From owner-freebsd-small Mon Jan 28 6:12:27 2002 Delivered-To: freebsd-small@freebsd.org Received: from garbo.lodgenet.com (garbo.lodgenet.com [204.124.122.252]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 08DF037B41C for ; Mon, 28 Jan 2002 06:12:23 -0800 (PST) Received: from hardy.lodgenet.com (hardy.lodgenet.com [10.0.104.235]) by garbo.lodgenet.com (8.11.4/8.11.4) with ESMTP id g0SEC9J16873; Mon, 28 Jan 2002 08:12:09 -0600 (CST) Received: from chaplin.lodgenet.com (not verified[10.0.104.215]) by hardy.lodgenet.com with MailMarshal (4,2,0,0) id ; Mon, 28 Jan 2002 08:06:33 -0600 Received: by chaplin.lodgenet.com with Internet Mail Service (5.5.2653.19) id ; Mon, 28 Jan 2002 08:08:34 -0600 Message-ID: <3EA88113DE92D211807300805FA7994209149A73@chaplin.lodgenet.com> From: "McKenna, Lee" To: "'John Utz'" , "Daniel O'Connor" Cc: freebsd-small@freebsd.org Subject: RE: Compact motherboard sources.. Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 08:08:07 -0600 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2653.19) Content-Type: text/plain Sender: owner-freebsd-small@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG 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 > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-small" in the body of the message