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Date:      Mon, 28 Jan 2002 08:08:07 -0600
From:      "McKenna, Lee" <lmckenna@lodgenet.com>
To:        "'John Utz'" <john@utzweb.net>, "Daniel O'Connor" <doconnor@gsoft.com.au>
Cc:        freebsd-small@freebsd.org
Subject:   RE: Compact motherboard sources..
Message-ID:  <3EA88113DE92D211807300805FA7994209149A73@chaplin.lodgenet.com>

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Agree, the Flex-ATX form factor is a good way to go.  VIA also introduced a
new reference design recently called the Mini-ITX, but I have not found a
source.  The closest thing is the Shuttle SV24, about the size of a shoe box
- it has one PCI slot so you could throw a highend audio card if you dont
like the AC97 that comes with it...oh, then there is this thing called the
expresso from www.saintsong.com but its about $350US barebones, but does
support PIII CPU if you need it.  And the ThinkNIC is pretty thin, but good
sound may be a challenge.  I see Soundblaster has an external sound unit
called Extigy that hooks up to a USB port, but its unlikely you will see bsd
or linux support for it at least in full for a while.

I should say I'm not in sales :) I've just been shopping around for small
computers for a while and this is what I found so far...

Have fun.

--Lee


> -----Original Message-----
> From: John Utz [mailto:john@utzweb.net]
> Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2002 11:48 AM
> To: Daniel O'Connor
> Cc: freebsd-small@FreeBSD.ORG
> Subject: Re: Compact motherboard sources..
> 
> 
> anything that is called flexATX is the way to go. it's even 
> smaller than 
> microATX
> 
> the last 2 computers that i have purchased have been in the 
> bookpc from 
> factor. getting cases has been a bitch, but it's less of a 
> problem now.
> 
> i really love the form factor, because i hate wasting space 
> on a big empty 
> box and i dont have any urge to buy the aftermarket vid cards, ie the 
> "ThunderTech SabreRattler 256 AGP 4X Plutonium Edition".
> 
> visitors to the home get freaked out because our computers 
> look like the 
> misbegotten progeny of a beige PC and an old sun pizzabox.
> 
> note that it's probably a good idea to have one full size box 
> to shove 
> capture cards, backup gear, etc...
> 
> On Sat, 26 Jan 2002, Daniel O'Connor wrote:
> 
> > Hi,
> > I'm interested in getting some small (ie book sized) PC's 
> which can play audio
> > and have ethernet as a way of running multiple audio (and 
> video possibly)
> > channels around my house.
> > 
> > I have found a few possibilities..
> > http://www.dpie.com/etx/etxmgx.html
> > (Not sure about the processor though)
> > 
> > And http://www.soekris.com/ plus
> > http://www.boser.com.tw/product/minipci/hs876.htm
> > 
> > I am also going to look through a few electronics magazines 
> in search of
> > suitable systems..
> > 
> > The CPU requirements would be pretty modest I would think, 
> but the sound
> > quality would have to be (very) good which is probably 
> going to be the kicker..
> > 
> > Anyone got any ideas? :)
> > 
> > (BTW please CC me directly on this as I am not subscribed 
> to this list)
> > 
> > ---
> > Daniel O'Connor software and network engineer
> > for Genesis Software - http://www.gsoft.com.au
> > "The nice thing about standards is that there
> > are so many of them to choose from."
> >   -- Andrew Tanenbaum
> > 
> > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
> > with "unsubscribe freebsd-small" in the body of the message
> > 
> 
> -- 
> 
> John L. Utz III
> john@utzweb.net
> 
> Idiocy is the Impulse Function in the Convolution of Life
> 
> 
> To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
> with "unsubscribe freebsd-small" in the body of the message
> 

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