why are people using thin clients??

[decadude]

i dont understand fully why people are going crazy to get thin clients to use with their magic jacks

can someone catch me up to date with this?

[kulumbaa]

low power consumption, MJ softphone out of your face and from your main system... plus they are nice lil fast machine fairly cheap compared to a full functioning comp..

they can be up for weeks without the need to reboot, no moving parts what else..

OH THEY CAN DAIL MJ COSTOMER SERVICE FOR YOU

[lcompton]

Good evening, decadude.

Here are my reasons:

1. I won my Hewlett Packard T5710 Thin Client on eBay at a time when they were still affordable (USD56.00 plus USD15.00 shipping and handling). Since then, one forum member has gone into business for himself becoming quite the capitalist and decided to buy up the available supply on eBay driving up prices in the process. This has pretty much crushed my plans for adding a second magicJack line in my home. I digress...
2. The Thin Client has no moving parts. The power supply is an external power brick, which requires no cooling. Instead of a hard disk drive, the Thin Client uses Flash ROM and Flash RAM. Thin Clients make no noise (except when banged on in frustration. Now, I'm not saying that I've done that, I'm just saying...)
3. The Thin Client draws virtually no power. My APC UPS tells me that the Thin Client, Linksys WRT54G, Westell 6100 DSL Modem/Router and Uniden DCT6485 Cordless Telephone System draw 15 watts combined. The UPS is a 1.5Kw model, which means that when the power goes out, my Internet access and telephony won't! How nice is that!?
4. My Thin Client is setup as an RCON (Remote Console) host, which means I can access the console from any computer in my home without the need of a keyboard/mouse/monitor on the Thin Client itself. The Thin Client has three connections; they are power, Ethernet and telephone.
5. Thin Clients are small -- very small. They're about the size of a medium-sized hardcover book.

Thin Client's are the perfect dedicated device because of their low overhead. If you're looking for 7 x 24 telephony with the magicJack, the Thin Client is one of the best, if not the best, way to go.

Thank you,

Lisa

[mcbelisle]

someone told me that you need a server for this to work. i thought you just use the thin client like a regular computer online

[lcompton]

Good evening, mcbelisle.

Absolutely untrue. No server required. My little old Thin Client sits in a cubby hole at my computer center where my v.92 modem used to live. My Thin Client lies on his side instead of upright. I even had four little sticky rubber feet to apply to the indentations in the Thin Client that were made for rubber feet.

Attached using the tiny USB extender, magicJack sits on top of the Thin Client. I'm going to change this arrangement by plugging magicJack directly into one of the USB ports on the back of the Thin Client. The cumulative heat of the Thin Client radiating up onto the magicJack combined with the magicJack's own heat dissapation makes the magicJack too hot to the touch for me. I'll probably change it this weekend.

Thank you,

Lisa

[GreenMonkey]

I went with a Shuttle KPC case and custom built a low-power system that way.

Dual core celeron, WD Greenpower HDD, etc.

Of course I also use the always-on box for media streaming (TVersity) to the PS3/Xbox360...and plan eventually to use it as an arcade box or something.

100w isn't as low power as the thin clients (also cost me about $200) but it's a lot better than my 550w desktop with its power sucking Radeon x1950xt...plus saves wear and tear on it.

Just think of the power savings versus leaving a full fledged PC on.

[packen]

So if I found a TC with XP SP2 on it, would it work with MJ like it is, or does it need to be modified in some way first?

[stroths]

Quite honestly, you can easily have a MJ running with no need for a thin client or separate PC. The use of a thin client or separate PC is more of a luxury than a necessity.

I have been in the situation all too many times in the past where I would have one device or computer go down and I would lose a lot of other things with it. That's why I try to separate out functions where its practical and affordable. In other words, I don't want to have all my eggs in one basket. If my main PC goes down (or I need to shut it down) for any reason, my MJ will function independently. I also have a separate thin client that I use for my firewall/router, another for a HTPC and the list goes on. I think I may have to go on a 12 step program though if I get many more

I have to admit that for me, its a fun toy as well.

So if I found a TC with XP SP2 on it, would it work with MJ like it is, or does it need to be modified in some way first?

Providing it has at least 256MB RAM and 256MB of flash memory, you can get it to work with a little configuration. Check out the link in my signature for more information. If you only have 192mb flash memory, its possible too, but a little more challenging.

[packen]

Why are the only TC's I see mentioned are the HP T5700 series? what about other brands of TC's? Do they not work as well? I see other ones on ebay that are priced a lot lower that the HP's. Just wondering.
I like the idea of the TC's so I am sure I will go that way before its over. My main goal for buying the MJ was to keep in touch with my daughter when she goes to college. I am going to buy her one also. That way she can keep her phone running all the time.

[lymon]

Why are the only TC's I see mentioned are the HP T5700 series? what about other brands of TC's? Do they not work as well? I see other ones on ebay that are priced a lot lower that the HP's. Just wondering.
I like the idea of the TC's so I am sure I will go that way before its over. My main goal for buying the MJ was to keep in touch with my daughter when she goes to college. I am going to buy her one also. That way she can keep her phone running all the time.

I think that the main attraction to the T5700s is the fact that they run embedded Windows XPe. I don't know that much about thin clients, but some I've seen run other versions of Windows such as CE, which won't work w/ MJ. If you find another TC that runs XP, it would probably work with MJ as well, provided that it had enough flash and RAM.

[stroths]

Why are the only TC's I see mentioned are the HP T5700 series? what about other brands of TC's? Do they not work as well? I see other ones on ebay that are priced a lot lower that the HP's. Just wondering.
I like the idea of the TC's so I am sure I will go that way before its over. My main goal for buying the MJ was to keep in touch with my daughter when she goes to college. I am going to buy her one also. That way she can keep her phone running all the time.

Other TCs should work fine providing they run XPe since the MJs require Windows XP. The t57xx series are tested and proven to work is the reason they are mentioned so much here. If you want to experiment, that would be great and maybe you can find a cheaper alternative for others here.

[packen]

Thank you all for your patients and your help.