The Wired Project

[Vertigo]

My wife and I are moving into a new house this summer, so I've been thinking more and more about updating our current set up. My own PC is running like a champ after the Infernis build. But my wife's is ... well ... an old eMachines PC from Wal Mart. So here's what I'm working on: New computer for the wife, media pc for the living room, file server, and some modifying to a laptop, and a tablet laptop for me for school/work. I'm going to outline my ideas below, tell me what you guys think.

Wife's Machine: The Jolly Roger
Pirates of the Carribean themed computer, AMD Socket 939 based. NZXT Nemesis Case with the top being a deck from a ship. Also, have a Pirates of the Carribean toy I'm mounting to the door.

Media PC: Zoetrope
I'm planning on starting with something like this link (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2443634&CatId=1918) it's a mini PC about the size of a CD Rom drive, made with laptop components to keep it compact. I need to do a little more research here first, but I'm thinking of putting this in an old ornate jewelry box. (Something like gun metal engraving actually, an idea I had a while back but wasn't sure how I'd use it till now)

File Server: Ikea
My idea here, is an area for the printer, scanner, etc. Printer paper, all that, but with a locking drawer at the bottom with a file server built in. Nothing horribly special components wise, just a couple of really big drives.

Laptops
I'm a graphic design major, and I'm about to start an apprenticeship, so I'm thinking of upgrading from my Dell Inspiron 600m to a tablet laptop. At the same time however, I've got this Dell laptop that has a few stickers on it and otherwise is pretty boring. So, I'm thinking I'll take the big round dell logo out of the back of the screen and add something with some LEDs and a fresh coat of paint on the rest of the laptop.

[ESX]

The media PC reminds me of this: http://www.apple.com/macmini/

[jaxspades]

Wow, I like all those ideas--the mini PC sounds great!

Are you going for one of the Pirates movies, or is it going to have elements of all three...? I think they have screens for the third...

Are you putting your file server in an end table that has the lockable drawer, or just a metal file cabinet...a wooden end table would be pretty sweet.

I can't wait to see any worklogs!

[Vertigo]

ESX - Yeah that's what I thought too, I remembered seeing a mini on the Screensavers a few years ago and thinking that's cool, there's gotta be a use for it. But I didn't really think much about it till now.

jaxspades - I'm not really planning on going with any one of the movies specifically, more of a general Pirates mod. I have been thinking of a nice etched window for the side, possibly a treasure map with Jack's Compass.
As for the actual table, I'm not entirely sure. I got the idea initially from a post by Rankenphile link to the post (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showpost.php?p=17709&postcount=9) where he mentioned an idea about using a file cabinet. What I'm thinking is more of a space to store all the game CDs, Windows CDs, etc. All that clutter that comes with having several PCs. So it's probably going to be a combination drawer setup. I'm thinking I'll probably be making this myself, because there's a few elements of different types of furniture I want to add to this. This one, I don't expect to see much progress on till atleast this summer when we're in the new place and I have an actual shop to work in.

My last final for the semester is Weds, so expect some sketches soon.

[DaveW]

This sounds a lot like my Integration Project, so i've done a lot of research into this. If you need to know anything obscure, i've probably already got the info. You can PM me if you like, but asking on the boards lets other people contribute. I'm here if you need me :)

-Dave

[Vertigo]

Sweet, thanks Davew

[cbelmo159]

holy piss that thing is small. probably runs slow too.

[Vertigo]

Doesn't need to run fast, it's just going to be playing videos and movies from the files server on the TV in our living room :D

[DaveW]

holy piss that thing is small. probably runs slow too.

On what planet is this considered constructive?

-Dave

[jaxspades]

I like the mini idea--just fast enough to do what is needed, and it can be stored out of the way, and stored quickly--it's not like it will be used for Oblivion or for Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0.


holy piss that thing is small. probably runs slow too.

Speed, power, and size are relevant to function, need, and sometimes desire. Speed, power, and size are not everything about a PC--sometimes, you need a small one that just checks email and watches movies.

[Vertigo]

Exactly Jax, I was at a friends house a while back who had a media PC in his living room. However, it was just a beige tower (an old Gateway) with a keyboard and mouse rigged next to the couch. My plan is to put something that's not so obnoxious in the living room, and add a wireless mouse and keyboard. I'm not fond of wireless personally, but I think it fits with the design philosophy of this project.

Wife's computer is using a lot of the same components as Infernis, but I'm not going with as much RAM or video power, etc. She really doesn't need it. Enough to play WoW and do homework on and she's fine.

Just got home from my last final so no school for a couple of weeks, expect some sketches and a tentative parts list soon.

[jaxspades]

That's awesome. I hear WoW is great, but I don't have the ability to play it (monthly fee).

Yeah, my next computer is electricity hungry--
AMD X2 5000
Nvidia 8800GTX
2GB Ram
etc...

Sounds like this will be a great project, and good luck!

[Vertigo]

So, after a little talk with the wife. It looks like the media PC is actually going to be housed in a Nintendo. Which means, I actually may toss this one together sometime after Christmas while I'm working on the case for the wife's new comp.

[b4i7]

So, after a little talk with the wife. It looks like the media PC is actually going to be housed in a Nintendo. Which means, I actually may toss this one together sometime after Christmas while I'm working on the case for the wife's new comp.



haha...YES...i have an old nintendo case all stripped out for the same kinda project

and as for mac minis...that can be pretty decent machines..

[gaz_the_chav]

On what planet is this considered constructive?

-Dave

Haha like that comment Dave! Really put him in place!

I think what he meant was -

'Wow that thing is really small! Would it not run slower than normal though - its only 1.60GHz with 256MB RAM?'

-gaz

[Vertigo]

b4i7 - Cool, I haven't worked with one of the minis before, but I did make an MP3 player in a Nintendo a couple years ago with a kit I ordered online. Infact, I think my cousin still uses it.

gaz_the_chav - LOL, yeah I thought the same thing when I first saw it actually. The first one I saw was on the Screensavers probably 3 years ago, they were putting it in a drive bay of a G4 clone they made, so they'd have a Mac and a PC in one box. But, my first thoughts were damn that thing's gotta be slow. I looked at the options available however, and it's not bad really.

Intel Pentium M Processor 760 (2.0GHz 533FSB) (Add $170.00)
1024MB PC4200 DDR2 533MHz SODIMM (1GB x 1) (Add $140.00)
100GB Ultra ATA 5400RPM Notebook Hard Drive (Add $140.00)
INTEL CALEXICO 802.11B/G WIRELESS (Add $44.99)

I'm actually going to add the Wireless card, but I think the stock setup for the rest will actually be sufficient. I honestly don't even intend to check my eMail on this thing, just watch videos and play some music occasionally.

They make another Mini link (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/configdetails.asp?Base=2443682) that has beefier processor options up to:
Intel Core Duo T2600 2.16GHz 667FSB 2M Processor (Add $420.00)

I'm almost done finding parts for the others, so those will probably be posted later today.