I wonder why most people use DELL disktop to do home-automation control.It cost more money and space. Why no one consider use thin client (small computer) it is cheaper, small, and green.Espically for energy-saving control project.One of my client already coorporated with energy provider to using thin client as a energy-saving controller for new home builder.

Dell desktops for me have never been that great. If I was to ever use a thin desktop, it would have to be the HP slimline desktop, which I used to own and its great and reliable.

Have you seen the Dell Hybrid computers? They are tiny like a MAC mini, can run Vista Ultimate, 4 GB Ram and a large HDD, gigabit ethernet, HDMI, Optical Audio outs. they are small, cute and silent, they rock! I sprinkle them all over homes using them for AV and entertainment sources. If you need to setup a domain, Vista ultimate can be added to a domain. They are well under $1k and come in many colors if thats your bag. I attach 3 year warranties on them and point them to a centrally located NAS Drive for central repository of music, videos, photos, etc.

ITAVA
IT&AV;design Associates

From the numbers presented for Thin Clients they may seem more cost effective and green, but those numbers or for small computing tasks that do not task the servers.  Unless everyone in an office enviroment is a power user at the same time, the machines will not be not be taxed as much as just 2 users streaming HD content.  Even with home automation the system can be taxed, with the processing being done by 1 location, the server can be overworked as it trys to supply data to multiple UIs and devices for control and monitoring.

Once the system is overworked, then the server will require more power negating the greeness of the thin clients.  While I understand the benefits of Thin Clients, I also know the down side to how they work.  Using a client that does the processing can be a better way to go in most cases.  This could be a reason why they are not used as much as smaller PCs.

Not saying that Thin Clients should not be considered, just saying that only by looking at all the facts can a system be created with the proper equipment for the job.

Thin Clients need a server to do the legwork - so this is not applicable in this case:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thin_client

You could, however, use a slim desktop:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/series_can.do?storeName=computer_store&landing=desktops&a1=Category&v1=Slim and sleek

But… I am not sure if anyone wants their home to depend on an off-the-shelf PC…