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...for my needs anyway, so hopefully I can add something to the discussion. I'm one of those traitors who traded a homemade linux NAS for an off-the-shelf model and went through quite a few models before I found one I was happy with.

My initial file server was built into a cheap 4U rackmount and a couple of 3ware cards and provided sterling service. However, it was exceptionally loud and very heavy, and sucked up a fair amount of power. When you've moved house as often as I have, you start to think about whether you really need a 40kg server just to put 8 hard drives in (and another server to back up to).

So cue me looking for a smaller case that I could cram a mATX or mITX mobo into, and rely on linux softraid; there aren't really any that aren't rackmount. A couple of nice ones have come out recently like the Lian Li V354 (six bays and available in a very fetching red as well as black and silver) and the Chenbro ES34169 (four bays w/ hot-swap caddies) but I needed eight bays... so I started to look at the NAS market.
http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_1591.html
http://www.xcase.co.uk/Chenbro-ES34169-Compact-size-chassis-w-4-Hotswap-p/case-chenbro-es34169.htm

Once I could afford it (don't get me wrong - NAS units are colossally overpriced for what they are) I got myself a NAS chassis. I'd bought a Synology DS410 for a client before and it was reasonably nice kit (PPC processor and four non-hot-swap bays) and the synology OS was OK... but adding third-party apps to it was a bitch (you needed to hack the bootloader) and the shell was gimped. I returned the DS410 I bought for myself as a test (was planning to donate it so my sister as an engagement present once I'd evaluated the OS) and bought a QNAP TS-419P - also four bays but run on a 1GHz ARM processor.

The ARM processor was, sadly, anaemic. The QNAP OS didn't allow RAID10 at the time (you could set it up on the command line using conventional mdadm commands but then couldn't manage the volume from the web GUI) since QNAP were under the delusion that "RAID6 is just as fast and more reliable!" - wrong. Thankfully they've now seen the error of their ways. Hence volume creation and write speed was limited by the processor (it was on the Synology too, but less so since the PPC was more powerful). I think I could get writes over CIFS at about 20MB/s on a good day, considerably less if I used SSH or rsync (which I use all the time). So, not good enough. Which is a shame since as a British geek who grew up on a school Acorn Archimedes (and had a former colleague of Sophie [Roger] Wilson's as a flatmate before he drank himself to death) I'm naturally a fan of ARM processors. The only other real difference between the DS410 and the TS-419P was that the QNAP was noticeably quieter than the Synology, despite the fact the spec sheet led me to beleive the opposite would be true. I think the latest model in the 419 line has a 2GHz ARM processor so should be considerably faster.

So I looked at the x86 range. As much as I hate the Atom, for a NAS they're adequate. I sent the TS-419P up to my sister and bought a TS-859 Pro+ which uses a 1.6GHz dual-core + SMT Atom D525 and a 1GB SODIMM (which I later upgraded to 2GB) and the experience was instantly better. Across a six-disc RAID5 I got CIFS writes of about 100MB/s, and now that it's got eight drives in RAID10 (i.e. much less CPU overhead for RAID) I can get that up to 150MB/s with the two bonded gigabit ethernet ports; the bottleneck here appears to be smbd itself since with multiple transfers I can max out both interfaces at about 220MB/s. I figure there's something single-threaded in samba (or at least QNAP's version of it) that'll bottleneck the speed of a single transfer, but 150MB/s is easily fast enough for me at home. Amongst other things I use it as an iSCSI baby SAN for my ESX testbed. Noise-wise, the 859 i

If you want freeview going through a pc (the DIY part) then get a freeview pci card or usb box and plug it in. You can use Myth on Linux, or various solutions on Windows XP such MS Media centre, Media Portal, (I was going to add Meedio, but it seems they've been bought out by Yahoo), Snapstreams "Beyond TV".

If you're on linux, then you could use the Hardware compatibility list at LinuxQuestions to help in choosing a card.

There is a nice selection of DVB-T cards available at DVBSHOP in Germany, which I have used, and they are pretty good with quick orders. They also sell Common Interfaces for some of the DVB-T cards so you can add a TopUp TV CAM and smart card and get subscriber stuff.

Ok, so you have to build the box yourself, but that's DIY for ya !

If you can be bothered, here's a list of my media centre related bookmarks -

Bookmarks

media centre

If you want freeview going through a pc (the DIY part) then get a freeview pci card or usb box and plug it in. You can use Myth on Linux, or various solutions on Windows XP such MS Media centre, Media Portal, (I was going to add Meedio, but it seems they've been bought out by Yahoo), Snapstreams "Beyond TV".

If you're on linux, then you could use the Hardware compatibility list at LinuxQuestions to help in choosing a card.

There is a nice selection of DVB-T cards available at DVBSHOP in Germany, which I have used, and they are pretty good with quick orders. They also sell Common Interfaces for some of the DVB-T cards so you can add a TopUp TV CAM and smart card and get subscriber stuff.

Ok, so you have to build the box yourself, but that's DIY for ya !

If you can be bothered, here's a list of my media centre related bookmarks -

Bookmarks

media centre

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/ do some seriously good mods. But most of you folk are USA and dont care for such things...

Those in Northern Ireland will know that the biggest problem for us is pp charges. To help with this i've compiled a wee list of shops and charges usually for something small and light like an ethernet card. Sorry if any of it is wrong - if so please contact the site and let them know that they need to make it clearer.

• CCL Computers Online 10 extra. 3.95 for small order 7.50 large all + VAT
• Insight Direct 19.99
• MicroWarehouse claim they don't ship outside uk mainland
• SavaStore 15 + VAT extra
• Scan Computers UK citylink so expensive - they quote 7 + VAT for non-NI will contact you for exact pricing
• Simply Computers 12.95 + VAT
• Overclockers UK 3.48 + VAT 2nd class recorded
• ebuyer 15 surcharge on NI p&p
• Komplett.co.uk approx 10 p&p
• aria .co. uk 11.95 + VAT for under 8KG
• Novatech 15 extra p&p
• Kustom PCs
• Tekheads.co.uk RM Recorded from 2.85
• mini-itx.com 8 - 12 +VAT
• LinITX.com 2.39 recorded or 6.05 next day special (+ VAT i think)
• TheCoolingShop.com free delivery on orders over 4 but under 2KG - over 2KG = 20
• PC Nextday 17.61 inc. VAT next day
• Leapfrog Computers Ltd 6.90 + VAT
• Chillblast 1.18 inc VAT recorded 5.29 special
• Stuff-uk.net under 100g 3.75, under 500g 4.05, under 1KG 5.25, under 3KG 6.60, large over 1KG 10.50, all + VAT
• CaseTech.co.uk from 2.95 based on weight for 3-4 day courier. guess + VAT
• Crucial UK over 25 free p&p. under 25 2.95
• Over-Clock UK from 1.42 2nd class post to 4.59 citylink
• Micro Direct Ltd. 17.63 inc. VAT
• Carrera SSC 64 for complete system
• MESH Computers 20 inc. VAT
• dabs.com 5.88 inc. VAT extra

I always thought i'd be cool to have a little display of system statistics cpu/ram/disk usage, maybe any new emails that have arrived

You mean something like these.

A flexible keyboard. It's great for coffee spills or if you happen to drool on it.

But seriously, no more dirty keys, it's very flat so no RSI, and it's quiet. Good for gaming too :-)

We have been promised smaller computers for 20 years now and the closest thing we have in mass production is a Dell Opti (not bad, I have one).

How about the Gigabyte TA series?

I picked up a TA-1 for under 200UKP (just add 2.5" lappy drive and PC133 stick), and it's very nice - Eden 800MHz, 2xUSB (if you're after hi-speed USB2.0 you'll want the TA-2), 1xNIC, audio, PCMCIA slot, CD drive, etc. It even comes with a really nice mini BTC keyboard and optical mouse. Oh, and it's quiet too, unlike those little "vacuum cleaner"-like Shuttle boxes! Absolutely perfect for a little Linux box :)

I own one of these displays (an LCD one), and it's better than anything else on the market (hello Henry ;). They make loads of models, not just expensive VFDs. Here are some links:

Matrix Orbital, the manufacturer - they sell direct.
Matrix Orbital forums, with loads of photos.
LCDC, the best driver software around for MO LCDs. Does everything :).
Kustom PCs - a UK distributor