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Build Your Own Mini-Computer

Posted by michael on from the no-not-that-kind-of-minicomputer dept.

Bored in Chattanooga writes: "Tom's is running an article reviewing a Shuttle mini-computer. Seems to have everything the average computer user would need, minus a nice 3D graphics card. Perhaps the standard large ATX-size computer cases will cease to exist and be replaced by these "mini-computers." I find these gems cuter than any iMac I've ever seen!"

9 of 324 comments (clear)

  1. What about heat? by evilviper · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Of course a major problem with mini-computers is that there's just nowhere for the heat to go. Aluminum cases may help a small bit, but certainly not enough to accomidate an Athlon, Fast hard drive, etc. The air-circulation methods we've been using for so long just breakdown.

    If small PCs are to catch on, manufacturers are either going to need to make low-heat devices their bread and butter, or case manufacturers are going to need to realize that they can just add a little extra metal and actually CONDUCT the heat out through the case, instead of the much less effecient (although for some reason exclusively used) convection method.

    --
    Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  2. Re:A little reality check... by 2nd+Post! · · Score: 3, Interesting

    You have to remember that Bored in Chattanooga wants less functionality, pay less for a machine, keep his hands warm, and keep his books from falling over.

    He really does want the firewire, USB, tv out, compact size, built in audio, built in networking, everything the iMac offers, and the iMac does, as you mention, come with a GeForce2 and LCD screen. Except he doesn't want to pay for it and he tacitly acknowledges that look matters. Isn't that ironic? Saying that he values cute PCs, the iMac isn't cute enough?

    --

    GPL Deconstructed
  3. I own an FV24! by 2nd+Post! · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It's running W2k right now.

    I stuffed it inside an old, old, $10 Mac LCII case. Yeah, you know, those 1.4", smaller than 1U case. I haven't finished it, yet, as I have to hack at the case for the power supply to fit; the power supply is like 50mm and the free space inside is only 43mm. I have to carve up some plastic.

    I'm seriously considering stuffing an old iMac mobo into one of those as my next project, and then pop in a fast 800MHz G4...

    --

    GPL Deconstructed
    1. Re:I own an FV24! by WasterDave · · Score: 5, Interesting

      One upped, a mate of mine did it with a Mac classic and a 9 inch monitor.

      http://www.cooljazzmotherfucker.com/PCMods/

      We played rocket arena off it (serving) for several hours the other day. It rocks.

      Dave

      --
      I write a blog now, you should be afraid.
  4. Re:better mini computer by seanadams.com · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The Ipic is almost certainly a hoax. This guy should *not* be taken seriously until he either:

    - Posts some technical details as to how he managed to pull it off.
    - Publishes his source
    - Sells a product based on this
    - Sets up a convincing demo

    Having spent the better part of a year writing a TCP/IP stack for the PIC, I can tell you with certainly that the features and RFC compliance he claims are simply impossible to fit into the 12XXXX parts. The ROM space certainly isn't there, even if everything is tightly hand-coded in assembler. the more obvious limitation however, is RAM. He claims to be running full TCP on a part that doesn't even have the space to hold a minimum-size packet in RAM for checksumming. I could get into a zillion other impossibilities of this project, but it's easier to just show you this page, a commercial PIC TCP/IP stack), which shows exactly how much RAM/ROM it takes to fit a tight TCP/IP implementation into the PIC. There's just no way you could fit this much into the 12-bit PICs.

  5. Re:Stupid by NeuroManson · · Score: 3, Interesting

    In the Mini PC business, note that most of the systems are geared towards the Japanese market... Where a studio apartment on average is smaller than some folks' bedrooms, an ultra compact PC is ideal...

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    Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
  6. power and heat problems by tempmpi · · Score: 3, Interesting

    An nForce in this case would be very nice, but I think that it wouldn't be easy to solve the heat and power problems of this combination.
    Now the case contains a 145 w power supply, when you want to add a athlon and nforce you would need at least 250 W.
    Also needed is a special cooler, because there isn't enough space in the case to mount a standard athlon cooler. I think that these problems aren't easy to solve. I think they could maybe solve these problems if they find a good way to use the case as a heatsink.

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    Jan
  7. Bad Concept, Period. by Bowie+J.+Poag · · Score: 3, Interesting



    1) Who on earth is going to buy a stainless steel case, and then mount drives with BEIGE faceplates inside of it? Talk about ugly, sheesh.

    2) It may take off elsewhere, but this is America. Bigger is better. Most people want a machine that kicks ass and takes names, not something that looks a blinking vaccum cleaner attachment.

    3) Design thats pleasing to the eye will take off. Not this crap. I'm still waiting for a company with some balls to produce a nice black pyramid shaped case, an oversized corner slab or monolith-shaped case.. Those things would take off hardcore.

    Cheers,

    --
    Bowie J. Poag

  8. Re:So, how is... by Chris+Johnson · · Score: 3, Interesting
    Well, those of us (like me) who find this really cute aren't really thinking in terms of cost and usefulness. I'm a mac user myself, I'm not _expecting_ this to be really competitive. I'm looking at what it is. It's a tiny, _elegant_ arrangement of generic hardware that could potentially be really cheap to buy, and will get more so in future- it's an aluminum case, not a tin can (I like that especially, it's part of the cuteness though it adds cost)- and I can't look at it without picturing it running WindowMaker or maybe even just console or some fascinating, alien hybrid. It's like there's the possibility for it to go off in totally other directions from the computers we're used to, simply because it's really a very generic device, and because it LOOKS different than most PCs do. With such a compact arrangement it blatantly suggests a different path from the usual windows huge morass of cab files and 'look how many junky game sound cards you could buy if you wanted'. It makes me think of focus, of getting rid of waste and coming up with some elegant little workspace to live in that resonates with the elegant little looks of the tiny thing. Like I've said, the first thoughts that come to my mind are- ballbearing fans and underclocking, and getting special low-noise drives for it, so it could sit on the desk and be whisper-quiet despite the lack of space for sound absorption inside it.

    That's something I know about as my current desktop and work machines are already whisper-quiet- but they are PowerMacs without need for CPU fans, and they are tower or short tower cases with space inside for acoustic foam. Handled right this little machine could be as quiet and unobtrusive...