The data sheet says "200 W power supply".
No, you cannot run 32 Spartan6-150 FPGAs off a 200 W power supply while mining.
Mining consumes about 8 to 9 W per FPGA.

Exactly.

Let's say a few friends come up with 20 grand each to finance a multi-product wafer run.
They get 250 chips.

So they build 25 miners, sell them for 30 grand each and now they have 750 grand (less expenses).

After that, it's a simple three-step process:
1. You have a proven ASIC design
2. You have about 700 grand for a real ASIC design
3. Profit!

There are many foundries that offer multi-project wafer runs, for instance http://www.globalfoundries.com/services/global_shuttle.aspx, and you receive anywhere from a few dozen to a few hundred chips.

So, maybe that's all they [will] have: A few hundred chips, enough for 25 boxes (each containing, say, 10 chips).

It may be a production run on a multi-chip wafer, i.e. they literally have only 250 ASICs.
All they could finance is a multi-chip wafer run.
The "deposit" will finance the PCBs, passives, power supplies and assembly.

OK, I just got an email acknowledging my payment.
It's a corporate Paypal account and it's possible that all they saw associated with the payment was the name of my business, not my first&last name.
Apology accepted and eagerly awaiting my first single, which I ordered exactly 2 months ago...

So, in other words, that puts you at the lower end of the promised "4 to 6 months" delivery window - oh, wait...

So, yesterday late at night I get the first email from Sonny that acknowledges my 2-23 order of four additional singles (I ordered
several singles prior to that) and he tells me to please pay up, so that they can process my order, WHEN IN FACT THIS ORDER WAS
IMMEDIATELY PAID VIA PAYPAL ON 2-23! 

This morning, I sent him an email with a screen shot of my Paypal account showing the $2420 payment on 2-23, and will let you all
know what he says.

I think they are so overwhelmed with orders that they start to lose track of who has paid and who hasn't - not a good sign. 

May I ask when you ordered it?
Thanks.

My initial assessment is: It's more than twice as expensive as it should be. Thank you, but no, thank you.

I just got this via email, I'm not affiliated with them:


LargeCoin is pleased to announce that we are now taking deposits against pre-orders of our first dedicated, ASIC-based mining appliance, the LC 200C Integrated Mining Unit (IMU). Deposits will be held in third party escrow until final product delivery, which is expected in July 2012, and will be refunded if the product cannot be delivered on time. And yes, you can pay with Bitcoins if you prefer. Additional product details, along with terms and conditions, are found toward the end of this message.

If you would like to be contacted about making a pre-order, please use the following Google form to let us know:

[url removed]

PRICING AND DEPOSIT DETAILS

The C200 IMU is priced at USD $30,000. We are selling 25 units initially, with more to come later in 2012. To secure your place in the line, you must make a $4,500 deposit, which will be held in escrow by a third party until product delivery. You and LargeCoin will sign an escrow agreement to this effect before any money is transferred. The deposit will be returned to you if product delivery does not take place by July 31, 2012.

==============================================

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

The LargeCoin C200 is the world's first purpose-built Bitcoin mining appliance. Designed to fit within a standard 1U of rack space, the C200 connects to the network using Ethernet, and starts mining as soon as it's plugged in to the wall. Mining is controlled via an online control panel hosted by LargeCoin, which allows you to direct mining shares to the pool of your choice and manage your entire LargeCoin cluster in one convenient place. Each C200 mines at 20GHash/s, consuming a mere 100W. Designed for high density operation, the C200 provides efficient movement of air and is suitable for operating in a fully loaded 42U rack (up to 40 units per rack).

Despite the incredible power efficiency and spatial density of the C200, it's priced competitively with GPU mining. When compared with GPU mining, the C200 consumes 100 times less electricity and 14 times less rack space, meaning there's virtually no operating cost associated with this device.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Your deposit guarantees that LargeCoin will ship you a C200 IMU by July 31, 2012, that the specifications of the final product will not deviate materially from the specifications shown here, and that the device will function properly when it is plugged in. When you receive the unit and connect it to the network, you will be granted a temporary mining license enabling the system to mine for a period of 30 days. When we receive the balance of your payment, a permanent mining license will be issued to you. C200 IMUs may be transferred and re-sold -- just let us know before you make the sale so that we can transfer ownership of your license key.

SHIPPING

LargeCoin ships to North American destinations for free. Shipping costs for other destinations will be born by the customer and must be paid in advance. We will notify you when the shipping date approaches and provide a shipping quote for your review and final approval. International customers should be aware that air freight and insurance may cost $2,500 or more.

90-DAY LIMITED WARRANTY

LargeCoin warrants that the C200 will function materially consistent with the specifications for a period of 90 days following device activation, which occurs when you plug the unit in to a network with Internet connectivity for the first time. If the device fails, you may return it to us at LargeCoin's expense for a full refund, or replacement unit. Devices that are dead on arrival will be replaced or refunded.

NO GUARANTEE OF MINING REWARD OR FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE

Due to the random nature of Bitcoin mining, and the large uncertainties in the Bitcoin economy and network, LargeCoin cannot guarantee that the C200 will solve Bitcoin blocks at a particular rate, or that it will generate a financial benefit of any kind. Mining profitability depends on a number of factors, including the selection of a mining pool, which may or may not charge fees that reduce the mining reward; changes in the Bitcoin mining reward calculation including but not limited to scheduled reductions in the mining reward; and fluctuations in difficulty factor. LargeCoin's warranties and guarantees extend only so far as the hashing rate provided by the appliance, and its level of average power consumption.

Now we're talking.
That's a reasonable price!

Do yourself a favor and source cables from China, for instance via Winstronics http://www.winsusa.com/ instead of soldering or crimping them
yourself.

Please realize that few, if any, people will need 8 individually switched outlets.
Thank you.

OK, PM me how many you want, I'll buy them at Amazon for $24.54 (see my previous post), mark them up to $100 and resell them to you.

Recently, I bought such a device for $24.54 at Amazon.
It is the "USB Net Power 8800 Single Outlet Network AC Power Controller" and it has a USB cable. While intended for Windows, someone has written a Linux driver, which can be downloaded. In fact, I use it with Ubuntu Linux.

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Single-Outlet-Network-Controller/dp/B004L7NDVQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330713310&sr=8-1

I use it to power-cycle my %^$#%& DSL modem, which once in a while decides to go catatonic.
I wrote a perl script which detects that the aggregate hash rate of all graphics cards on this particular rig has fallen to 0.0 MH/s, whereupon the script turns the power to the modem off for one second, then on again.
Works like a charm.

Edit: I just looked at the type plate of this device, and it says "6 Amps".
       Definitely OK for a DSL modem, but probably too lightweight for a 4-GPU or 5-GPU mining rig.

Regardless of FAULT?

In Thailand it's like this: If a motorbike rider ignores a stop sign and is therefore injured or killed by a "farang" (foreigner) driving a car, the "farang" is automatically at fault, because if the car hadn't been there, the accident wouldn't have happened.

Is is similar in China, or is it a little bit more rational?

---

On another note: For the first time ever there was presence of China-based security vendors at this year's RSA conference. For years and years, Germany had a huge pavilion for several vendors from Germany, and this year as a first, China had the same thing.
Specifically, the pavilion was rented by "Beijing Zhongguancun Overseas Science Park" and subdivided among several vendors.

Wow. 80 hours a day. My old boss used to say, "the day has 24 hours and if that's not enough, work through the night, too", but 80 hours a day, that definitely takes the cake.

You forget to account for the fact that some GPU-based rigs will be retired when the Singles come online, due to power / heat concerns.

I, for one, will probably turn off one GPU-based rig for every 5 or 6 singles I bring online, due to heat concerns.

>directly outside

How do you plan to do that?
Is it a BARN, with a overhanging roof and a huge open window?

Half a year ago I had eight tower cases perched on the windowsill of an office, four where the right windowpane opened and four where the left windowpane opened. I added external ducting and 12cm "exhaust fans" at the mosquito screen of the windowpanes.

Problem was, they were blue LED fans - the building owner drove by at night, went WTF? - and eventually asked me what the f*** I was doing. I gave an evasive answer ("research") and was evicted shortly thereafter with a 3-day notice.  

Now you know why I'm interested in BFL Singles and FLGA boards...  

I placed my order in early January and paid via Paypal, and as of today I have received: Nothing. Nada. Zilch.
In other words, this is now the 8th week [of waiting], seven weeks have passed.

Do you know that it's going to take 4 to 6 weeks until you receive it?