VIA announce the EPIA TC
November 07, 2003

VIA have officially announced the EPIA TC ("Thin Client") Mini-ITX motherboard. Like the CL and M, the TC is available either with a fanless 600Mhz Eden processor (TC6000) or with a 1GHz Nehemiah processor (TC10000). Specifications are as reported a few weeks ago, and include support for a number of LVDS embedded LCD panels as well as: C3/Eden processor support; CLE266 North Bridge and VT8235 South Bridge; 1 x 200-pin DDR266 SODIMM socket supporting 1GB memory (SODIMMs are smaller than 184-pin DDR SDRAM modules); Onboard CardBus type II and CF reader (RICOH 476 II Module design); VT1612A 2 channel AC'97 audio; and most interestingly of all: a DC-in socket leading to the 12V, 5A, 60W Max DC to DC converter... though we are unsure at this stage whether the TC could be used in vehicles without additional voltage protection circuitry.

Now for the bad news - it looks like we won't see the rather desirable TC in the shops, as it's "not for the distribution channel". The nearest we'll see in the short term will be the forthcoming EPIA MII motherboard, with a CF reader, but without the onboard 12V DC-DC converter and LVDS support. VIA do now make EPIA boards with LVDS/TTL support, but these are intended for the IPC market and are "not for distribution". The EPIA M, CL and MII for distribution do not have an LVDS connector on board and do not have a BIOS that will support LVDS/TTL modules. We're not quite sure why VIA makes this distinction between customers, though the embedded market does count for a lot of Mini-ITX sales. A quick google shows that LVDS Mini-ITX boards are reaching distribution in the US anyway - so why not make it official? Hopefully we're wrong, or VIA change their minds...

EPIA TC Motherboard Specifications

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