Axel

The Axel M80w operates at true colour at 1920x1200, its not intergrated but is the size of a cigarette packet and come with a bracket to attach to rear of monitor. It supports touch screen monitors, and smart card authentication (which many UK Health Trusts use for authentication). Axel Product Form - AX3000 Model 80F

We have had many comments from Edugeek'ers about physical security for thin clients, and as this is not an issue for "business" users, it is not something we had come up against in the past or had really considered. David Carter at The Beacon School did not accept this and took matters into his own hands and designed and manufactured in the school metal shop a "second" bracket to compliment the standard Axel supplied VESA bracket. The pictures hopefully say it all. The two silver screws at the bottom would be security screws. The new bracket prevents the TC from being slid upwards, so cannot clear the VESA bracket 'fingers'. With the security screws undone the TC and security bracket all lift up together. Simple and effective... We'd be interested to know Axel user's views on this, and whether we should add this as an accessory, the price should be around £5.00/£6.00. It would be compatible with both M70 and M80. http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/f05a5bd5c50b6b6189d369e911ef7fe04g.jpg http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/bafaa97ec78f15236857ca1899ab81ae4g.jpg http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/c918586c674bb3580a5579c58ebfdfd94g.jpg

If you have made no progress with this we can loan you a thin client so you can see if the problem is on the server side or client side... [email protected]

Thanks Ric.... John, We'd be happy to send you terminal to have a play with.... The key differentiator of the Axel product is that it does not have any operating system. This makes it it higher in performance, lower in power consumption (5w), and easier to setup and remotely manage. It is the size of a cigarette box and comes with a bracket to attach to rear of monitor (VESA) See various recent comments in: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/thin-client-virtual-machines/22082-axel-ax3000-m70-lesson-monitor.html AXEL: request a demo unit from Axel Ltd.

Andy, We can loan you a handful of thin-clients if you want to run the evaluation yourself. The Axel M80f is faster, smaller, and costs less than half the device mentioned above - and we can assist you with the set up. There are several recent comments from schools using our products in the post below..... http://www.edugeek.net/forums/thin-client-virtual-machines/22082-axel-ax3000-m70-lesson-monitor.html Mattthew Stones http://www.Axel.com 0845 225 2822

Ozan, We can email you the firmware with VDI support for your Axel terminals if this is still an on-going project.... [email protected]

It's hard to mount an arguement against using old pcs as tcs if you already have them....One point to consider is power consuption, PCs typically take about 200 watts (a typical linux or WinCE terminal about 20 watts), and the Axel 5watts. if you do the maths the Axel device will have paid for itself in energy savings alone before its warranty expires when compared to a PC! Thin clients are also totally silent having no hd or fans. You would also expect to spend a lot less time configuring and supporting. Thin clients also boot much quicker, in about three seconds.......

Thanks Butuz, Thewlis, if we can offer you an Axel tc to test please let us know. The M80f is significantly faster than "any" WinCE client, and having no operating system is even simpler to setup... It would be great to send to one so you could do a comparison with your existing trial tc... Matthew Axel 0845 225 2822

Axel sponsor the 'Thin Client Forum' on Edugeek, and have supplied thin clients to many Edugeek users. We are a manufacturer that supply direct to schools at special educational pricing. If you do an Edugeek search on "Axel" you will find many positive references and details on our unique operating system-less technology. We support Citrix and Terminal Services. If we can supply a couple of 'no strings' demo terminals please let us know... AXEL: request a demo unit from Axel Ltd.

In UK we do have genuine "educational pricing", as offered. In USA they have their own pricing schedules. I am not sure if the Linux model you have is still available, so when comparing USA pricing, I suggest you check current price and availablility. discontinued Desktops & Workstations - HP Small & Medium Business products Most people choose Axel, not purely on price, but because we have developed thin-client technology one stage further than the competition by avoiding the use of an operating system altogether.... Good luck in whichever way you choose to go...

Ric We connect to Citrix in several ways. 1) Direct connection to any (single) published application. This optionally can be a published "Citrix Desktop", as opposed to a local "thin client" Linux desktop which is what I understood the OP wants to avoid. 2) Alternatively the terminal can be configured to list all applications available to that specific user. This does require logging into a local desktop, which we provide. (ie we provide a "familiar looking" blue desktop with application icons and grey taskbar, but we do not have an underlying operating system to worry about) 3) Axel also provide free of charge a bit of software that lets the adminstrator 'publish' applications on a per user or per group basis. This is primarily aimed at terminal server users, as one of Citrix's main benefits is to provide this function - but it can be used with Citrix (AxMenu)

We can loan you an M80f for evaluation... It has RDP and ICA embedded in the hardware, so no operating system at all (why would you want an operating system ?). You switch on, and in 4 seconds you are presented with the Terminal Server or Citrix log on screen. The M80f is the fastest thin client terminal available today. It's screen refresh rate is the same as a PC connected over RDP. The device is the size of a cigarette box and comes with a bracket to mount to rear of TFT monitor and consumes only 5 watts Butuz (post above) has just received one for testing - hopefully his independant comments will support the above claims...! If we can send you an eval please follow link below... AXEL: request a demo unit from Axel Ltd.

We can loan you a couple of thin-clients if you wish to see their operation in the flesh, currently we do not support sound, as thin client technology is not really condusive to sound (or video) We are however developing drivers for sound, so will be a free firmware upgrade in a month or so for the M80f terminal - as displayed on the Edugeek stand at BETT last week. Q: Why are we developing sound if we feel it is not condusive...?!?!? A: Because users ask for it, it is relatively simple for thin clients to support sound, the hard part is having servers/networks that can deliver it. Apart from sound/video the M80 gives the same performance as a PC when connecting over RDP. If you would like to trial one please click here: AXEL: request a demo unit from Axel Ltd.

Depending what you need to do, simple telnet from a command propt may do the trick....

If you want to eliminate the the Linux based terminals we would be happy to loan you a couple of Axel ultra thin clients. Our products are certified for W2008, and as a manufacturer we do offer direct technical support so we have resources to assist if you still experience problems....

Ajtaylor - check out the sponsor of the forum....! I fully agree with your comments of the benefits of Ultra-thin clients but you are mistaken in saying Sun are the only manufacturer of Utra-thin client technology. Axel have been making Ultra-Thin client terminals for many years (our definition of Ultra-Thin client is a TC with no operating system). The key difference between Axel and Sunray UTC technology is that Axel technology lets the user connect direct to the Windows/Citrix server without requiring a unix server 'gateway'. This avoids the Unix admin, cost, power overhead, space etc of a Unix server....

Does this happen with both thin-clients and PCs running RDP....?

Axel supply RDP terminals that direct boot into RDP, and cost less than £100...... Their hardware is designed to be the minimum required to run RDP, no 'extra' hardware is needed to accomodate an operating system, so price and complexity is low, and performance is high, as RDP sits direct on the hardware. As a plus there is no network booting, not BIOS or logging in accounts to manage, no linux scripts, no ini scripts. Connecting to RDP server takes <5 seconds... http://www.edugeek.net/forums/thin-client-virtual-machines/23620-thin-client-installation.html

Kenny, Out of curiousity, what are you hoping to gain through VDI that can't be provided through 'normal' Windows Terminal Services or Citrix....

Axel are in the process of releasing support for WMware's VDI virtual desktop, let us know if you would like to be a tester, (or if you already have Axel hardware contact us for free f/w upgrade with VDI).

Just a thought - if you were to invest in new thin-client hardware you would more than recoup the purchase cost in electricity savings alone within the warranty period....(You can do the maths, TC take 6w, PC's vary - typically 250w, and a new thin client costs around £100...)

For anyone new to thin clients, the clip below may be of interest to see the physical size, ease of setup, and speed of booting of modern thin clients.... The video shows the terminal's setup, booting and establishing an RDP auto-connection. All comments and questions about the technology are very welcome and I'll answer the best I can, but please keep any comments about my film making skills to yourself...! enjoy....

We plan to release a new version of the M70 in October. It will be same size as the current model, but deliver 4 x the performance and we are anticipating it will be the first thin client that is capable of multi-media video support. Pricing is not released yet - but should still be well below that of Linux and CE based terminals... As Geoff says above we plan to deliver sound via USB (this is one direction the industry seems to be going with the latest generation of mobile phones and similar products - though we plan to support a USB to phono dongle convertor for those who don't want to use USB headphones)

If you fill in the link on: AXEL: request a demo unit from Axel Ltd. We'll send you one to have a look at and you can be the judge.... it only takes 30 seconds to set up from scratch, less time than most other thin-clients take to boot! The only obligation is that you send it back if it does not suite your requirements. The key benefits you would see are Much easier to setup up Instant booting (<5 seconds) Intuitive Remote Management Software (supplied fully featured at no charge) Much smaller (size of cigarette packet) and comes with TFT VESA mounting kit Much lower power consumption (6w) Support direct from the manufacturer All "components" ie RDP/ICA protocols, remote management software, setup menus, boot microcode and hardware are all exclusively written and designed in-house by Axel, so all the "compromises" of the integrating third party products are avoided. We have supplied over 50 evals to various "Edugeekers", if you do a search on Axel on this site you will find numerous posts giving various descriptions and photos (Graphics support is 1280x1024 and wide screen res 1400x900). Axel are the third largest thin client manufacturer in UK, all development and manufacturer is done in Europe. We have sold approaching 1 million terminals - though we have only been focusing on the educational market for the last few months. We offer genuine special educational pricing. Two final points from posts above, As Axel have no operating system there is none of this "pressing x" key to interrupt boot, the setup is password protected. If the password is kept save there is zero possibilily for any student to tamper with the setup. Finally RDP (or ICA) require around 3Mb and very little CPU power. All other memory on a thin client minus this amount is used solely to host the operating system or other peripheral programs. So by removing the operatring system you remove the need for most of the hardware - which is the key reason why Axel's use less power, are smaller, and cost less...

We can send you for evaluation a thin client the size of a cigarette packet and mounting bracket to fit on rear of monitor, so takes up zero space and cannot even be seen by the user... When switched, after 5 seconds booting you will be prompted by the server for log on details. (There is no "logging into" the thin client itself as it has no operating system, nor any local adminstration so no local destop to manage or tie down). This is a big benefit in terms of terms of security and simplicity, especially if you are not particularly into Linux administration and scripts! See the discussion on: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/thin-client-virtual-machines/21968-anyone-using-hp-t5735-thin-client-terminals.html Once logged on you will have a generic familiar Windows desktop supplied by the server, with the application icons you have authorised to the user. The login process can be automated - so for example the terminal automatically, without prompting, logs in as "guest" and automatically enters password. You would need to create the guest account on the server and associate the required applications to this account, but the actual user would not need to enter/know any specific user details You can also configure the terminal to only run certain applications, previous posting user set to only run SIMS, but could equally well be IExplorer. (The terminal can be tied down to only run multiple applications, ie IExplorer, MSword, Excel and PDF Viewer, all other applications and access to any other part of "Windows" is impossible Its all very well me spouting off the merits of the product, judge for yourself and request a no hassle eval (Axel M70w) on http://www.axel.com or send me an email on [email protected] and we'll get one out to you - the only 'obligation' is that you are prepared to send it back if it doesn't suite your purposes...