” It's boring. It is not interesting. This is commonplace. It's just too easy :)
Thank you for your attention, good luck to everyone!