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When I read the title I thought that this article would feature some nifty non-pc like designs. Wrong. They're just SFF PCs, some with a hide-away drive bay, except for possibly the last one which has some artistic curves.

    I've built two mythboxes now. The first is of the Shuttle G2 variety, which works nicely, but still looks very PC. The one I built for the girlfriend is a much prettier ASUS Pundit which is very aesthically pleasing. It's not "booksize" as advertised (unless you read books twice the thickness and length of a hardcover), but it's the smallest full-featured case I've found. Too bad the card reader isn't Linux supported and doesn't have all the card types available.

    What we really need is an article on very tiny (mini-itx preferably) motherboards and cases. I need something without fans, because most fans are distracting. The two I have are minimal, but if you strain it can definetly be heard. The Via chipset looks promising, and the almost fanless 1Ghz Epia Nehemiah motherboard might fit the bill, but I'm not sure how well supported the architecture is supported in Linux.

    In researching my post here, I stumbled across Shuttle's latest M1000 offering. That looks pretty sweet, but I haven't done my due dilligence on Linux compatibility yet.

    So, if someone could review the prettiest, smallest, fanless (and throw in cheapest too) HTPC case/motherboard combos, it would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Till then, I'll browse http://www.mini-itx.com/ from time to time.

When I read the title I thought that this article would feature some nifty non-pc like designs. Wrong. They're just SFF PCs, some with a hide-away drive bay, except for possibly the last one which has some artistic curves.

    I've built two mythboxes now. The first is of the Shuttle G2 variety, which works nicely, but still looks very PC. The one I built for the girlfriend is a much prettier ASUS Pundit which is very aesthically pleasing. It's not "booksize" as advertised (unless you read books twice the thickness and length of a hardcover), but it's the smallest full-featured case I've found. Too bad the card reader isn't Linux supported and doesn't have all the card types available.

    What we really need is an article on very tiny (mini-itx preferably) motherboards and cases. I need something without fans, because most fans are distracting. The two I have are minimal, but if you strain it can definetly be heard. The Via chipset looks promising, and the almost fanless 1Ghz Epia Nehemiah motherboard might fit the bill, but I'm not sure how well supported the architecture is supported in Linux.

    In researching my post here, I stumbled across Shuttle's latest M1000 offering. That looks pretty sweet, but I haven't done my due dilligence on Linux compatibility yet.

    So, if someone could review the prettiest, smallest, fanless (and throw in cheapest too) HTPC case/motherboard combos, it would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Till then, I'll browse http://www.mini-itx.com/ from time to time.

For many of the jobs they suggest - Kitchen machine, music hub, lower end specialist stuff - I personally would much rather go with Mini ITX.

eg Via
http://www.via.com.tw/en/initiatives/spearhead/min i-itx/

with a nice compact case
http://www.mini-itx.com/store/
http://www.bigbruin.com/html/morex_3688.htm

I guess really what Im saying is I would perfer a Mac Mini :o)

This one?

Works best if you run an emulator full screen...

It sounds like you are going to be doing the majority of your work on you laptops and what you are looking for is a large file server.

VIA has some great micro/nano-ITX boards with power saving in mind. Many of which can run with out a fan. Combine that with a few 120g notebook hard drives (Toshiba has a 120g 4200rpm drive for under $200 on http://newegg.com/

Last I heard Ubuntu was still the king of powersave mode in Linux. Most of the people I know who have set up fileshares have used Samba.

Get a 1000mbps ethernet card for it and hook it up the the router. The low hard drive speed and power save functionality will likely give you a bit of latency, but once it starts pulling sequencial data, it should be fine. There was a great article about low power solutions, I think I saw a link to it on http://mini-itx.com/ and they had some storage arrays running under 30watts IIRC)

And let me commend you for your excellent drive. Energy conservation is a great field for both professional and financial improvement. With new integrated home systems like Solar Shingles and improved energy efficiency designs we can greatly reduce the growth demand on grid power.

-Rick

That looks like a great solution. Pair it with this, stick it behind a wall, and you're golden.

i guess they wont make it more smaller and again with breakable screen. how many people used that product? anyone here knows that stat. --------- design or built your our mini-itx http://mini-itx.com/ or your own custom enclosures http://protocase.com/

will it be good like the connection and the quality while using cordless. It seems that i have to buy the set again for the voip. let me try it once than i will know how it looks. but limiting it to Windows doesnt make me feel good though i guess they will built it sometimes later. -------- build your own project http://mini-itx.com/ or your own custom enclosures http://protocase.com/.

i would go with one of the custom enclosures manufacturers. there are plenty of them there in the market like this one http://www.protocase.com/. i have also seen plenty of project going on in http://mini-itx.com/. i have made some of the custom enclosures. ...

what about doing it yourself? build your own system, mini-ITX http://www.mini-itx.com/, use your own custom enclosures http://www.protocase.com/, what else, ... for silence http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/mega-itx/, plus the harware from ebay http://ebay.com/ will do fine.

what about doing it yourself? build your own system, mini-ITX http://www.mini-itx.com/, use your own custom enclosures http://www.protocase.com/, what else, ... for silence http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/mega-itx/, plus the harware from ebay http://ebay.com/ will do fine.

Do a Mini-ITX beowulf cluster: http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/cluster/

Ammo Box

Not really THAT impressive, since he basically just put the Mac into the plastic model. See what can be done if you start from scratch with a motherboard instead of just hiding a working machine: http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/minifalcon/

The systems usually sell with case, mb, and CPU.
They start at about $200.

Depending on the case, you can use a 2.5" or 3.5" HD, and usually a slim CD or DVD.

Mini-ITX.com has LOTS of info.

If you get a VIA, make sure its a recent one (C3?) as the older ones aren't fully 686 compatible so some software won't run on them.

The systems usually sell with case, mb, and CPU.
They start at about $200.

Depending on the case, you can use a 2.5" or 3.5" HD, and usually a slim CD or DVD.

Mini-ITX.com has LOTS of info.

If you get a VIA, make sure its a recent one (C3?) as the older ones aren't fully 686 compatible so some software won't run on them.

I'm trying to get back to my roots. I'm planning on building one of these .

I've been designing the software for it, and although I haven't had time to work on it for about a week, it's coming along nicely.

Shameless plug: AFX

I just need to think of a better way of describing what it is in the project summary.

I think this mini-itx PC in a typewriter is much cooler.

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/underwood/

There it is, Underwood no. 5

Here's some design hints:

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/underwood/

The cool thing about Erik Fitzpatrick's one is it still functions as a typewriter.

Looks like that box only draws 90 W and uses a 1.3GHz VIA cpu. A Pentium 4 can draw that much all on its own. I think the biggest difference is the receiver can better distribute where the heat builds up, while a P4 concentrates it on a small coin-sized area. If the Hush box had to dissipate 300 W, the hard drive might easily reach 55 C, and that's pretty bad for it's longevity.

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/ampc/

His fifth request was for smaller hard drives, ideally resulting in a smaller computer. To this, I suggest a Mini-ITX form factor PC, which uses laptop hard drives (2.5") and very small motherboards to achieve an overall package the size of a Mac Mini.

Is this what you had in mind?

Mini-ITX boards drive the Internet Archive, for instance:

http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/22/ 0418253&tid=198&tid=126&tid=137&tid=106

There has been a story about a similar project on slashdot more than two years ago.

Here is the original article:

The mini-itx based pictureframe pc:
http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/pictureframepc/

I'm surprised the article didn't link to old-computers.com:
http://www.old-computers.com/news/default.asp

Plenty of "Replica"-esque machines on mini-itx. The best two are probably
http://mini-itx.com/projects/bbcitxb/
http://mini-itx.com/projects/sx64/

I'm surprised the article didn't link to old-computers.com:
http://www.old-computers.com/news/default.asp

Plenty of "Replica"-esque machines on mini-itx. The best two are probably
http://mini-itx.com/projects/bbcitxb/
http://mini-itx.com/projects/sx64/

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/coolcube/ I prefer the overall look of this case. Other than the backplate and the lighted rheobus/power/reset switches (which is a very cool touch BTW), this one is made to look like a solid cube of fans. Very nice job stealthing the slimline DVD.

Link
And this one looks a lot better too

This one is WAY better and definitely more artistic.
http://mini-itx.com/news/24193222/

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/coolcube/

The above is a link to a guy who made a case for his Mini ITX board out of something like 25 8cm fans plus a few reinforcements.

Obviously, the machine isn't as silent as most of the home projects on that site try to be, but I'm sure the SlashDot crowd can appreciate the workmanship.

Cooper
--
I don't need a pass to pass this pass!
- Groo The Wanderer -

Check out this implementation: The Cool Cube. All fans. Shiny metal. Cool lighting.

Just needs a handle somewhere...ouch!

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/coolcube/

Um, that isn't the first mod of its kind, nor is it the slickest. See here.

Been there, done that.

It would have been worthwhile, except it's just a PC in a foreign box. I prefer this "put a small computer in a random object" website.

It's been done already +5 Informative, thankyou please.

Yeah considering a nicer version of what they did can be seen Here. It may not be a P4 but its basically x86 on a mac with no stupid P-4 letters, or extras.

The right way is here: Mac-ITX (SE/30 case largely undamaged).

The wrong way is here: Wraith SE (SE case heavily modded).

The right way is here: Mac-ITX (SE/30 case largely undamaged).

The wrong way is here: Wraith SE (SE case heavily modded).

People have been making mini itx boxes with the idea of compactness etc. before the Mac Mini came out.

Sure, but let's consider the target market of the Mini: those wanting to try out OS X and (grand)parents because it does what they need. There are no complete EPIA-based hardware+software+support solutions with anywhere near the price point or functionality of the Mini.

Integration could be done by a reseller, but you'd be going to them for support as well. The point is not whoever made a small computer first. Apple gives you reasonable hardware, the latest software, and support for $500.

Via had long before Mac Mini came out announced nano-ITX

Duke Nukem Forever has been announced for years, but it's not out either. Having a retail product that has already been shipping for months is something else entirely. As far as EPIAs go, no one has made a complete system and sold it with software and support anyway.

Apple cult followers will now always say it was Apple's idea to make PC's small.

It was Apple's idea to make small computers viable, and the success of the Mini proves it. The cappuccino has been around for years: http://www.cappuccinopc.com/cappuccino.asp ... but no one *I* know uses them.

The EPIAs are fun for experimentation (check out the custom cases on http://www.mini-itx.com/ but they're far from the complete solution that non-enthusiasts want.

Offtopic: Speaking of experimentation, I've been watching the Epia platform rather closely for the past half-year or so. I want to build a low power, quiet, SFF Linux file server and have been waiting for an Epia that would overcome some of the technical problems that older boards like the M/MII Epias had (lockups on DMA I/O, etc.). The newest Epia SP solves that, but is hard to find in stock, has crap Linux drivers, and costs around $250 without case, drives, PSU, or memory. With distros like Yellow Dog, Ubuntu, and Debian supporting almost everything in the Mini with the default install (http://www.sowerbutts.com/linux-mac-mini/#support ), it's hard for me to justify going with the Epia platform.

Yeah, because we know that just because it has an x86 processor in it, it must be large and boring.

http://www.mini-itx.com/store/product.asp?sid=HUSH

They sell complete systems on mini-itx.com, and no doubt elsewhere. Just click "add to basket", give them your details, and you're done. All guaranteed to work, and not difficult.

If you're more worried about heat than speed, something using a VIA Epia board would do the trick.

A little bit like this?

The mini-itx

At 6.7"x6.7", you might be able to get it to fit inside your old car stereo.

You obviously don't read mini-itx.com!

"As seen on TechTV"

The Millenium Falcon PC

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/falcon-itx/

and

http://www.viaarena.com/default.aspx?PageID=5&Arti cleID=51&P=1

nano-ATX where the *hell* are you?

Mini-ITX: 6.75" inches square

http://www.mini-itx.com/hardware/intro.asp

Thinking about getting one of these as a MythTV head...

Via UniChrome is a Mini-ITX thing.

Check mini-itx.com for motherboards.

w00t! Look forward to lots of high quality linux based PVR/MediaPC thingies. Just plug in a thumb drive, or livecd...