Well it's kind of related, yesterday I ordered one of the new mini-itx motherboard/cpu to replace my computer, they finally make them fast enough to do what I need them too:
DVD. 5.1 surround, MP3, PVR, MPEG4.
If you don't know about this form factor it comes with:
ATA/133, 1 PCI Slot, 1 x DDR266 DIMM memory, 6-channel AC'97 Codec, VIA VT6103 Ethernet LAN, USB 2.0 port, IEEE 1394 port, TV-Out supports NTSC/PAL TV
All built on the board that is only 6.6 inches square!
I was originally going to get one for my car about 8 months ago, but now I'll use it in my theater setup.
Now I just need to quite down my Projector!
http://www.computergate.com/products/item.cfm?prodcd=B7VEPIAM1
Here's a link with some projects made with these ( carazy stuff)
http://www.mini-itx.com
DVD. 5.1 surround, MP3, PVR, MPEG4.
If you don't know about this form factor it comes with:
ATA/133, 1 PCI Slot, 1 x DDR266 DIMM memory, 6-channel AC'97 Codec, VIA VT6103 Ethernet LAN, USB 2.0 port, IEEE 1394 port, TV-Out supports NTSC/PAL TV
All built on the board that is only 6.6 inches square!
I was originally going to get one for my car about 8 months ago, but now I'll use it in my theater setup.
Now I just need to quite down my Projector!
http://www.computergate.com/products/item.cfm?prodcd=B7VEPIAM1
Here's a link with some projects made with these ( carazy stuff)
http://www.mini-itx.com
daRkStar,
No. The chip is not replaceable, beacuse it runs on such low voltage, but from the reviews I've seen it's good enough to do most everyday stuff, word ,email, it's also got a Mpeg2 hardware decoder, so playback of dvd's is no problem, and will do video capture too (don't know at what res.) but with DDR and ata133 it should do OK.
P.S. just to be sure you know, that price is WITH the chip (i think it soldered in)
No. The chip is not replaceable, beacuse it runs on such low voltage, but from the reviews I've seen it's good enough to do most everyday stuff, word ,email, it's also got a Mpeg2 hardware decoder, so playback of dvd's is no problem, and will do video capture too (don't know at what res.) but with DDR and ata133 it should do OK.
P.S. just to be sure you know, that price is WITH the chip (i think it soldered in)
daRkStar
If you want more pop in a tiny machine look at the MSI "Hermies" series...Celeron to P4 capable more outputs than you can shake a stick at...and cheap. I just sold a Hermies last week..slick little machine. For about $200.00 CDN less I was selling C3 machines that didn't compare, The C3's were "Hiccupy" in my experience. The Hermies was solid.
zardoz....has sold 4 C3 machines,only selling Hermies now
If you want more pop in a tiny machine look at the MSI "Hermies" series...Celeron to P4 capable more outputs than you can shake a stick at...and cheap. I just sold a Hermies last week..slick little machine. For about $200.00 CDN less I was selling C3 machines that didn't compare, The C3's were "Hiccupy" in my experience. The Hermies was solid.
zardoz....has sold 4 C3 machines,only selling Hermies now
zardoz, Thanks for the input, I haven't looked at those. But my C3 is on the way, It's one of the newest/fastest one's, the older ones didn't use DDR memory, ATA133 or the hardware mpeg decoder(this should really help to smooth out playback), but I'll let you guys know how it performs 😉 people seem to be having good luck with the M series even playing back DIVX movies at higher res., if not I'll just put it im my car!
ahh you should find better than I did
The machines that were being pushed by my supplier were PC133 for memory, fine for doddering oldsters who want to check Email and do a bit of surfing (no offence to any doddering oldsters folks..). You should see better results than I have experienced ..I felt that the slow ram was it's biggest set back..turns out I didn't look closely enough at the board you linked. Good find...when you get it let me know who's bios it uses please? AMI or AWARD ... crossing fingers for AWARD, my LCD controller wont run on an AMI BIOS based machine.
zardoz
The machines that were being pushed by my supplier were PC133 for memory, fine for doddering oldsters who want to check Email and do a bit of surfing (no offence to any doddering oldsters folks..). You should see better results than I have experienced ..I felt that the slow ram was it's biggest set back..turns out I didn't look closely enough at the board you linked. Good find...when you get it let me know who's bios it uses please? AMI or AWARD ... crossing fingers for AWARD, my LCD controller wont run on an AMI BIOS based machine.
zardoz
or try shuttle's line of xpcs. awesome looks and functionality. one model has been used by alienware to produce a htpc so you know you're on the right track.
a great place for this and other type of small computers is www.sfftech.com
a great place for this and other type of small computers is www.sfftech.com
Dobly Digital and DTS have nothing to do with a PC's hardware whatsoever. Your DVD player software is where that comes into play. PowerDVD supports DTS (and I'm sure all the other ones do now as well). S/PDIF is just a format digital output, it doesn't care what the signal is encoded as. It can be mono, stereo, Pro-Logic, Dolby Digital, or DTS- it doesn't matter. To hear DTS, you do need a DTS decoder, but that has nothing to do with your PC hardware, that's all on the reciever end.
Zardoz, you'd be surprised how many outputs I can waive a stick at, lol. Seriously though, I'm probably going to get one of those for my car one of these days.
Zardoz, you'd be surprised how many outputs I can waive a stick at, lol. Seriously though, I'm probably going to get one of those for my car one of these days.
Lifter
The Hermies is MSI based..new ground to me. I've allways sold Epox boards for high end systems, mostly AMD based. Sales for big systems fell off to nothing so I sold a few C3's.
Then a Hermies to a fella that wants to do a few more techy things, he's jazzed with it! He does video dances in the area (school teacher that needs extra bucks) so he's thinking about serving MP3's off of it and using it to feed his Barco CRT. I had to point out to him that this was a good option for him...now all he needs to do is talk his wife into letting him take it mobile LOL.
I was dissapointed with his processor pick at first Celleron 1.7. But when you back that up with a half gig of good fast ram and a decent DVD player running under XP pro and it was a VERY impressive little machine!
If only it wasnt AMI BIOS!😡
zardoz
The Hermies is MSI based..new ground to me. I've allways sold Epox boards for high end systems, mostly AMD based. Sales for big systems fell off to nothing so I sold a few C3's.
Then a Hermies to a fella that wants to do a few more techy things, he's jazzed with it! He does video dances in the area (school teacher that needs extra bucks) so he's thinking about serving MP3's off of it and using it to feed his Barco CRT. I had to point out to him that this was a good option for him...now all he needs to do is talk his wife into letting him take it mobile LOL.
I was dissapointed with his processor pick at first Celleron 1.7. But when you back that up with a half gig of good fast ram and a decent DVD player running under XP pro and it was a VERY impressive little machine!
If only it wasnt AMI BIOS!😡
zardoz
Mini-ITX Test
OK, my C3 1GHZ CPU Mini-ITX Motherboard came yesterday, went and bought 256mb memory, slapped in my old 5 gig harddrive, hooked up my 12X DVD drive, installed Window 2000 and PowerDVD, and was watching movies in about an hour. I thought I might need 512 mem. but with the built-in hardware mpeg2 decoder play back is smooth (no dropped frames), I'll do more testing tonight (PVR,DIVX, but will most likly have to install my other harddrive, and more mem.)
Also, how does Windows XP startup/boot time compare with 2000.
Of course after I get my new (noiseless) power supply I'll just leave this computer on all the time!
OK, my C3 1GHZ CPU Mini-ITX Motherboard came yesterday, went and bought 256mb memory, slapped in my old 5 gig harddrive, hooked up my 12X DVD drive, installed Window 2000 and PowerDVD, and was watching movies in about an hour. I thought I might need 512 mem. but with the built-in hardware mpeg2 decoder play back is smooth (no dropped frames), I'll do more testing tonight (PVR,DIVX, but will most likly have to install my other harddrive, and more mem.)
Also, how does Windows XP startup/boot time compare with 2000.
Of course after I get my new (noiseless) power supply I'll just leave this computer on all the time!
I read that these have optionla LVDS connectors, are those used for regular lcd screens, or just those 2o character by 2 line text lcds?
Rekr
Rekr
The on boards are usually for graphic displays, there is little to no need for LVDS for a 2 line character display.
zardoz
zardoz
Rekr said:
so is that just the output to the controler or is it possible to find an lcd that would run directly off the motherboard?
rekr
Does your board have the lvds header. I've seen pictures of the 9000 boards and there was no header just the solder pads. The rumor is that the 10000 boards are supposed to have lvds. But it hasn't been confirmed. Any mention of it in the manual?
Does your board have the lvds header. I've seen pictures of the 9000 boards and there was no header just the solder pads. The rumor is that the 10000 boards are supposed to have lvds. But it hasn't been confirmed. Any mention of it in the manual?
No i was just reading the specs from a few websites and the 10000 says that it has an optional LVDS connection. I wasn't going to buy one until I found this out for sure, and also until I found out what lcd panels if any it could drive (makes no sense to get if it can only drive like a $300 dollar panel)
Rekr
Rekr
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