Build Your Own AIO PC With Desktop Components

[DarkSable]

Alright, here we go. I got a response in just 14 hours from these guys, and that's after they were forwarding it between a couple people to get my questions answered by those who knew best what the answers were. I'm pretty impressed.

Here's the gist of the information I received from them:

- They know the holes on the back look like VESA mounting ports, but the back panel is plastic and there's no reinforcing for them, so it's not recommended to try. No future plans to make a hook style VESA mount like a few monitors have, that would attach to the bottom mounting points and come up. (This is mostly because the graphics card slot sticks out the back so half of the reason you would mount it [i.e. to a wall] wouldn't be able to work.)

- The rear panels are exactly the same for all the monitors, so a longer graphics card on the 27" isn't possible. Didn't say anything about if there was a chance that might change with a future revision, though.

-

This is the first run of the mono AIO chassis. I am hoping in future AIOs we will include a larger resolution especially for the 27” monitor, but I have no time frame of if/when that will happen at this time.

- They like the point of giving the chassis an extra HDMI or Display Port so that it can more easily be used as a second monitor, and will consider it in the future.

All told, sounds like a pretty promising product; I'm excited to see what it looks like a little ways down the road.

 

[DarkSable]

i think this will be a very niche item. who would this be for? gamer's today will want multiple HDD, SSD's, and GPUs and Monitors with a PC and its not meant for mainstream because every AIO PC is basically a mainstream pc

Yes. It will absolutely be niche, and I'm guessing future revisions will let you have two 3.5" hard drives. As for SSDs, they can literally go anywhere they can fit, so that's not too much of a worry.

As for the rest of it, well... there's absolutely nothing stopping you from hooking up multiple monitors, and if you're looking for a product that can be an all in one or a hyper-portable affair, then you aren't going to be looking for multiple graphics cards.

I for one can see several situations this could be useful in:

- College students looking for something that can fit more easily in their dorm that can be taken home with ease.
- People for whom an AIO isn't powerful enough, but don't want a big gaming computer.
- People who want a second computer, but don't want to deal with setting it up every time they need it.

I definitely fall under the last category there. I would absolutely love to have this thing, because it would let me take my (currently built on a plank of wood) media computer, stick it in the back of this thing, and be able to just swivel the monitor when a friend comes over, or to pick it up and take it to a friends' without having to worry about more than two power cables and the mouse and keyboard. That's pretty attractive to me.

So, niche product? Absolutely.

Still a pretty cool one if you're looking for a solution to a problem this can solve? Absolutely.

 

[tryingmybest2]

the designer is stupid , the CARDS should be parallel to the monitor not like this.

use a riser card IDIOTS.

 

[bloodroses75]

Go to a enough LAN parties and you'll definitely see a market for this. 1 component is much easier to move than a monitor and a case. Plus using desktop parts vs. a traditional AIO or laptop you aren't stuck using laptop parts that can't compete to desktop equivalents or be upgradable down the road.
I had tried to build a similar concept about a year ago using a ribbon cable to put the video card parallel, but did not have access to a way to fabricate cheaply, let alone the risk of having to tear the back off my monitor off as it is not flat at all.

 

[Guest]

This is an excellent idea, I must say! Finally there can be a space saving AIO that is actually worth what you pay for it. My only real concern with building on this would be the rather small 245 mm VGA space it allows. Even so, it would be cool to see more of these.

 

[Mythos_Man]

Genius!

 

[tom2u]

The power supply is usually the heaviest part of a computer. So is it possible to put it somewhere else? That removes much of the bulk too. The thing has to plug into the wall so its not as if its ever going to be wireless. By using PCI-E ribbons you can position your video card(s) anywhere you want. I doubt if they contemplated that. And why in the world would anyone want to buy something with an monitor you can't choose from? There are about a million to choose from and they force you to buy theirs? This company is idiotic. Sorry. Make a frame that anchors on to the vesa holes in the back of most monitors, mount the power supply elsewhere, and you have something that will work AND take up a fraction of the space if one uses those PCI-E ribbons so the cards don't stick up.

 

[InvalidError]

The power supply is usually the heaviest part of a computer.

It depends on what GPU and what PSU we are talking about. Some PSUs can be quite light while GPUs with large heatsinks get pretty heavy.