The Mini-ITX Project Revisited

An anonymous reader writes "From the article: "Once my original Mini-ITX project was completed I finally had a chance to sit back and use the computer. After a couple weeks of general internet browsing, emailing, and so forth, I was able to get a better understanding of the system and a feel for its design. Knowing how simple my needs were, the Mini-ITX project computer was orginally designed to be as basic and quiet as possible. This meant no hard drive, no extra accessories- just a stripped down system. While this suited my needs well at the time, its lack of versatility soon became an issue. This meant it was back to the drawing board for a retooling of the Mini-ITX project computer. The changes include a new case, operating system and boot device, along with improved cooling. The new system was tested using Slax and then MEPISLite." Even better link is the site itself which regularly carries mods.

Comments

Those dc/dc converter boards

[xtal]

Has anyone been using them for any length of time? The one in the article is 60W, I've been using a few rated at 200W without problems in some of our boxes - but the longevity is always in the back of my mind.

We've put together a few dozen silent boxes based off of compact flash / IDE adapters and have been VERY pleased with the results.

Re:Buy a MAC-Mini, call it good!

[MsGeek]

Yes, the Mac mini seems to have killed all the incentive to build VIA EPIA-platform mini boxen. They are small, they are quiet, and they have a lot more capability than your average EPIA Mini-ITX box. They're a little more expensive but they are less hassle. And hey, you get Mac OS X with it! I like Linux, I use it all the time, but it doesn't have the same kind of polish that Mac OS X has.