Home | News Archive | February 2003

VIA launch EPIA M10000
February 26, 2003

VIA have officially launched the EPIA M10000, the first EPIA motherboard to reach 1Ghz. The Mini-ITX board is powered by the same VIA C3 CPU with Ezra-T core as the EPIA M9000 but with reduced noise levels (25dBA at one metre) in the form of what VIA call a "fansink" - a heatsink and fan combination. The remaining specifications are as with the existing EPIA Ms: VIA Apollo CLE266 chipset with MPEG-2 decoder, ATA/133, 1 x DDR266 SDRAM slot, 5.1 surround sound, Firewire, USB 2.0, S-Video/RCA TV output, 10/100 Ethernet and 1 PCI slot - all in a 17x17cm Mini-ITX package.

VIA's EPIA M10000 Press Release

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The "KiSA 444 Surface to Surface PC"
February 26, 2003

Chris Adams disarmed a U.S. Air Force surplus bomb tail assembly and gave it a much more useful payload - a Mini-ITX motherboard running Redhat 8. Our weapons inspectors report that its improved capabilities include MP3 and DivX playback, and that the inner workings have a propensity for turning up in unusual places.

Chris Adams' "KiSA 444 Surface to Surface PC"

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Lindows Launch Low-cost Laptop
February 24, 2003

Lindows have launched a bargain laptop featuring the same C3 processor that powers the EPIA 800 and EPIA M9000 Mini-ITX motherboards. The "Lindows Mobile PC" is of the sub-notebook variety, and has a 12.1" TFT running at 1024x768, 256MB of RAM, 20GB HD and weighs under 3 lbs. The laptop has a neat sprinkling of ports, though unfortunately no TV output - the board inside isn't simply a shrunken EPIA. We'd be interested to see how the 933Mhz C3 is cooled, and what the battery life is like...

Lindows Mobile PC (More thoughts from The Register)

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Digital Powerhouse's "Clio" Case
February 23, 2003

UK-based Digital Powerhouse's "Clio" Case takes its styling cues from VCR players, but instead of a helical scanning head it houses (in decreasing size order) Micro-ATX, Flex-ATX annd of course Mini-ITX form factor motherboards. We like the optional extras - an LCD Panel attached to the parallel port, an IR Receiver (we don't know if this will be EPIA compatible), and a front mounting Audio/USB/Firewire module. The 386 x 365 x 90mm (WxDxH) case has space for a full size CD/DVD drive behind a hidden panel and forms the basis of their forthcoming "Evolution Home Media Center" EPIA M9000 based TV/PVR/DVD/MP3 playback systems.

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DV Industrial's EPIA Cases
February 23, 2003

From DV Industrial Computer in the Ukraine , the DS15050 JANUS is a 1U 19" rackmount case only 200mm deep supporting both general flavours of EPIA and EPIA M. The black or grey JANUS has an ingenious two-way mounting cover allowing the I/O panel to face the front or rear, whilst keeping a floppy drive facing the front. Two servers can be mounted in one 1U bay, and 2 HDDs can be fitted in one case.

From the same company, the AVES case is a wee EPIA 5000 or 800 compatible case measuring just 43(H) x 250(W) x 250(D), with an external PSU. Designed with the internet café or POS markets in mind, it is cunningly designed to prevent tampering with the contents and as such has no space (or real need) for a CDROM drive.

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VIA's "Sereniti 2000" Case
February 23, 2003

Already on sale in Japan, The VIA-badged "Sereniti 2000" case supports both the EPIA M and EPIA V, and measures 340 x 290 x 101mm. The budget case supports Firewire, audio, and USB 2.0 under a convenient flap and has space for a HDD, FDD and full size CDROM. We expect the case to be more widely available in March.

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The Excel "e-Fox" Case
February 23, 2003

One for our Japanese readers. The Excel "e-Fox" is an all-aluminium EPIA case takes a slimline CD/DVD drive and is manufactured by a company named "Shinkoh" (which, incidentally, happens to be my Freddy Leitner's favourite flavour of Maki-Sushi, who sent us today's splendid case tips). Here's a few pictures taken in a shop, next to our favourite MiniCube.

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ClearPC's "Micro" Case
February 23, 2003

Canada-based ClearPC have shrunk their famous transparent ATX case design slightly to create the unimaginatively titled but rather stunning "ClearPC Micro", supporting both Micro-ATX (244x244mm) and Mini-ITX (170x170mm) form factors. ClearPCs are targetted at retailers wishing to debunk the commonly held belief that inside computers live tribes of pixies, trained by Bill Gates to do the bidding of their human overlords. The Micro case has 1 CDROM, 1 HDD and 1 FDD bay and measures 320mm x 200mm x 345mm (DxWxH).

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First M10000s not Nehemiah based
February 18, 2003

The long awaited EPIA M10000 has apparently reached some US online stores, but not in the form expected. The C3 powering them has the Ezra-T core as found in the EPIA M9000, not the newer Nehemiah core as initially advertised (retailers have since changed their specifications). The FSB runs at 100Mhz, and not 133Mhz - and LVDS support does not appear to be present. Cooling is improved with a double North/Southbridge heatsink and meatier CPU heatsink. It looks like VIA hit manufacturing delays with the Nehemiah and decided to quietly release a M10000 anyway, with an "M10000-II" (our name, not theirs) to follow later, with more fanfare. We'll wait for the real one...

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Favicon Competition extended
February 18, 2003

We've extended the closing date of the Fabulous Favicon Competition until February 28th, purely because we're still receiving entries and haven't decided how to judge it yet! You can view some of the entries so far here..

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The "ITX Helmet"
February 14, 2003

Ralf Puppe put his Mini-ITX into a motorcycle crash helmet to produce the "ITX Helmet". Rumour has it he's putting the finishing touches to a walking robot to go underneath it, which will act as his personal butler. Let's hope he doesn't decide to use something like this helmet pc instead - the consequences aren't worth contemplating...

Ralf Puppe's "ITX Helmet"

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The "Epia Sphere"
February 07, 2003

Jani Ponkko sent us a picture of his "Epia Sphere", over at Metku Mods. The sphere in question is actually a converted garden lamp!

Epia Sphere at Metku Mods

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The "Devilcat"
February 04, 2003

Chris Kern's "Devilcat" is an EPIA 5000 powered mobile robot controlled over a 802.11b wireless connection, and is the only Mini-ITX project we know of with a bump sensor ring. The Devilcat weighs a hefty 40 lbs - about the weight of a Welsh Corgi, or two Scottish Terriers (Note: Please do not attempt to build an EPIA into a dog). Though an alien is OK.

Chris Kern's "Devilcat"

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The "Pictureframe PC"
February 03, 2003

There are two things every Mini-ITXer needs - heavy duty Velcro and a Dremel. Josh Hubbard created a PC running inside a Pictureframe with his.

Josh Hubbard's "Pictureframe PC"

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The "Atarien IV" at JackyPC
February 03, 2003

The folks over at JackyPC have such fond memories of their Atari 2600 that they built an EPIA into a plexiglass case and gave it the classic Atari finish, complete with logo. Their project has a detailed write-up on how they did it - unfortunately in French for those of us (ourselves included) who didn't pay attention at school. We particularly like their matching LCD and CD cases.

"Mod Atarien IV : Hommage Atari" at JackyPC

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Inside an EZgo
February 02, 2003

We're always interested in Mini-ITX alternatives, and the EZgo MiniPC is one of the smallest of the pre-built variety. Digit-life have taken some interesting snaps of the guts of the latest model, featuring a Pentium 4 with 400Mhz FSB and everything integrated on the motherboard. Worth a look?

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