those tiny little (in terms of desktop) computers.

rahimiv

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Sep 21, 2003
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I see a bunch of those tiny little desktop computers for sale in the computer market, the question is, what is it primarily for? Sounds like in the future I am going to be living in tiny little spaces as well so I think something like this might actually be worthwhile, but what are the disadvantages of it compared to full sized desktops? It looks like everything's integrated (well I think it has AGP slots so you can put in kick ass graphics chip) and you can only put in one CD rom drive and a harddrive... so on the fly burning goes out the window...
 

DOHCrazy

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Jul 17, 2003
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You can make a very nice computer with these small cases, they arent limited to "since there small, u cant game".

Most reason i think most people get them is far LAN parties. You can hookup your carying case, walk in, and have everything in a nice small neat package!

<A HREF="http://aao.sudden-death.org/3dMarkScore.gif" target="_new">System Specs</A>

Ill have a Sapphire 9600pro for sale as soon as i get it back. Had to RMA and theyre sending me a new one!
 

Crashman

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They're junk. People buy them because they "look cool". They say they're saving space, but they don't. These are the next size down from Micro ATX, and there are Micro ATX towers that are narrower (less use of space on a desk), while there are Micro ATX "desktops" (horizontal cases) that are shorter, so they take up less space in a home theater rack.

These things only have 1 PCI slot. And the AGP card is usually mounted on the outside slot, so you can't even use a double wide AGP card. The power supplies are confined to that small size, so if you ever needed a larger one you probably wouldn't find one. Etc, etc, junk.

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Crashman

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They're junk, you can get a Micro ATX thin tower that's over 2 inches narrower an only around 3 inches taller. Since they're narrower, it's also easier to carry one handed (like a briefcase).

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rahimiv

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Sep 21, 2003
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Thanks for the reply, I talked to those computer salesman who says "well you can put anything you want in it..." but you know they're just trying to sell the stuff, they aint interested in wheather or not you end up with something you are satisified with. My celeron is a bit slow however but buying a pentium IV cpu means spending like 6000+ NT even for a low speed one, and I could get a AMD motherboard AND a Athalon XP for that much! What should I go with??
 

matrg

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Oct 14, 2002
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For portability I had planned to put a mATX nForce2 board and Athlon 2500 chip in a slim desktop case (which could also be put upright with a little foot; its the SlimLine case at this address http://www.aria.co.uk/productsList.asp?Category=10&Submit=submit). However, on recieving the case I realised that I was not going to be able to work it as the processor would surely have cooked in there. Airflow is very limited in these cases and I think the only options are going intel (though I'm not confident a P4 would fare well) or getting a Duron. I returned the case and now have a Chieftec mid-tower, which is not as portable (!) but shifts air well. I perhaps should have gone with my original intention of getting a Shuttle XPC, though I;ve heard the Athlon versions are sometimes unstable and of course upgrading is limited.

Cheers
 

Crashman

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Wow, does that slimline case have full height slots? I think it would be around 3/4" taller if it did. Anyway, if it's THAT close to the sink, I'd mod the case (putting a hole and grille in the cover, over the CPU cooler).

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jimbo99

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Crashman's right. They are junk. They do look pretty.

If you investigate the cost of them vs the cost of a full sized one you'll note that the cheap SFFs cost roughly what an average desktop system unit costs. I did some pricing and discovered that the ones disgned around the intel processors and chipsets are relatively cheap. The ones with the nforce2 chipsets cost more then it would to buy a case (with power supply) and an equivalent motherboard.

I had an ongoing conversation via e-mail with one of the Shuttle Group's marketing guys and he kept going back to style over substance. When I explained that I wouldn't pay more for a board that would be very difficult to get replaced he tried to make it out as if it were the BMW of computers.

He probably wasn't aware that I am experienced with computers and the technologies that go onto the boards. It seemed more like marketing hype, and I felt he wasn't being honest. A SFF proprietary mobo/case/powersupply based on the nforce2 chipset hardly meet my idea of a BMW.

I think they'll come around sooner or later.