If anyone is interested in the mini-computer I brought in to TSLUG last Wednesday, here is a list of the parts and where I bought them from:
The Case is a Morex 3677 Black Mini-ITX, I purchased it from: http://www.axiontech.com their part number for it is CSMX3677BLK and it cost me $79.95 there plus $16.00 for three day shipping(cheaper shipping options exist). Direct link to product: http://www.axiontech.com/prdt.php?item=47702 The motherboard is a VIA EPIA-CL10000 with a 1GHz VIA C3 Nehemiah processor. This motherboard contains two built-on NICS, one built-on Serial port with three additional headers on the mainboard for up to four total, and four built-on USB 2.0 ports with headers for two more ports for a total of six USB 2.0 ports(This feature is compatible with the Morex 3677 case, which contains two front USB ports). It also has one PCI slot. This motherboard takes DDR ram, and I used a Kingston PC3200 256 MB DIMM. The total from AccuPC was $231.40, for the RAM and the Motherboard: $186.50 - VIA EPIA CL-10000 $38.90 - Kingston 256MB PC3200 DDR DIMM $6.00 - Fedex saver 3 day shipping http://www.accupc.com Motherboard: http://www.accupc.com/itemDetail.jsp?pid=mvaepiacl10000 Ram: http://www.accupc.com/itemDetail.jsp?pid=smk256d400 The 60GB Laptop hard drive I bought is a Toshiba 2.5" IDE drive. I bought it from mwave.com, and it cost me $155.00 for the drive and $12.10 for 3 day shipping and handling. I have had good experiences with Toshiba laptop hard drives in the past, and while they might not be the cheapest on the market, I think their price is reasonable. http://www.mwave.com http://www.mwave.com/mwave/ProdHARDDRIVES-IDETOSHIBA.hmx?UID=&CID=&updepts=HD-IDE&DNAME=%3Cb%3EHard+Drives%2DIDE%3C%2Fb%3E&back=ProdHARDDRIVES-IDETOSHIBA.hmx? The entire computer was not difficult to assemble for someone experienced with putting computers together. I had to do some minor modifications to the case to get the sound card connections on the motherboard not to interfere with the hard drive mounting bracket, but if anyone wants to get one of these systems, and needs help, I would be glad to assist. The prices have changed some places slightly since I bought the system, but overall they are similar. Motherboard options are plentiful too, as VIA makes a number of different models with different specifications and processor speeds. There are some which have better sound cards and IEEE 1394 connections with only one NIC, and some with 600MHz Eden processors. Look around if you are interested in specific features. I installed linux on the machine without any major problems. At first the gentoo CD kernel dumped on me, but I rebooted and disabled the sound card(because I don't need that functionality right now), and it has worked flawlessly since. I don't know if the sound card caused the problem or if it was just a fluke. The system is very linux-friendly, and I am running kernel 2.6.1 on it now. I installed Gentoo 1.4 from stage 1 in about a day(without any X-related stuff), so it performs respectably. In order to boot from a CD, I just hooked an IDE cd-rom drive up to it from another computer, and then disconnected it once the system was installed. I do not need a cd-rom drive in my system now that is has been set up. However, if you would like one in your computer, there is a bay in the case for a laptop CD-Rom drive. The case even comes with a converter for a laptop cd-rom drive to a standard IDE cable. The last thing I want to say is that most of these parts can be ordered from a number of places. Most of them can be bought from accupc or axiontech, but I bought them where I did because they had the parts in stock, and they had the cheapest price I could find the part at. Let me know if you have any questions. Caleb Jorden [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------------------------------------------------------------- To get off this list, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with Subject: unsubscribe -----------------------------------------------------------------
