I want to buy or make a tiny case

[Tsaico]

I have a all in one board as my second box, all it does is hold files and play mp3's. It runs a cel 600, generic cd, 30 gig hd with 256 ram. I want a smaller case. If i need to make one, what materials would you guys suggest. I have a freind that made his out of plexi, but I heard that static buildup can be a problem.(Rumor?) Or if there is a tiny desktop style case out there, where is it? Any help guys....

 

[techfuzz]

It's not going to be pretty but you can get yourself a small box (cardboard if you'd like) and get some styrofoam. Line the box with the foam, cut out some holes for the various wires, power it up and watch it run. Probably wouldn't cost you anything more than $10-$15 and a hour or two of your time.

Just a quick idea if you're looking for something cheap/small/easy.

 

[Imaginer]

Go for plywood!!!! Stronger than cardboard and you can have a nice finish when you are done. Though it might be more expensive with the finish costs and if you get trimming.

 

[RPB]

there is something here (http://www.directron.com/)called a bookpc its small

 

[Imaginer]

Don't bookpcs use notebook cd drives?

 

[Tsaico]

yes, they do use notebooks cdroms. and those are bare bones, I just need a case. If I were to use card board, what can I use to anchor in everything? or just velcro and epoxy? What about that foam core stuff? you know, the stuff we used always use for our elementary science prjects...

 

[Imaginer]

I would just build a plywood box and glue metal standoffs and so forth for motherboard support, build cd drive rails using wooden dowels of 1/4" thick and find a hard drive cage of a small case in a local computer junk store or use the same dowels or whatnot for a place for the hard drive.

and place it together in a manner to fit your liking.

But of course, planning to build a case like this gets complicated. Best if you get a FlexATX case.

 

[osage]

I have a spare m ATX case sitting around, if that would work for you.

 

[smp]

I am totally into building my own cases.. now I just need some hardware to build a case for
I think that it's an art form.. maybe you should put some time into it and see how nice/original you can get.. and then post it in the infamous cool case gallery..
Or, you could find some old box of some kind, maybe tupperware or something.. that you can modify to hold all your components... maybe a toolbox or something.. I was looking at pots the other day myself.. that would be sweet.. a big pot computer.. all shiny and round..

 

[Imaginer]

I would like to post pictures of my box but my webcam lacks of quality plus finding drivers to make it work with Windows 2000 would not cut it.

 

[dxkj]

YGPM

 

[dxkj]

hehe, or maybe not... guess that PM didnt go through.. I have a micro ATX case, desktop, small, if I dont get rid of it I will use it for the same thing you mentioned.. there's room for a few hard drives and a mother board, and a cd rom, and a power supply but thats about it...

 

[monckywrench]

A practical way to make a small ATX case would be to cut up a couple of old cases and make your basic rectangular box that way. A sawzall or jig saw with a FINE tooth blade would do for cutting. Use the area that was punched for the ATX motherboard so you don't have to drill too many holes. A visit to your local hardware chain store can yield hardware, and you can reassemble with self-tapping sheet metal screws. Clap securely when cutting and do not even think of using tinsnips for long cuts.

 

[DerProfi]

NO NO NO! BookPCs do not use notebook PC drives. The garden variety BookPC for $170 or so uses a normal 5.25" CD or DVD drive, a normal 3.5" floppy, and a normal 3.5" hard drive. If you have the all-in-one motherboard already, why not just pick up something like an AOpen H300 case? It will take a MicroATX board, and just like a BookPC it uses normal-sized CD, floppy, and HD.

 

[Imaginer]

My bad.

 

[Tsaico]

I know you are thinking we are full of crap, but I know while looking around for the tiny case, I saw somethig that was called "book PC" and it had an optional 24x Toshiba notebook cd-rom for another 89 bucks. So while even most "book PCs" may use regular drives, do not be so enphatic that others are wrong. Imaginer might have seen the same lame case that I did, and for myself, my "book Pc" experience is none, I thought they all were like this and that the others were just really small cases.

 

[Tsaico]

BTW thanks for the tip too, I was leaning towards that one or the inwin version. Both look pretty much the same...

 

[AMD4ME2]

this one looks pretty cool!

http://www.chieftec.com/products/flexatx/flexatx.htm

 

[DerProfi]

Tsaico (hey, I just got the joke once I typed it out...I'm so dumb), I've got one of the book-size AOpen H300 cases on order so I'll let you know how it works out. My goal is to cram a MATX motherboard with a PIII-1GHz into it. The one possible downside to most of the smaller Micro- or Flex-ATX cases is that they only take low-profile PCI cards, of which there aren't many. That's where the BookPC probably works out to be a better choice b/c while it's only got an 810 chipset and you're limited on CPU choices, it's got built-in modem and LAN.

 

[Tsaico]

That is a good looking case. I just bought the inwin version... damn, I like the aesthetics of that one more. Oh well... I also think that every company that makes a product... SHOULD SELL IT!!!! I coul dfind no where on their site a "guy this now" button... oh well... DerProf, hehehe... Your smart. I will be doing the same with the Inwin, well, maybe a little less processing power. But my tyan board has all that I need. Once I have tasted DSL I don't think I can ever go back to dial up. So its on board lan is more than I need. got two pci to get what else? SCSI? On this little thing? Since it is a second box to store back u p files, its got all I need. And thanks I want to hear what you can cram into these little boxes...

 

[DerProfi]

Tsaico, actually I think the one I got looks a little better than the picture in my original link. It's the H300B FedEx is supposed to deliver it today so I'll let you know how it looks for real. One small clarification about the BookPC: although it has onboard LAN and modem, it has 0 (zero) PCI slots so expandability is limited. My only fear about the H300B is that that power supply will be really noisy. We'll see...

 

[tom3]

As an alternative, maybe you can get a broken VCR from electronic repair shops, take out everything in the enclosure, then put your all-in-one board in there. It'd be cool if you could keep the buttons on the VRC and map them to PC functions...

just a thought, a broken VCR is probably pretty cheap..

 

[Wik]

I made mine out of a card board box and lots of duct tape. Works great!

 

[Tsaico]

You're right, that is a good looking desktop. Kepp me up to date on your aopen and I will tell ya about my inwin. For those of you who used cardboard, can you send pics?

 

[Tsaico]

please?