Another thrift score. I spotted this "combo" CD/DVD/HDD media player thing for $19.99. Doesn't look too interesting from the front:
But around back, there's a suspicious looking arrangement of ports...
Sure enough, it's a mini-ITX PC on the inside:
Specifically a VIA EPIA with a C3/533, an 80GB HDD, and a really neat little Meanwell ATX-ish power supply. I tried it out in the store (specifically violating the printed instructions not to plug anything into the VGA or USB ports), and it tried to boot some kind of Gentoo install off the HDD, but stopped before it got to a login screen. Not sure if that was what was originally installed on there or if someone had been messing around with it already. The "factory seal" sticker was long gone.
A little digging online shows that these are (or were) the standard media player used in Starbucks franchises, in order to stream their corporate smooth jazz over the internet. Shockingly, this implies a Starbucks might have closed at some point in the pacific northwest. Or maybe not.
I got it to boot from a CD-ROM, but it's finnicky. USB keyboards are disabled in the BIOS so I had to pull the board out to use the blocked-off PS/2 ports. There's a BIOS password set that I haven't been able to crack yet, but that should be doable. For some reason it absolutely wouldn't boot my usual go-to boot disc, Hiren's, but it will boot other CD media just fine so I'm using the Ultimate Boot CD for now. Fun times.
I also grabbed this Dell E176FPb with a really long VGA cable for $5. Yes, I have a reason I needed this.
twitch.tv/oldskooljay - playing the obscure, forgotten & weird - most Tuesdays & Thursdays @ 6:30 PM PDT. Bonus streams elsewhen!