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 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 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

[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.