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Jeff Morris
 
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I built one of the mini-itx systems, using the ME6000 motherboard. The claim of "no
fan needed" is a bit overstated, since if you work it hard it will overheat unless the
ventilation is perfect. I played with a number of fans to find the minimal (i.e.
quietest) for my case and ended up with a small cpu fan.

The software from VIA was also disappointing - I don't think they have ever supplied a
driver that properly plays a DVD movie taking full advantage of the built-in decoder,
though I have found a combination that's not too bad. Also, I had a lot of trouble
running with win98 - all is well with xp.

Also, the processor speed lags mainstream offerings. I think they're up to 1.2 GHz,
but that won't be fanless.

On the plus side, the case is the size of a laptop. The power consumption is under 20
Watts. It has all of the modern connections: firewire, USB, etc. It has two PCI
slots and can handle normal drives, though you'll probably want notebook style slim
DVD drives and 2.5 inch disks.

If you want a dedicated system to run nav software, you can make a fairly small
package, the size of a car radio.

And best of all, you can open it up and swap out components just like a desktop box.




"Eric Currier" wrote in message
news:0Okid.98401$tU4.30551@okepread06...
I've been looking at the same thing, putting a computer on my boat. But my
boat is a smaller 21' trailer-sailor and there is only a small chance that
I'll be in salt water.
I've been looking at a mini-itx board, these are very small motherboards and
use very little electricity, some of them don't even need cooling fans so
the motherboard could be mounted in a watertight enclosure with only the
heatsink exposed to the air. These motherboards run about $150.00 with CPU
chip (aprox 1Ghz) and they also have adapters to run on 12V power. These
motherboards also have monitor out, video out, USB, audio out, network
(10/100), and the normal seriel ports.
If your interested do a Yahoo search for "mini-itx", they have a great site
with lots of information.
I also own one of those waterproof keyboards, they are great for wet/dirty
areas (I got a $200.00 award for suggesting they use them at work) the only
problem with them is that the keys are not quite as responsive as normal
keyboards and typing with them is slower and slightly less accurate.
I would use an optical mouse, find one with a sealed bottom and if you are
really worried about water add a saran wrap type covering over the top
(rules out wheel mouses).
The hard drive and optical drive could be mounted in waterproof enclosures
with the only possible problem being heat build up, as I intend to be
sailing in mostly fresh water I do not plan on using a waterproof container,
but will mount them in an way to reduce the chances of rain/splashes hitting
them (maybe in a cabinet).
The entire motherboard, power supply, hard drive and optical drive should
take up the same amount of space, or less, than a shoe box.
I will probably go for a LCD screen mounted so I can see it from the helm, I
have a Deluo GPS antenne and mapping software that will let me use it as a
navigation package.
I love the MP3 music format, a single CD-ROM can hold about 10 hours of
music and Winamp is a great MP3 player, the ITX has the normal audio out
ports so that it can be hooked into a stereo system (even a car/boat 12V
system), because the ITX format also has TV out, I plan on adding a small
13" Tv in the cabin and with a DVD-ROM drive, I will have a small
entertainment center. With a large enough hard drive you could store
hundreds of hours of music and with software such as Virtualdrive you could
store any number of DVD movies (and not even need a CD/DVD-ROM drive).
The ITX board also has a network port built-in, because I plan on storing
the boat at home I plan on being able to plug it into my home network. If I
do store my boat in a slip (a possiblity) I will be able to load data on my
laptop, hook into the network port, transfer the data, and leave the laptop
safely on dry land.
This will let me upload music and movies or any other data to the harddrive
before I leave for a sail and have a huge selection while I'm sailing, but a
CD/DVD-ROM drive will let me have even more choices enroute.

I do not intend to imply that music, movies and entertainment are more
important than sailing, my system is intended to aid in navigation while
underway, supply music if desired and make my time aboard as relaxing and
enjoyable as possible. All of this at the lowest possible price, with as
much reliability as possible.

Eric

"Phil" wrote in message
om...

I bought a Dell a few years ago and bought the extended warranty. I asked

if
it covered water damage like if it fell in the ocean and they said as long
as I went in after it they would warranty it. Another option if you have

the
room is a desktop with a flat screen. Dell had new ones for $450 + - with

a
free upgrade to a 15" LCD






 
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