Looking for recommendations on a SMALL desktop case

[DerProfi]

Well, before I take the plunge I thought I'd see if anyone had a better suggestion.

WHAT I NEED: A _small_, quiet desktop case for my parents who've finally outgrown the P200 desktop I built them 2 years ago. It need only be big enough to hold a Celeron motherboard, a DIMM or two, a floppy drive, one 3.5" hard drive, one 5.25" CD or DVD, and one PCI modem card (either that or the motherboard needs an onboard modem).

WHAT I'VE CONSIDERED: So far I'm kinda leaning toward a barebones BookPC for $169 at Directron because I've got a spare Celeron 600 and some memory I can stick in there. I can also reuse the 20GB hard drive I used to upgrade their current PC about a year ago which will also prevent me from having to migrate their data from the old box to the new. Since the BookPC has a built-in Winmodem and NIC, I could avoid an additional cash outlay beyond the $169 for the case. My only concerns are with the durability of the BookPC. I built one for a computerless friend as a Christmas present and it SEEMED like a pretty solid little unit. It even survived being shipped from the US to the UK. However, I'm not sure what the long-term reliability will be.

Can anyone here suggest a better desktop case/mobo combination that I could pick up for about the same price?

 

[mechBgon]

How was the noise level on the BookPC you had? Mine was having lockups and to fix it, I replaced the flaky sleeve-bearing power supply fan with a Sunon ball-bearing fan, and bypassed the thermal fan regulator. Now it is very noisy, although the crashing is fixed. I really regret not spending a bit more and getting a microATX board and case.

I found a $35 microATX mobo on Tekram's online store: microATX socket 370 board It won't run your Celeron2, only the PPGA Celerons, but maybe you could trade your Cel2 600 for a Cel500 and a PCI modem on the For Sale/Trade forum. Just an idea. On the other hand, the BookPC I got came with mouse, keyboard, CD-ROM drive and floppy, as well as a pair of cheap speakers, so that is some money saved.

 

[Shelgeyr]

Check out this case here.

Not too sure if there even available, but I know i want one for a smaller system I have in mind.

 

[DerProfi]

mechBgon, the BookPC I built didn't seem too loud at all but then again it was sitting next to my Antec with a busted/noisy PS fan, a big honkin' PIII-1GHz OEM CPU fan, and 3 7200RPM hard drives. If they could completely silence that PS (shouldn't be too hard considering the minimal power needs of the max of 3 drives you can install) it would make a great little multimedia platform.

I checked that Tekram site and they say the newer revs of the board do support FCPGA but they just don't sell them in their online store.

Shelgeyr, that system looks SWEET but maybe a little too big for my needs. Also it needs to be a desktop.

 

[JesseKnows]

Did you investigate the PC-in-a-keyboard rigs? Something like Zero-Footprint-PC?

 

[DerProfi]

One of those keyboard PC jobbies would be too expensive. I'm a cheapskate, after all!

As of this afternoon I'm leaning toward an Intel CA810 motherboard and an AOpen H300 case. I can pick up both for about $100 total.

Anyone ever see or work with one of these cases?

 

[PCComp]

Hello,

I'm too looking for book PC. Unfortunately, it's for a special applications, so it must include 2 serial ports. USB to serial adapters will not work. I've found a couple at www.msicomputer.com, but no one stocks them...

 

[mechBgon]

I found a barebones BookPC that has two serial ports at http://www.casedepot.com/index.cfm?do=TypeMain&TypeID=1&SubTypeID=1. They have a couple others too, this is the least-expensive.

There is also this one by Asus.

 

[PCComp]

Hey, thanks for the information; I've been looking for something like this. Too bad it didn't come in black Oh well, I can always use some rattle can on it.

 

[bUzzbOmb]

I would definately check this out if I were you.
This is a pocketbook sized PC.

Incredible. And Packed!!!


Expresso PC!

 

[PCComp]

Yes, I've seen this before. It's a little spendy and it doesn't include 2 serial ports, so I can't justify the purchase Here's the exact specifications of what I need:

1. Slimline or smaller case (black if possible)
2. Must have 2 serial ports
3. Must support storage media (i.e. IDE or PCMCIA)
4. Must support Windows 98SE
5. Must have 64MB+ of RAM
6. Must be 166Mhz+
7. Must have VGA or TV output
8. Must have PS/2 keyboard and mice

All other hardware is optional (i.e. sound, modem, network etc...)

 

[Blitzkrieg]

small, black, and simple

maybe a little expensive

Link

 

[DerProfi]

Well, I broke down and bought the AOpen H300 case. Now I'm trying to decide between a MicroATX CA810E motherboard from *bay for about $50 or a new Biostar M6VSA for about $95. Any other suggestions?

PCComp, it sounds like you might want to check on the barebones black version of the BookPC for $269 here.

 

[DerProfi]

whoops, dupe post...

 

[DerProfi]

bumpity bump...