Portwell announced a “3.5-inch” embedded system board based on the single-core Atom D410 or dual-core Atom D510. The PEB-2780VG2A supports dual displays (VGA and LVDS), IDE or SATA hard drives, and dual gigabit Ethernet ports, according to the company.

Portwell's "3.5-inch" PEB-2780V2GA actually measures 5.75 x 4.0 inches and, like other boards of its type, is designed to match the dimensions of components such as 3.5-inch floppy disk drives. The board is available with two of Intel's 1.66GHz "Pineview" Atoms, either the single-core N450 or the dual-core D510 (respective TDPs are rated by Intel at 5.5 and 13 Watts), and also uses the chipmaker's ICH8M I/O controller, according to Portwell.

Portwell's PEB-2780
(Click to enlarge)

The PEB-2780VG2A accepts up to 2GB of RAM via a single SODIMM socket, Portwell says. Persistent storage may be provided either by a Type I/II CompactFlash card, or by hard disk drives connected to the board's single IDE connector or dual SATA ports, the company adds.

Given that it is a board and not just a COM (computer on module), the PEB-2780VG2A sports real-world ports on its coastline (right), such as a VGA output, two gigabit Ethernet ports, two USB 2.0 ports, and a RS232 port. Meanwhile, pin headers on top of the board provide access to two additional RS232 ports and one RS232/485 port, audio, four more USB 2.0 ports, and dual PS/2 ports, according to Portwell.

According to Portwell, the PEB-2780VG2A also has an expansion interface, carrying a PCI Express x1 signal, for an optional daughterboard. The device also accepts an LVDS display, presumably via another pin header, the company says.

Stated Jack Lam, a senior product marketing manager for American Portwell, "Customers that use first-generation Intel Atom processors and need some extra features will be very happy to see this product. The faster CPU and advanced features — such as the Intel 64 architecture and superb graphics now possible with integrated Intel DX9 graphics and Intel Dynamic Video Memory Technology 4.0 — will help boost performance significantly."

Features and specifications provided by Portwell for the PEB-2780VG2A include:

• Processor — 1.66GHz Atom N450 or Atom D510
• Chipset — ICH8M I/O controller
• Memory — accepts up to 2GB of DR2 RAM via single SODIMM slot
• Expansion:
  • Type I/II CompactFlash slot
  • Daughterboard connection with PCI Express x1 signaling
• Networking — 2 x gigabit Ethernet
• Other I/O:
  • 1 x IDE
  • 2 x SATA
  • VGA
  • LVDS (via header)
  • 2 x PS/2 (via header)
  • 6 x USB 2.0 (2 with Type A connectors; 4 via headers)
  • 3 x RS232 (one DB9 connector, 2 via headers)
  • 1 x RS232/422/485 (via header)
  • Audio — mic in and line out (headers)
• Power — 12VDC input
• Operating temperature — 32 to 140 deg. F (0 to 60 deg. C)
• Dimensions — 5.75 x 4.0 inches (146 x 105mm)

Further information

Portwell did not cite pricing, availability, or operating system support for the PEB-2780VG2A, but the device appears to be available now and should run typical x86 operating systems without problems. More information may be found on the company's website, here.

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