Mp3Car centric report on CeBit (Sydney, Australia)

C4M · 05-30-2002, 09:16 AM

Went to CeBit yesterday (hardware/software/telco show). TOYS EVERYWHERE!!

There have been a number of coversations about the VIA Eden mobo's here over the past few weeks, so I thought that I'd find out some more about them, specifically as to where I can buy one.

Andrew Chappell was considering selling his, but shipping from the UK isn't the most efficient way, and I think he doesn't really want to part with it (it's sooo cute!!!)

Found a shop that would supply the 800Mhz board for AUD$280, and thought - that's pretty good!

Went to CeBit yesterday, and found an outfit that will supply them for USD$99 (ie less than AUD$200), which seems even better. Saw one in the flesh (?) for the first time, and they are super small. 170mmx170mm is very un-big!

The card for these guys is on my desk at work - email if you're in Australia and interested in a group buy (use the profile button).

Controllers
There were some guys that make and sell programmable industrial controllers - want a PS2 keypad that has 32 buttons? Youv'e come to the right place! Didn't really pull my chain all that much, but it started me searching along a different line, and I found there are an enormous range of industrial options available - most of which run off pretty std drivers, and all of which are hideously expensive. Searching on industrial keypad on Google is a good start.

I didn't really see much else - sure there was some bluetooth stuff there, and 802.11b was everywhere, but there wasn't all that much that was relevant to car computers. I spoke to an outfit that were selling power supplies, and there blank looks were a classic when I asked about DC-DC power supplies!

Did I mention that Eden boards are small?

C!

magnetik · 05-30-2002, 08:00 PM

do you mind passing on the company name? otherwise I would be in for at least one.....

yeah any details of suppliers/etc that you can give up that would be fantastic..... PM me if u like

I would be in for the group buy either way......

C4M · 06-02-2002, 03:46 AM

Can't remeber the name of the place, and I keep leaving the stuff at work. I'll bring it home tomorrow night.

I gotta stop talking about the CarPC project - every time I mention it, people want me to build them one!

C!

06-02-2002, 06:15 AM

me me me

group buy

cheers
pcman

kardas · 06-02-2002, 07:40 AM

i definately want one, email me if this goes ahead

kardas

C4M · 06-04-2002, 10:07 AM

Well that was disappointing.

Brought the bits home from the show tonight, only to discover that all the contact details for the people that I was speaking with are from Taiwan! Their website is

http://www.g-alantic.com.tw

Anyway, I sent them an email:

: -----Original Message-----
: From: Cam! [mailto:cam@geek.com]
: Sent: Tuesday, 4 June 2002 11:56 PM
: To: colin@g-alantic.com.tw
: Subject: VIA motherboards
:
:
: Good evening
:
: I recently attended the CeBit show in Sydney, and visited
: your booth. I spoke to one of your people about the VIA Eden
: motherboards with the 800Mhz on-board processors, and we
: spoke briefly about the price - I was quoted USD$95 each.
:
: I would like to know:
:
: * Is this the price delivered to me in Australia?
: * Does buying from you include full warranty cover?
: * Does the board come supplied with the PCI slot riser card?
: * Do the prices change if I were to buy more than one motherboard.
:
: I look forward to hearing from you soon.

You'll note that they mainly seem to be peddlars of cases rather than motherboards. I'll see what comes back.

With regard to the other shop - their price was like $285 per board for the 800Mhz one - I've been trying to get a written quote from them, but it's been hopeless so far. At this point, if I don't hear from our Taiwanese friends, I'll just call the distributors for VIA stuff in Australia, and get the name of another distributor. When I was speaking to the shop in the city, I asked about a multiple unit discount, and he wasn't interested at all unless we were buying like 100 units - no real surprise there. Before I go recommending a shop though, I'd actually like to find a shop that I can recommend - these people are a little hopeless on nailing the details (which is a bit important when all the VIA mobo specs and model numbers are very similar).

Can you tell that I'm getting a little impatient?

Once I can confirm all the details and the pricing for these little monsters, I'll post again to this thread, and ask that you contact me using email to make the arrangements if you're serious.

C!

C4M · 06-17-2002, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by C4M
Well that was disappointing.

Brought the bits home from the show tonight, only to discover that all the contact details for the people that I was speaking with are from Taiwan! Their website is

http://www.g-alantic.com.tw

Anyway, I sent them an email:

Predictably, they didn't respond.

Seems that no one will do a group price for anything less than 50 units for the mobo's.

Give these kiddies a call, and they will tell you the name of a VIA stockist close to you:

BCN Technology
http://www.bcntech.com.au
Address: 51 Hill Road,Homebush Bay NSW 2140
Phone: 02 9648 0888
Fax: 02 9648 0999

In you're in Victoria (Hi Magnetik!) try them on 03 9646 4388

Rough pricing that I've had so far indicates $285 for the 800Mhz board, which sounds rather good, which probably means that they've cocked it up.

C!

magnetik · 06-17-2002, 07:54 PM

cheers bud.... will add it to my 'to-do' list...

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