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Intel Flaunts Mac mini Knock-off
Rollie Hawk writes "Remember how the Mac mini was designed by Apple to steal PC customers? Now Intel wants to steal them back. Adopting a shockingly similar lunch box shape and light-weight design, Intel's upcoming Mini PC features all the sleekness and portability (physical, that is) of the Mac mini with none of the Mac benefits. Well, at least it will probably have a faster processor. Now if only someone would make a Cobalt Qube knock-off for me."
It's also hard to build a mini-PC that's optimized for low power usage and low noise. Every Shuttle (and Shuttle clone) box that I've looked at is trying to be a gamer's "pocket rocket".
I don't need extreme performance in a mini-pc, my needs are: something small and quiet with low power draw, something that can run 24/7 and not drive up the power bill, and not burn the house down because a fan got stuck or because the water cooling system developed a leak. I've looked for such a case/motherboard, and have had no luck at all. Except in the Mac Mini.
Thermaltake's line of cases are awesome. I built a system using the XaserIII early last year, and it has been awesome for me. The case ships with 7 case fans and I now have a total of 12 fans running inside it. For those of you concerned about loudness, the loudest one is the fan on my northbridge (which is not that loud). The case has plenty of room for expansion. It is also built extremely durably. It has shipped back and forth from college to home twice (two round trips) and is still in perfect condition. If Thermaltake's styles don't catch you, look to Antec. They have some amazing cases as well.
day-to-day Linux on the desktop (even on powerpc) is for people with a helluva lot of time on their hands. I have work to do.