On and off, I think about getting a ``new'' computer to relieve my old
Gateway2000 system from (home) network gateway duties.  (The idea being to
turn the Gateway2000 over to running -current, etc.)  An obvious choice
would be an old i386 system, but I thought that I'd ask for other
thoughts.  It doesn't need to be fast, but there are some important
points, in approximate decreasing order:

 * Stable (stable NetBSD port; reasonably reliable hardware).
 * Serial and ethernet connections.  (Or inexpensive options to add same.)
 * Some non-volatile storage (primarily a mailbox or few).
 * Cheap.  (^&
 * Low power consumption.  (Working definition: Ideally it should be
   safe to run without a cooling fan.  I'm mostly interested in having
   it put out a low amount of heat into a room with 2 other computers.)
 * Small.  It would probably end up in an already-cluttered space.

(The DreamCast port might be interesting, but I'm not sure that it has the
necessary serial/ethernet options.  The lack of non-volatile storage
would also pose a problem.)

Other suggestions?


  "I probably don't know what I'm talking about." --rauch@eecs.ukans.edu