All-in-one pc?

[Luke122]

*sniff, sob*

This is making me wish I could finish Zero...

[davbren]

I can't post pics coz I don't have the components. Ideally I'd like to make the whole thing from wood, but I'm not sure how viable that is. Aluminium would be amazing but i think it'll be costly.

[Diamon]

Though putting oil in a monitor is probably not a good idea.

Pessimist -_-

[Diamon]

I can't post pics coz I don't have the components. Ideally I'd like to make the whole thing from wood, but I'm not sure how viable that is. Aluminium would be amazing but i think it'll be costly.

Wood probably isn't any good if you have a limited space. Aluminium is much much harder compared to its weight. And is it really that pricy? Dunno about your budget though.

You could always rob a recycling plant and melt it down to the sheets you need tho ^^

[slaveofconvention]

Your choice of materials should be based more on what you're used to/capable of working with - things like already having the right tools will save you a LOT more than one material over another. There's no point in going with a cheaper material if you're going to end up spending more than you save on the tools you'll need. There's no reason you have to stick with just one material either. If you like the look of, and are confident with wood, you can always go with a wooden case, with an alu frame. That'll give you the look you want and still retain some strength.

This might sound cheesy, but prototype.... Get a pile of old cardboard and make full size models of a DVD drive, hard drive, motherboard, monitor etc, and then you can mess with them until you get them to fit right. You'll end up with something as small as possible but still have enough room for everything you need....

It's a starting point, if nothing else....

[mDust]

Pessimist -_-

Prototyping is a good idea. (EDIT: Nay, an excellent idea!) Although I do it digitally most of the time, it makes everything easier in the long run.

[Diamon]

If you have any knowledge in creating blueprints that's a huge help. Especially in 3D programs such as SolidWorks and google sketchup.

[davbren]

Yh I may well have to prototype. I have very little experience blueprinting. I have used a couple of cad and 3ds-maxy programs before but for nothing more than fun.

There are pros and cons to every approach. I though about using a Studio 17 mobo as that would give me a great power to space ratio. But the mobo is obviously limited by what can be attached. If I used a regular mobo, I can put anything I want on it at the cost of space. This obviously changes the way I think about boxing it all up. Imho slimmer is better. I was, however, hoping to stick two hdds in there which I don't think will be possible on a laptop motherboard.

Another advantage of a laptop motherboard is the power supply. Gah! Its all so complex!

I'll have another think...

[Diamon]

Unless you're rolling with an SSD one hdd should be enough. You could even partition it so it looks like 2 HDD's in the OS ^^

And I remember seeing some really tiny PSU's linked here on the forum a while ago, maybe someone with a better memory can re-link em.

[davbren]

I did plan on separating the OS's on different drive. I've got nothing against partitioning.

Do you remember what the power was like with the tiny PSUs?