Via EPIA Mini-ITX motherboard

[Chris Shenton]

Siegbert Baude <Siegbert.Baude at gmx.de> writes:

> Are your machines completely diskless then?

Yes, but just one -- so far. Wanted to test it out and see how it
worked.  Could be a bit snappier running something bloated like
Mozilla, but fine for a kitchen :-).  I may have issues with network
speed, bloated kernel, or something else which I haven't gotten around
to diagnosing yet.

For a desktop, quiet is nice but I'd like a bit more speed or
snappiness.  I might later try putting a quiet disk in one and doing
something like a net-install of the OS so if it ever loses power or
needs upgrading it could happen with a known-working OS.  I like
"data-less" machines so I can minimize sysadm duties. 


> Which kind of PSU do you use then? Some of these low-power external
> ones?

I'm using the Casetronic 2699R which has an external wall-wart power
supply -- thus no fan :-)


> With no mechanical parts left inside the computer, it should also be
> robust enough, to be tossen around in the kitchen by children.

I haven't disconnected the two tiny fans inside yet.  I think Matthew
indicated the cpu and chips might need some airflow, so I'm not in any
hurry -- they're very quiet and the noise isn't unpleasant or whiney
like disks can.


> Another possible use would be as multimedia centre in the living
> room, but I suspect you would need the 1GHz version then (or what
> about the newer chipsets?

Dunno, but that's one of the reasons I wanted to try one out.  If it's
fast enough for audio and video, put a box in the stereo and another
with the TeeVee.   Matthew's way ahead of me here.