The French manufactures, Linutop has for the last couple of years been producing small low power fan less Linux-based desktop computers. Its fourth generation desktop is called the Linutop 4 and its outstanding feature is that it uses only 14 watts of power.

The linutop is friendly to the environment and has no moving parts. If you are going to be using a PC for only web browsing and perhaps some office tools and e-mailing it is not really necessary to have a big machine running on high watts, when all you need is this quiet, compact and low energy Linutop 4.

For the inexperienced user (read: non-geek user) the fact that the Linutop 4 comes with no printed set-up instructions may pose a problem. The picture instructions may be confusing to the user. Another problem is that the Linutop 4 takes quite long to boot, which would make it tempting to leave it switched on when not in use  to avoid having to wait for the boot up again. It would be quite counterproductive if the aim is to use less energy by opting for this unit.

Linutop 4 is well suited for use in internet cafés, public libraries, Shops, Bars, Point-of-Sale Displays, Schools, Offices and Factories.

A variety of GTK applications that are geared towards web browsing and internet communication are available. Linutop 4 is also multimedia-capable and offers line-out/mic-in for sound. However, there are some problems when you try to change the settings or run more than one or two programs simultaneously, like the system freezing because of an overload on the small processor.

It is also obvious that this PC is not intended for networking, and you will encounter all sorts of difficulties when trying to access data stored on the hard drive of the Linutop 4 through a network or if you try to network boot.

The Linutop 4‘s specs is very similar to that of the Linutop 3, with a few differences. One of them being that the Linutop 4 is much smaller and lighter than the Linutop 3 (2.1 pounds compared to the 4.5 pound weight of Linutop 3).

Specs:

• 1.6 GHz Intel Atom N270 processor;
• 1GB of DDR2 memory;
• 2GB of flash storage. But the new model is much smaller and lighter.
• Weight:  2.1 pounds (1 kg)  and measures just 7.1 ” x 7.9″ x 1.4″( 180mm x 200mm x 36 mm);
• OS:  customized version of Ubuntu Linux called Linutop 4;
• Firefox 3.6;
• OpenOffice.org 3.2;
• VLC Media Player;
• VGA and DVI ports ;
• supports external monitors with resolutions up to 1920 x 1440 pixels;
• 5 USB 2.0 ports;
• 2 SATA connectors;
• a 2.5 inch drive bay;
• PCIe slot;
• Gigabit Ethernet.

A definite drawback of the Linutop 4 is its price, at 400 Euros, or about 575 USD per unit, one will have to think twice about buying a Linutop 4. It is possible to buy a Linutop 2with a VIA C7 processor, 512MB of RAM and 1GB of storage for just 280 Euros or 403 USD. That model uses just 8W of power and weighs just 1.3 pounds.

Pros:

• Energy efficient;
• Small and light;
• Pre installed software;
• Maintenance free

Cons:

• Price;
• Limited functionality when it comes to running multiple programs;
• Difficulty networking.