Home | News Archive | April 2003

We have a mailing list!
April 30, 2003

Sort of... actually the store has a mailing list, and will sporadically send out special offers and member-only early bird links to purchase new items.

You can sign up to the Mini-ITX Store Mailing List here

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Martian's Wireless Mini-ITX Fileserver
April 29, 2003

Martian Technology have taken some familliar Mini-ITX components and added an 802.11b wireless card and rolled their own custom Linux distribution to create the NetDrive, a Wireless fileserver with some neat tricks. As it uses the SMB Protocol it is Windows, Mac OS X and of course Linux compatible (Mac OS 9 support is coming through the AFP protocol). It can even wirelessly share a USB printer plugged directly into it, and knows how to talk to MP3 players and a whole host of other devices. The Netdrive is available in 40GB and 120GB Plug-and-go flavours, and in DIY form without a drive but with the Martian DevKit OS on CD (much more fun)

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The "Commodore ITX-64"…
April 28, 2003

Neil Jansen's "Commodore ITX-64"

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…and the "Commodore 64 @ 933.000 Mhz"
April 28, 2003

It's retro conversion time again. This time it's the Commodore 64, which was once the best personal computer in the world. DocLorren souped up his Commodore 64 to run at 933Mhz with an EPIA M9000, and Neil Jansen went one better and converted his super-rare Commodore SX64 luggable into a Mini-ITX box. Now, where did we put that Commodore 65?

JJ aka DocLorren's "Commodore 64 @ 933.000 Mhz"

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The Mini-Box M-100
April 27, 2003

Mini-Box.com, a subsidiary of Ituner Networks Corp., launched their Mini-Box M-100 PC at the Embedded Systems Conference last week. The aluminium framed M-100 measures just 200 x 44 x 220mm (WxHxD), weighs 1Kg and comes with an EPIA or EPIA V Mini-ITX motherboard.

The 256MB M-100 can boot either from the provided 64MB Compact Flash card running Embedded Linux or an optional 40GB 2.5" hard disk (as the M-100-A), and has a 14-key customizable keypad and rather natty looking built-in backlit LCD. Needless to say although aimed at the embedded market, it would make a perfect Linux firewall or MP3 server, and being a full PC can also run Windows. The M-100 is available in Black, Blue and Grey cases (as modelled in the picture above) and come in 533Mhz fanless Eden and 800Mhz C3 varieties. The snap-on PW-60 DC-DC converter that powers the M-100 and the Compact Flash adapter used in it are also available seperately.

VIA's Mini-Box M-100 Press Release

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Those crazy Japanase fools!
April 27, 2003

As far as we can work out from our non-existent foreign language skills, a PC store and a cardboard box manufacturer in Japan have joined forces to create the ultimate mail order PC... Constructed entirely from cardboard, the CCPCBOX is of course Mini-ITX compatible, measures 188 x 211 x 375mm and has space for both a floppy drive and slimline optical drive. We'd like them to send us one for review - but how would they wrap it?

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New from Casetronic - the C138
April 24, 2003

Casetronic have added another Mini-ITX case to their growing range, the C138. This is of a similar design to the C134 and C136 announced last month, but has the benefit of PCI expansion with the supplied riser card and either a 60W or 90W power board included, with a seperate external 110-240V AC adapter. Available in black and silver, the case will measure 8"(203.2mm) x 4"(101.6mm) x 8"(203.2mm) and has 2 front mounted USB 2.0 ports, a firewire port and audio ports.

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Inside the Hush Mini-ITX PC
April 22, 2003

We've taken the lid off a Hush Mini-ITX PC, and liked what we found - a solidly built slimline Mini-ITX system that runs in total silence. But don't take our word for it... look at the pictures.

A look inside the Hush Mini-ITX PC

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VIA launch EPIA M10000 (again)
April 15, 2003

VIA have launched the Nehemiah version of the EPIA M10000, cunningly called - the new EPIA M10000. "Nehemiah" is the next generation C3 CPU core (existing boards use the Ezra-T core) - with much vaunted speed improvements and a data encryption engine. The Nehemiah architecture can be taken to higher speeds than the Ezra-T, which has reached the limits of its abilities. Other specifications and board layout is exactly as with the existing M10000: VIA Apollo CLE266 chipset with MPEG-2 decoder, ATA/133, 1 x DDR266 SDRAM slot, 5.1 surround sound (now named VIA Vinyl Six-TRAC Audio), Firewire, USB 2.0, S-Video/RCA TV output, 10/100 Ethernet and 1 PCI slot - all in a 17x17cm Mini-ITX package. On the retail board at least, LVDS support is once again theoretical - with a gap on the board marked "LVDS" signifying what could have been. Some Nehemiahs have apparently reached US online stores - although certainly in Europe, VIA still have Ezra-T stock to clear first. We'll bring you some test results soon and see what difference the new core actually makes!

VIA's Nehemiah EPIA M10000 Press Release

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Hush Mini-ITX PCs now available
April 15, 2003

The Hush Mini-ITX PCs are now available to purchase, exclusively online through Mini-ITX.com. Our mailing list members have had the weekend to get in early, and now it's everybody elses turn!

Silent Hush Mini-ITX PC at the Mini-ITX.com online store

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Hush release imminent
April 09, 2003

We'll be accepting orders for the Hush Mini-ITX PC in the *very* near future. To get the skinny first, you'll need to sign up on our mailing list...

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Techseekers review EPIA ME6000
April 09, 2003

Techseekers have reviewed the EPIA ME6000, the more powerful of the currently available fanless EPIAs. Their review gives a good idea what the board can and can't do, and is definitely worth a look for their video playback test results.

Techseekers.net review the EPIA ME 6000

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PimpRig build an ORAC! (kind of)
April 08, 2003

Fantazmic2 (not his real name, we hope), a regular at PimpRig.com has created a wonderful smoked acrylic case, constructed from green acrylic rods to "enhance the look of the hardware by removing the casings to expose the insides". We like it because it looks a bit like ORAC...

Fantazmic2s Mini-Itx Project at PimpRig.com

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