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Look at the mini-itx mobos that are normally used with the C3. Linkage. 17cm2 is hard to beat when you're talking small form factor.

It's good to see that Linksys is complying with the GPL. It's unfortunate that they are not making their platform more compelling by releasing a complete source tree.

In the end, Linksys APs are just not very good. I have had two, and both of them have had serious bugs. They are now stuck in a closet. Furthermore, their functionality was pretty limited as well.

So, if you want something hackable or powerful, don't bother with the Linksys APs. You are better off with a Mini-ITX board running Linux or BSD and some dumb wireless hardware (USB, wireless bridge, etc.). It's a little more expensive up-front, but much higher quality and much more flexible and functional.

Actually, there is a site I ran across recently that does do mods similar to the things you've suggested. I've only taken a brief browse of the site so far, but there are shots of people who've used old style radios, an Atari 800, quite a few humidor mods, a biscuit tin, etc.

Check it out: mini-itx.com

mini-itx.com has better case mods than this. The PSU-PC is a good one, as are all the old 8bits that have been retro fitted.

A Mac in a Pyramid? Whatever. Ohhh, but he has blue LED's! Well then, in that case he must be some sort of fucking king of case mods. Or maybe it was because it was a Mac, and all the Macintosh fags who infest this place needed their daily doss of Mac zealotry? Yeah, that must be it.

Alternativily I was thinking about purchasing a silent PC (such as the one at Tranquil PC) and installing MythTV on it, but I don't know how well it would work given that it's a hell of a lot more expensive than TiVo off eBay.

Also just looking at mini-itx.com I see something called OneBox. It looks to be running Windows but apparantly it allows you to run MAME on it too.

So, ignoring the waffle above - what i'm saying is

1. Is TiVo still a viable option in the UK despite the fact there is no hardware manfacturers? (ie. could they just pull out at any time)
2. Would a homebrew PVR be better? (it would have to be substantially given that it costs twice as much and requires work from me)
3. Would the tranquil PC or other box mentioned in the preview /. article be any good as a PVR? (processor power, graphics, IR, to name three things to think about)
4. Would something like a onebox be better?

From the description it sounds like the $200 model uses a VIA mini-itx motherboard which includes integrated video and ethernet. I just puchased one to upgrade my FreeBSD box. The good news about these is that they are tiny (17cm X 17cm), have low power consumption and low heat output so they can be used anywhere. The bad news is limited expansion options (one ram slot+one pci slot), and a slow FPU. It's not going to win any performance awards but after all, I spent all of the last 3 years using a 350MHz Intel with few problems.

The so-called Mini-ITX servers, which have possibly already been mentioned on Slashdot, are one way to go if this is what you're looking for.

They're like a regular PC, but in a much smaller box (perhaps the size of two 5.25" CD-ROM drives stacked on top of each other), and are often fanless (no, that doesn't mean they overheat, it means they're designed not to need one...), resulting in much less noise and much less power consumption. Many are cheap, and they make ideal Linux/BSD boxes for all kinds of things - web/mail/dns/anything server, backing up your data (or each other), monitoring security cameras for movement, etc. Here's a few examples for more information:

Here, here, here, here, here.

Some of them do actually officially support Linux/BSD AFAIK, such as the OpenBrick and LinITX.com.

-Andrew

The reason I bought an Xbox is to use it as a music box for my car.

I'm not going to say it's "silly", but there is much more appropriate hardware for that purpose than the XBox. You'll be working with a sub-obtimal NTSC signal instead of nice clean >VGA. You've also got to mod the XBox to run off 12VDC (or deal with a kludgy inverter).

Out of curiousity - why did you choose the XBox?

I'm sure you already found it, but others interested in doing similar things should take a serious look at http://mini-itx.com/.

Why not go that last step?

If you just want a small, light, portable PC, I think something like the Hush PC is a better choice.

If you want something smaller, you can get systems that fit into a drive bay here.

...judging by the spesifications is isn't much more than one of the lower-power mini-itx motherboards from VIA and some bundled perhipals.

So why not do as the good people over at mini-itx.com and roll your own? You may not save all that much money on it, but you can get a system thats tailormade for your needs and absolutly one of a kind... or you can molest some poor old computer and pimp it out with some new, faster hardware.

...judging by the spesifications is isn't much more than one of the lower-power mini-itx motherboards from VIA and some bundled perhipals.

So why not do as the good people over at mini-itx.com and roll your own? You may not save all that much money on it, but you can get a system thats tailormade for your needs and absolutly one of a kind... or you can molest some poor old computer and pimp it out with some new, faster hardware.

...judging by the spesifications is isn't much more than one of the lower-power mini-itx motherboards from VIA and some bundled perhipals.

So why not do as the good people over at mini-itx.com and roll your own? You may not save all that much money on it, but you can get a system thats tailormade for your needs and absolutly one of a kind... or you can molest some poor old computer and pimp it out with some new, faster hardware.

...judging by the spesifications is isn't much more than one of the lower-power mini-itx motherboards from VIA and some bundled perhipals.

So why not do as the good people over at mini-itx.com and roll your own? You may not save all that much money on it, but you can get a system thats tailormade for your needs and absolutly one of a kind... or you can molest some poor old computer and pimp it out with some new, faster hardware.

...judging by the spesifications is isn't much more than one of the lower-power mini-itx motherboards from VIA and some bundled perhipals.

So why not do as the good people over at mini-itx.com and roll your own? You may not save all that much money on it, but you can get a system thats tailormade for your needs and absolutly one of a kind... or you can molest some poor old computer and pimp it out with some new, faster hardware.

...judging by the spesifications is isn't much more than one of the lower-power mini-itx motherboards from VIA and some bundled perhipals.

So why not do as the good people over at mini-itx.com and roll your own? You may not save all that much money on it, but you can get a system thats tailormade for your needs and absolutly one of a kind... or you can molest some poor old computer and pimp it out with some new, faster hardware.

...judging by the spesifications is isn't much more than one of the lower-power mini-itx motherboards from VIA and some bundled perhipals.

So why not do as the good people over at mini-itx.com and roll your own? You may not save all that much money on it, but you can get a system thats tailormade for your needs and absolutly one of a kind... or you can molest some poor old computer and pimp it out with some new, faster hardware.

...judging by the spesifications is isn't much more than one of the lower-power mini-itx motherboards from VIA and some bundled perhipals.

So why not do as the good people over at mini-itx.com and roll your own? You may not save all that much money on it, but you can get a system thats tailormade for your needs and absolutly one of a kind... or you can molest some poor old computer and pimp it out with some new, faster hardware.

Okay checked the Register article:

The V5 measures 19.3 x 19.3 x 5cm (7.7 x 7.7 x 2in)

Uhm, well the EPIA motherboards are 17 cm x 17 cm, so I checked Froogle and mini-itx.com but indeed I couldn't find cases that wrap around the mobo that tightly.

But maybe somebody can enlighten us?

Taking an old PC case and putting new hardware into it? Boring... been done before... and this one isn't even fully functional. It's little more than an attempt at something visually cool, and even then it has no visual appeal whatsoever.

Now the Telefunken 2003... a 45 year old radio upgraded to Internet Radio... that's a nice hack with unique artistic appeal!!

I liked the Nintendo system better. Complete with a fully working controller.

Mini-ITX site has a lot of links to similar projects:
http://www.mini-itx.com

Did you happen to notice the Commodore PET ITX computer on the Mini-ITX site, where the original poster undoubtedly got this article? That's *almost* as retro as a PDP-11.

I don't think they use any less power than a full size.

Then you state

Cons
more power usage

if you hit Here you will notice that the MAXIMUM power consumption of a power supply is 100 watts.. and that definatly is a LOT less then what i have in my desktop which should also calculate to some decent savings over time.

Actually, the ITX machines do use much less electricity. Mini-ITX.com has a 55w passively cooled sealed PSU that will power most setups.

And if you have the inclination and about 425 pounds to spare, you can get a totally fanless Via setup with a silent Seagate Barracuda (the 5400 RPM Seagate IV is legendary). That's as silent as you can get without resorting to Compact Flash.

Pros:
Dead silent
Cheap replacement parts
High coolness factor
Sort-of expandable
Low power consumption

Cons:
Bang per dollar

I too have been looking into putting together a small media server/web services
machine. A little research turned up, Mini-ITX.
I would start here, its a pretty good site that has a lot of information of
what you can do with mini-itx and features note worthy products as they come
out. Personally I think what you need is a HUSH.
Its the size of a dvd player, its completely silent and its so low power that
the power supply (95watts I think it is) is external. It might not be the cheapest
itx option out there but it fits all your (and mine) requirements and adds the
nice look factor aswell. They seem like a pretty good shop and they even let
you buy it without an OS, which I'm sure you'll (and me too but for different
reasons) appreciate. If you do get one I suggest getting it with 128ram and
buying more ram elsewhere, they're based in Germany and the value of the Euro
really shoots up the price of ram (and everything else I imagine). Btw I don'
work for these guys so don't assume I do, but I'd gladly trade a free one for
advertising these guys as often as possible.

And before anyone says it, I have imagined a beowulf cluster of these :)

Toaster PC Reference to "Linux Fridge" In 2nd paragraph.

> It's a high-quality farm implement, and I admire his work ethic, but it's still a farm implement.

I wouldn't even go that far. At first I was impressed that he got everything stuffed in there and working, but then again he's using NINE (or more) fans. That's just cheating; in a way.

This is a nick hack, but that's it, a hack. Its a dirty "shove it all in a box" job. I would think a project like the PC in a picture frame would be more deserving of world-wide geek attention.

Still trying to figure out why you'd use BeOS.

The multimedia capabilities of BeOS are excellent, and the hardware requirements are a lot lower than you would expect. Install BeOS on your Mini-ITX based box, and you will have yourself the beginnings of a Home Theater PC.

The /. crowd is still missing a valuable lesson in "building your own tivo" -- it's freaking EXPENSIVE! I love how all the lists of "needed hardware" included multiple super high-end video capture cards -- each of which costs the same as a full TiVo. Now mind you, I have not yet built my own PVR, but have actually been looking into it quite a bit now. How is it more expensive? First, as far as I know, you'd need a VIA EPIA with at least around an 800MHz chip on it; that should set you back around $105 shipped. Then you'd need some memory; an extra $50. 80 gig hard drive; should be around $80. WinTV PVR card, to handle all the MPEG2 encoding from TV; $125. Mini-ITX power supply; $30. (Throw in some extra for a case, or put it in something fun like at mini-itx.com.) Linux distribution and an installation of Freevo or MythTV; free. No priceless joke at the end of the list: good. That totals under $400 ($390). I'd say put an extra $75 in the mix, just in case there are upgrades/other necessities, and you're at $465. When I was looking at TiVOs this past December, they ended up being well over this price with subscription services. Now, the question remains of whether or not my product list up there would be feasible...

One of these chips coupled with one of the new Hush Silent PCs, could make a great HTPC and DVD replacement. Shame they're still quite expensive in the UK.

From the article:
"A hardware based random number generator (RNG) has been added. This creates true random numbers from the random electrical noise on the chip."

Why do I get the feeling that "random electrical noise" is anything but?

Anyone considering a M10000 should read this first. Basically, VIA released two separate boards under the M10000 name. The second of which is the only one to feature the Nehemiah core. The first series (the one from directron.com) still uses the older Ezra-T core. Right now, there's not many vendors who can reliably provide Nehemiah processors. The only places I've seen are idot.com and monarchcomputer.com.

This review links to a method that sounds ridiculously simple to overclock the Epia M processors using nothing but a software utility, but it's a Windows utility.

Is there a Linux program with equivalent functionality? It would be nice to bump my M9000 ("borderline" in several of the listed benchmark results) to a full gigahertz and into the (acceptable) green level instead of yellow :)

A mini-itx project and three atx.

Has anyone compared this to a broadly equivalent mini-itx setup, in cost or spec? It just seems that an xbox probably has some unnecessary systems...

My approach was that I used a fanless Via MB from Mini-ITX which has Tv-OUT. Using that + NFS + Wireless gave me a nice player. However I will admit I haven't got round to installing a remote control..

It make a nice talking point though

Rus

Check out where the fan is located on this model. Doll PC This can only lead to bad things.

A PC case shaped like Tux the Penguin...

Just get a big enough Tux doll...

..I wonder if I can talk my girl (yes, this near-geek has a girl!) to stand model for one...

Mind you, it appears to have mini-itx board from VIA. If you head over to mini-itx.com, you'll see a lot of weird cases with this board - including a Millenium Falcon, a Commandore SX-64 and it's sibling (twin actually) Comondore 64, a clock and a beer-keg.

Going for the mobile market is indeed a mistake.

They went for the blade-server market, which was not a mistake.

Embedded (under certain circumstances) is not a mistake either, but it's a very competitive market.

They've ignored the quiet PC market, and that was a huge mistake.

OK, here comes the clarification. The power savings of TMTA chips don't matter much for mobiles, because the power profile is dominated by the monitor and other devices, not the CPU. The one advantage the chip does offer for mobiles is low heat disipation, but they didn't pitch that. Instead, they marketed enhanced battery life and when that (predictably) didn't materialize, they started to look like Enron execs.

The power savings matter a great deal for server farms, because when you jam 1000s of CPUs into a room, all those watts add up quickly, and you also reduce the cost of cooling the room. In general, when TMTA's chips are scattered all over the place, the heat dissipation and power savings don't matter that much. When the chips are packed together in small spaces, then it matters, which brings us to...

...The quiet PC. The low heat allows TMTA chips to run FANLESS. This wasn't emphasized enough by their marketing or engineering departments, and as a result there are virtually NO PCs being made with TMTA's chips, and there are no inexpensive motherboards using a TMTA chip. That market has been conceded entirely to VIA's mini-itx boards. This is a real shame, because apparently the TMTA chips can (in theory) perform better than VIA's chips and do so without a fan. Also, TMTA squandered its geek appeal by making it very difficult for anybody to experiment with their chips. I haven't seen any SBCs with a TMTA chip in them for under $600. The chip itself is available for $90 in single units, but there is nothing to plug it into. Since Intel chips cost about the same, I don't see any argument for why TMTA can't get somebody to make inexpensive MoBos. That is an oversight that must be corrected.

If you look at the mini-itx.com site, you'll see that most of the projects are hobbiest kitsche. I imagine that most of the projects at the original Homebrew Computer Club were like that too; but one of them was the first Apple. Unless TMTA gets its /\55 in gear, it will end up like Zilog instead of Motorola.

It's very, very ironic that Linus works for a company that has failed so miserably to understand the importance of hackers and the "garage" in driving the industry. I haven't heard him say anything about advocating within TMTA to make their hardware more open. Notice, I mean open in the sense that you should be able to buy components separately and tinker with them; I'm not asking TMTA to give up any copyrights or patents.

For example, in theory, you can emulate any CPU by writing your own code-morphing software. Now, I defy anybody to find the documents that tell you how to do that.

The Via C3 series is pretty anemic, especially in the FPU department. The Nehemiah series has a vastly improved FPU, but the current generation of Hush systems don't use them.

In any case, if MPEG2 is what you want, the Hauppage WinTV PVR-250 offers hardware MPEG2 compression. They just got basic support for it in MythTV in Linux, too. Linux support for the EPIA's onboard MPEG2 decoder is forthcoming as well (Alan Cox has one).

My only issue would be the AC97-based onboard sound. Hopefully VIA comes out with this board soon - it has the very high quality Envy24 24/96 sound chip on it. A lot of "semi-pro" recording cards like those from M-Audio use the Envy24 series. One good feature is lack of resampling on the SPDIF output.

http://www.mini-itx.com/reviews/hush/

please note that mini-itx sells these things so the review may be biased

http://www.mini-itx.com/reviews/hush/

please note that mini-itx sells these things so the review may be biased

The only thing missing is a TV card, but you can add that in the PCI slot that is available.

Another review can be found on the this website (bear in mind that they sell the Hush though). A comparison of the M and V series boards, including comparative benchmarks for video playback, can be found here.

Personally I intend to wait until Hush produce a new model based on the M series.

Remember the PowerMac G4 Cube? Aside from all of its brouhaha on price, lack of expansions, etc., it was 8 inches square and was a fanless convection cooled machine (and still is, for those of us who still use them!), and 1-2 years before any of these fanless mini-itx form factor machines.

It really is perfect as an iTunes console/DVR at the side of the TV, but priced well above using one for that purpose at the time.

As evidence of a near-identical form factor, folks have managed to cram mini-itx motherboards inside its case.

Similar to these mini-itx style boxes, the G4 Cube had internal hard drive and CD-ROM noise, but with NetBoot (or some optical FireWire repeaters and a hard drive in another room) you could run the sucker completely silent.

The only fan that was in Apple original designs was the video card fan for the ATI Radeon graphics cards (Rage 128s were fanless). Unsupported Radeon upgrades were fanless. Most upgrades these days to honk up the processor to a 1GHz+G4 single or dualie add in an 80cm fan at the base of the unit to push air through. Similarly with GF3s or other video cards put inside this case...convection alone isn't enough to cool the chips. Fans and noise will probably be the price of powerful machines in small form factors for some time to come given that minimal heat dissipation is not a primary design goal of high-end CPUs and GPUs.

Looking over the specs this would be really quite however apart from the hard disk/CD Rom access. As such me being a geek would like to see a versions that could boot over the network and run everything from Ram. OK prehaps its over kill but if you remove all the mechanical bits then your should have somethnig truly quite and very reliable.

I know for a fact that the Via MB are good. I bought one from Mini-ITX and have had it running solidly for about 2 months. No crashes. Nothing. Very Impressed

Rus

Which you can check out here.

It comes with a hard drive, and uses the 933Mhz Epia solution without needing a fan. Granted, the case gets a little warm (as the whole thing effectively acts as a heatsink), but that doesn't stop it from being very cool :)

For a review of the gold version, click here.

The Minibox seems to run the EPIA-M motherboards from VIA with either their 600Mhz Eden or faster C3 processors. The EPIA-M motherboards support direct MPEG-2 playback so DVD playback should be no problem. For more info on Mini-Itx stuff check out mini-itx's website.