The barest of barebones.

[Blizzox]

I don’t know if this is kosher since im asking this question for my business, but since this is an 'out of my garage' kind of deal and i don’t really have a budget to provide compensation i figure its worth a try.

 

Problem;

My customers (roughly 200 veterinary practices) have medical scanning devices, these scanning devices store the end result of a scan on a shared folder locally, or through a usb connection and a polling system. We currently provide my customers with jetway JBC362F36W-2600 B Barebones with a flash card and some cheap memory that have ubuntu installed and a custom script that provides the file polling and sends the result to our remote servers. Thing is the jetway devices run really hot, are a bit costly for the very basic function they have, and have features we simply do not use (wifi antenna etc) and due to supplier issues im looking for a new hardware solution.

 

So in essence im looking for the most barest of barebones, with the following requirements.

-reliable, the less maintenance we need to do the better.
-cheap, this would need to be under the budget of 120$ per complete unit, since the projects scalability is important.
-needs absolute minimum of 2 USB, 1 Ethernet, 1 video output (for installing ubuntu, maybe there are ways around this?)

-not massive in size
-hardware 'capable' of running ubuntu.
-low thermal output (these will be mounted in usually already hot environments that have bad ventilation, if its basically an electric heating unit im afraid it might affect lifespan)
-case or protective cover that is reasonable in assembly, (sold separately is fine, but it needs it for the solution, cant be a bare board final product.)

 

Do you guys have any ideas? or can give me some advice?

[Bananasplit_00]

how about a raspberry pi?

[GoldenLag]

Redesign script for using a Rasberry Pi.

 

Should be the same just by adjusting a few things.

 

These are like 36$ a pop+SD card for OS and a powerbrick (which idk are included)

[Blizzox]

Just now, Bananasplit_00 said:

how about a raspberry pi?

i've considered them but they don’t really have cases, do they? or at least im not aware of them having cases. These would have to be installed in veterinary practices and exposed circuits or whatever don’t seem to be ideal.

[emosun]

you be best off with used office pc's

the more standardized and common components the better. 

 

if you pick a proprietary solution then you'll have a fleet of proprietary machines that are harder to fix and source.

[GoldenLag]

1 minute ago, Blizzox said:

i've considered them but they don’t really have cases, do they? or at least im not aware of them having cases. These would have to be installed in veterinary practices and exposed circuits or whatever don’t seem to be ideal.

You can buy cases for them for like nothing.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-Model-Protective-Heatsinks-Clear/dp/B01CDVSBPO/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1543317766&sr=8-5&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=raspberry+pi+case&dpPl=1&dpID=51Z5l4aTkjL&ref=plSrch

 

Probably less if you mass order a few

[Bananasplit_00]

3 minutes ago, Blizzox said:

i've considered them but they don’t really have cases, do they? or at least im not aware of them having cases. These would have to be installed in veterinary practices and exposed circuits or whatever don’t seem to be ideal.

 

cases for them are cheap and widely available for all kinds of diffrent applications and sizes

[Blizzox]

Damn, some of these cases look drop dead gorgeous for 15 pounds