Computer

A box for every need and budget

Buy new when needed

If you have specific hardware requirements for your project, you probably want to buy new. Whether you buy a pre-assembled box with professional support or build one yourself, is up to your preference.

We do, however strongly recommend the use of industrial grade components (see recommendations below).

Re-purpose if possible

Tooloop OS runs on a potato (see Requirements).

If you have old hardware, that still meets the recommendations it’s a wonderful oppurtunity to save some money and protect the environment by re-using your old computers.

Out of the box, Tooloop OS is a great video player, for example.

Requirements

Tooloop OS is based on Ubuntu and as such runs on a wide range of hardware. The Ubuntu website recommends:

  • Min. 3 GB of RAM
  • Min. 25 GB of storage

It will be difficult to find a box with specs below those requirements and thus there is almost no hard limit on hardware.

Recommendations

Chassis

  • Size doesn’t matter as much as you think. Resist the urge of going too small! Do you really, really need to? Small = hot.
  • Cooling does matter. Passive cooling is mostly not for us media people. Not if your app uses at least some graphics power.
  • Dust filters are the logic consequence of active cooling.
  • Silence is nice. In a museum, a showroom or in a theatre we want to be as silent as possible. Not on the expense of bad cooling, though.
  • Rack-mountable It’s safe, it’s easy to reach and maintain. If you can, put it in a rack.

Longevity

Industrial and server grade components are built to last. They withstand high temperatures, run 24/7 and are usually available for years.

BIOS

Enable quiet boot and wake-on-lan.