March 22, 2004

Mini-ITX

Mini-ITX is the name used to describe a particular form-factor (shape, dimensions, electrical specifications, power requirements, etc...) of a computer motherboard. The Mini-ITX are tiny and hackers are eschewing the usual putty colored cases for some very unusual places. There is a website dedicated to Mini-ITX systems here To give you an idea about what we are dealing with, a Mini-ITX motherboard is just under 7" square and contains the CPU, video, disk controllers, IO and sound. All you need to add is memory and the peripherals and you have a full-blown computer... What makes this all interesting are some of the cases that people have made. Here are two that catch my eye: The Humidor: humidor.jpg The Underwood No. 5: underwood.jpg Very cool stuff... You do not have the flexibility or the expandability of a full--blown system but for applications where this is not an issue, these puppies are great - cheap too! Posted by DaveH at March 22, 2004 8:16 PM