Intel D945GCLF (with integrated Atom 1.6Ghz CPU) | |
| 26.05.2008
This motherboard is very good. I'm using this with a 64GB SSD and it's running Windows XP Pro quite well. If you need to run this in your car, I recommend going for the PicoPsu 90W, it's the right thing to get for it. The CPU radiator is cool when running and the boot is VERY FAST (it gets to the windows loading screen in a few seconds after it has booted). If you need a router, you can get this board and one-to-two PCI active adapter and two gigabit ethernet adapters and that's pretty much it. |
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picoPSU-90 DC/DC PC ATX power supply (Fanless, 90 Watt) | |
| 26.05.2008
This PSU should be the right thing, but I need to see how well things go inside the car. Its 96% efficiency indicates that it's very good. You might want an additional "battery low, turn off" protection circuit (or another PSU) if you want to use it inside the car (or else it might kill your car's battery if left in standby ). This is the ideal choice if you want to build a computer which is used in a office/home environment and you can afford to use a power brick. |
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Low profile Replacement heatsink for Intel D945GCLF(2), D201GLY, D201GLY2A | |
| 17.06.2008
This is a great addon for D945GCLF. If you have a small case (or you're making a custom one) and the heatsink is getting in your way, this is exactly what you need. I don't know how hot it gets while the machine is running (especially during the summer), but, a small fan might be needed. |
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Jetway NC92-230-LF (with integrated Atom 1.6Ghz CPU) | |
| 28.11.2008
Pros: -wide range of daughter boards which make it a good choice for various applications -this motherboard has smaller heatsinks and the rear connectors are smaller, that means it fits in lower profile cases without replacing the heatsinks Cons: -it's a lot more expensive than the D945GCLF which uses the same single core CPU (60 euros vs 112 euros) -it has just one RAM memory slot -the daughterboard addons are too expensive If the addons, the small heatsinks and the low profile rear connectors aren't a requirement, you can add 8 more euros and get two D945GCLF motherboards. |
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Intel D945GCLF2 (with integrated Atom 2x 1.6Ghz CPU, TV-Out) | |
| 24.09.2008
The Atom 330 CPU has very good performance. It can even decode HD video. Given the fact that it has 4 threads, it can even be used with Windows Vista without having too much of a performance hit. Update from :2009-01-30 21:57 The CPU gets quite hot while it's on. That happens in load as well as in idle. It shouldn't have been this bad for an 8W CPU. The chipset eats more power than the rest of the board, that's not exactly *green*. This is a budget solution, it might be having a dual core Atom, but it lacks the required features to make it the best possible choice. This thing also lacks a good quality NIC. Other manufacturers ship with dual gigabit Intel onboard, you can just add a WIFI adapter on PCI and you're done. Those who want to make this a wireless router and a regular router at the same time can't. |
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Intel D510MO (with integrated Atom 2x 1.66Ghz CPU) [FANLESS] (Remnant) | |
| 13.12.2009
This new motherboard is adequate for a router and a wireless access point. Install a mini-pci Atheros WLAN adapter, a second NIC and a small SATA SSD and you've got a great router. This motherboard is supposed to draw only 13W for everything there is on it (without other peripherals). One thing isn't known right now: does it have AHCI or not? |
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Transcend IDE Flash Module 4096MB 40pin vertical | |
| 13.12.2009
This would be very useful to people who build router PCs. However, the price is a bit high for the offered capacity. |
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Fujitsu D2703-S (for AMD Mobile Turion/Sempron) + AMD Sempron 2100+ (1Ghz) CPU [BUNDLE] | |
| 13.12.2009
This kit looks like a good deal at the first look. However, this price is a bit steep. You can get one of the Zotac 9300 ITX LGA 775 mobos + any LGA 775 CPU and you can get something better than this combo. This kit, however, comes with a low power AMD CPU, 8W. There's currently nothing like this in the Intel world which has a similar performance. Atom draws about the same power, but doesn't have the same level of performance. |
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Zotac GeForce 9300-ITX WiFi (for Core2Duo FSB1333 [Socket 775], HDMI, DVI, WLAN) [GF9300-G-E] | |
| 13.12.2009
This seems to be the most adequate solution for a powerful HTPC. That means you won't have to "pray" that all codecs and applications are capable to decode and encode video using the GPU. The reason is that all current LGA775 CPUs are 6-12 times faster than any Atom CPU you might find on an ION motherboard. If you need low power consumption and only light video playback, a dual core Atom ION motherboard is the right choice. However, if you want to keep your options open, choose this and don't worry about anything. |
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PCI Riser flexible (70 mm) | |
| 13.12.2009
A PCI riser is extremely useful if you plan to build a HTPC and you need to install a TV Tuner inside it (or some other device on PCI). This is also useful if you plan to build some 1U or 2U rackmount server or router system. However, the price looks a bit steep. |
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Viliv X70EX Premium 3G (7" Touchscreen, 1.33Ghz, 1GB RAM, 32GB SSD, HSPA/UMTS, WLAN, Bluetooth, GPS, WinXP) [not in stock until 29.07.2011] | |
| 13.12.2009
This UMPC seems to be the only portable device you'd have to carry with you when you travel. Given the fact that the battery will give you 5.5 hours of usage, it can be useful even for taking notes in a classroom. The integrated 3G modem lets you surf the web, check your mail and manage your business without having to carry an additional USB modem. The GPS comes in very handy if you're need to find your way. No matter how many people say they don't need such a device, you can never know when it might come in handy. Since it has a touchscreen, you could even use it to create some nice drawings/sketches (maybe even some serious work in this field). All in all, this UMPC seems to be great for work, play, school and many other purposes. It can support Windows 7 too. |
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TOUCHSCREEN-KIT USB 7" | |
| 13.12.2009
This is extremely useful for EEE PC 701 owners. The EEE PC can be easily converted into a touchscreen laptop and use it for all kind of tasks such as drawing, taking notes and other such things. This could also be used to mod an EEE PC into a very low power CAR PC with a touch screen and an USB attached HDD for storage. |
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Nanovision UM-720S V2 (7" USB Touchscreen Display) | |
| 13.12.2009
This looked like a good device for a while, however it has problems. Some people have issues with it and the touchscreen feature seems to be flaky. In my opinion, one should buy one of these devices only if they know what they're buying it for and if they have some useful application for this hardware. |
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CTF1210-M - VGA 12.1" TFT - Touchscreen USB - Video - OPEN-FRAME | |
| 13.12.2009
This seems to be a good display to use in a DAW (digital audio workstation) system, especially for a custom built DJ-ing PC. However, the resolution seems to be a bit low for such a screen size. Current 12" laptops have resolutions such as 1366x768 and 1280x800. |
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Intel 320 Series Postville Refresh 2.5" SATA SSD 160GB (SSDSA2CW160G310) | |
| 13.12.2009
Buy one of these and you'll get one extremely fast laptop. This will also rid you of any worries related to moving your laptop while it's in use. SSDs have no moving parts, no platters, nothing which could break due to being moved, thus reducing the risks for data loss. However, SSDs bring a new set of potential issues: data loss due to physical damage to the device's chips due to wear and tear. Windows 7 has some functions which makes it extend the life of SSDs and lower the wear and tear. If you get one of these, try not to write-delete large files often (e.g. installing and removing games often, storing and removing huge files often, reinstalling the OS often, doing video editing on these SSDs, etc). If you're lucky enough to have a laptop which can have 2 2.5" hdds inside, you could use this SSD for the OS and important files and an HDD for applications and games. It gets 3 stars from me because of the price, which is rather high for the offered storage capacity. |
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VIA Nano ITX NX15000 | |
| 13.12.2009
This nanoITX mobo seems to be appropriate for a lot of embedded uses, however it's not clear how well it'd handle an OS like Windows 7. Moreover, there are Atom COMs (computer on module) which seem to be cheaper than this motherboard (smaller, too). There seems to be some issue with VIA's motherboards: they're more expensive than anything similar from Intel. Even the regular mini-ITX motherboards are more expensive than the Atom motherboards. Perhaps VIA should update their prices to reflect the current market's prices? |
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Wireless LAN USB Buffalo WLI-U2-SG54HG (Receiver with Suction-Aerial) | |
| 13.12.2009
This is useful for car PCs only if you drive through (and park in) areas which have wifi networks and good coverage. However, this is not useful for a Car PC if you don't have a lot of wifi networks where you drive your car. If you don't travel to other countries, a 3G modem may be better. This can be useful for large buildings which have weaker wifi signals. |
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VESA screws f. MiniPC HAHE-MC/-DN enclosure | |
| 13.12.2009
Mounting such a mini-PC on the back of an LCD is very good for environments such as offices where space may be limited. |
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MiniPC HAHE-MC-B Enclosure (for Intel D945GSEJT Half-Height ITX) [Black] | |
| 13.12.2009
This is a very good case for D945GSEJT. It can even be VESA mounted on the back of a monitor. This is also a good system for people who have access to machines (at work, in various places), but don't want to carry a laptop with them and still want to have their files with them. A system built with this case could easily replace a portable hdd you currently carry around now. |
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CTFDINPC-1 InDash Car-PC (1.2Ghz, 1GB RAM, 16GB Flash-IDE, AM/FM radio, Amplifier, GPS, WinXP) | |
| 13.12.2009
This is a very good ready to use Car PC. If there's one thing which is missing, that is a 3G modem. A downside would be that it's using Windows XP. It might not be able to run Windows 7 and the applications it comes with may not be compatible with it. |
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Ext. Case 5,25 USB SLIM (for CD/DVD) + Slimline DVD+-RW [SPECIAL] | |
| 13.12.2009
This is very useful, especially for netbook owners. You might want to use one of these on PCs which only have SATA connectors and work in AHCI mode. This is also useful (if you already own one) to install an OS on netbooks and notebooks which don't have optical drives. |
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Intel D410PT (with integrated Atom 1x 1.66Ghz CPU) [FANLESS] (Remnant) | |
| 30.12.2009
This motherboard is a good product if you really don't need a dual core CPU. This is pretty much like D510MO except it doesn't have a gigabit NIC, it only has a single core CPU and it doesn't have the mini-PCI-E connector onboard. Those who really need to have an extremely low power usage and are trying to reduce the power usage as much as possible without buying one of the more expensive should buy this motherboard. It gets 4 stars from me because of the 10/100 only NIC. |
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