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Small Form Factor --- smaller the better!

F

firebirdude

Member
I'm wanting to build one of those really small cube shaped PCs for my mom. Like this or this one. She doesn't play ANY games at all and will never want to upgrade it I'm sure. Her old PC is way old and outdated. Anyway, I guess I really don't know much about these cases. Are they actually called "MicroATX"? Is that was size mobo I should be looking for? Other then the mobo, everything else is normally size correct? Anything else I should know before I dive in? Thanks!
 
Originally posted by: ItmPls
MAC MINI?
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Nice. Never saw that before. But she's never even seen a Mac before, let alone worked on one. And you know how old people are..... too stubborn to learn anything new if the old way works. lol She'd probably say "thanks!" and then continue using the old PC. And I think I could build my own PC with similar specs for less then that price tag. Thanks for the reply, but I really think we better shy away from Macs for this one. Thanks though!

Also, if you have to use both USB ports for keyboard and mouse.... where do you plug in a printer? Ans she does have a digital camera that hooks up to her PC now....

EDIT: The more I look at it, the more I like it.🙂 I'm not real fimilar with Macs either. Had a couple of friends who had them, but I only poked around on them for a few minutes. How does their 1.42GHz G4 CPU compare to an AMD or Intel CPU? Might have to do a little research on this.....
 
tthe keyboard is something like tihs on a mac i think...
[]usb cable
usb port 1 []----------------top of keyboadd------------------[]usb port 2
the mouse goes into 1 of those ports depending on right or left handedness. the other is open for other things.
 
Dell has some small PCs, check Small Business if you don't find any in Home. Dell will be pre-built, tested, and will come with a warranty and legal copy of Windows XP. Dells are also usually very quiet.

Check Hot Deals and GottaDeal.com for Dell deals.

Another option is a laptop -- Dell has been having $750-off-$1500 deals that get you a very nice laptop for $750.
 
Originally posted by: raincityboy
Text These guys might have what your looking for.
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Damn. That site is killer. But after poking around I see the cube cases. And hey, there's some that are on Newegg. So after comparing prices on all the included components, holy geez that site is overpriced! And it appears to get even worse the smaller the case gets. The ones that are almost the size of the MiniMac are sickly expensive for no performance. Check out the Mocha P4 Junior. It uses small size components that leap in price. Ie. 20G HD for $79, 24X CD-ROM $45, etc. Comes with the formentioned, a 2.0G Celeron, 256MB of PC2100 RAM and integrated graphics for $729! Sounds a lot like a laptop.... lol Even if I buy just the case and mobo off there. miniItx case=$160 and mobo=$150+ Now go to newegg and add a slim DVD burner for $100 and a 40G 7200RPM 2.5" HD for $140 and I'm already at $550 w/o the special low-profile RAM. And I'm STILL using an integrated CPU with a 1G speed!! LOL!!! I'd better stick to the common size components. Which means the cubed shaped cases. Very cool site though. Thanks for the link.

Dave S, I do see some SFF PCs at Dell. But she already has a monitor, keyboard, mouse and a copy of Windows Xp Pro. So I'd be paying for stuff she doesn't need. Right? Thanks though!

I guess guys, I'm just asking if everything except the mobo is the same size. And assembly is roughly the same as with a normal ATX tower case? I'm thinking I'm just going to grab one of those barebone ones off Newegg and throw in a regular 3.5" HD a stick of 184-pin RAM and be good to go, yeah?
 
well, yeah, i mean you're looking at neweggs specs right? it shows what size mobo, hdd, expansion bays etc. the hardest thing to find out is what size psu they have or need. most of the micro-atx need, surprise, a micro atx psu. opticals and hdd are nearly always the same.
 
Originally posted by: rise4310
well, yeah, i mean you're looking at neweggs specs right? it shows what size mobo, hdd, expansion bays etc. the hardest thing to find out is what size psu they have or need. most of the micro-atx need, surprise, a micro atx psu. opticals and hdd are nearly always the same.
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Yeah I saw the specs, but I've never really messed with anything this size before. And I knew the mobo was a different size so I figured I'd ask. I notice almost all of the barebones on there comes with a 200W PSU. Is that going to be enough for say a 2.4G P4, 512 RAM, DVD burner, 7200RPM HD and maybe a cheap 9600 Pro video card?
 
i'd just get the $700 shuttle with the 9600XT. decent spec and price is not that bad.

or you know what's better? get your mom one of those cheap dell laptops they have on sale now. $750 for a 6000.
 
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