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Neat router-esqe mini-PC barebones on sale $190 @ Newegg right now.

Weird. The COM ports tell me it's a cash register, but the dual LAN ports tell me it's for some uptime-critical application.

Maybe supposed to be some kind of industrial controller dealie?
 
dave_the_nerd said:
Weird. The COM ports tell me it's a cash register, but the dual LAN ports tell me it's for some uptime-critical application.

Maybe supposed to be some kind of industrial controller dealie?
Click to expand...

Yep. I'm always puzzled by the COM ports on modern consumer motherboards/barbones. It's old, it's obsolete. If a consumer needs COM port, just buy an USB to COM cable or go find an industrial computer. Consumer motherboard manufacturers please stop including COM ports & add more USB ports!
 
mxnerd said:
Yep. I'm always puzzled by the COM ports on modern consumer motherboards/barbones. It's old, it's obsolete. If a consumer needs COM port, just buy an USB to COM cable or go find an industrial computer. Consumer motherboard manufacturers please stop including COM ports & add more USB ports!
Click to expand...
Nah. If you had a serial-port or parallel-port controlled CNC machine, say, that cost more than your house, you'd still be trying to get your money's worth out of it. Legacy ports don't bother me, they just tell me that the product isn't intended for normal consumers.
 
Meh, soldered on Celery. Pass. If you're only using the basic features of pfSense/Sophos/etc, an Atom is fine. If you're the more intensive features like IDF and/or want more performance than the Atom gives you, then you're not going to be happy with the Celery either.
You can also get that model direct from Shuttle with memory, SSD, and Win10 for $260.
 
I still don't understand some manufacturer's product design.

This barebone has 2 COM ports, 2 ethernet ports, one HDMI & one DisplayPort but no VGA or DVI?

So what's its target market? Consumer or industrial? Firewall or cashier?
 
It's Shuttle, they are just grasping at straws trying to save their business. They got spoiled by being the only small gaming PC shop for decades. That exclusivity has ended. They've been lost ever since. When's the last time you heard somebody say "I really want a shuttle PC".
 
mxnerd said:
Yep. I'm always puzzled by the COM ports on modern consumer motherboards/barbones. It's old, it's obsolete. If a consumer needs COM port, just buy an USB to COM cable or go find an industrial computer. Consumer motherboard manufacturers please stop including COM ports & add more USB ports!
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if you've ever bought a USB to COM cable but almost everyone out there does not work.😱 Three years ago, I went through about five different version before I found one.

As for why COM, someone already mentioned CNC machines. I want to say that some of the older CAD programs used COM keys. At least one OBD2 reader/programmer require a COM. Basically things that potentially cost $10s of thousands to replace.

I'd say VGA port is more obsolete and useless than a COM port... at least you can replace a monitor for $100 vs a CNC machine at $100,000😉

I'm more pissed about getting a laptop that didn't have an RJ45 plug.
 
I did own USB to COM port cables, both at home and company, and they did work.
Maybe you didn't check users' review before buying?

I used them for barcode printers.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00J4N9T9C?gclid=CPiMzZ7m29ICFYqPfgodiq8A5g

But don't have cable / printer now.

The problem with USB to COM cable is that it gets loose easily. Might have to tape it somehow. 🙁

I actually have no issue with COM ports, but I think this Shuttle barebone has one too many. Should have replaced one of them with VGA port.

VGA is not obsolete, there are still a lot of old monitors out there.
 
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Sadly, no reviews available or they were positive... only upon further digging did I find out garbage vs otherwise.

The same argument you made for VGA is same argument for COM... except a COM item is much more expensive than a new monitor 😉

The only VGA item I can think of in my current work environment is projectors and even those are getting phased out. 😉

Yes, COM is more specialized than not... I certainly wouldn't expect to find them easily.
 
That is definitely a neat machine. I should replace my core2duo based pfsense with something smaller like this one day. Probably uses way less power than a full blown system too.

As for the com ports, there are plenty of applications that require them still, and the USB converters can be hit and miss, sometimes you really need a native one.
 
Lil'John said:
I'm not sure if you've ever bought a USB to COM cable but almost everyone out there does not work.😱 Three years ago, I went through about five different version before I found one.

As for why COM, someone already mentioned CNC machines. I want to say that some of the older CAD programs used COM keys. At least one OBD2 reader/programmer require a COM. Basically things that potentially cost $10s of thousands to replace.

I'd say VGA port is more obsolete and useless than a COM port... at least you can replace a monitor for $100 vs a CNC machine at $100,000😉

I'm more pissed about getting a laptop that didn't have an RJ45 plug.
Click to expand...

Look for FTDI cables. I've never had an issue with the FTDI UART cables, I'd imagine their RS232 ones work just as well. The key is good drivers and FTDI has good drivers for using Windows virtual COM ports.
 
freeskier93 said:
Look for FTDI cables. I've never had an issue with the FTDI UART cables, I'd imagine their RS232 ones work just as well. The key is good drivers and FTDI has good drivers for using Windows virtual COM ports.
Click to expand...

Just don't plug those in a windows machine. 😛 #FTDIGATE.
 
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