FS: HTPC Cases, Wireless RF Keyboards and HTPC Systems.

Oinkypig · Jun 7th, 09, 05:00 PM

A project which conceptually started in Nov\Dec 2008.

I had an old PC which I made as a HTPC, nothing great, just usable.

I didn't like much that the wireless keyboard and mouse had to be covered by a towel (dirt gathers on them), and the two items were not even in use everyday. I have glass plates as my living room cabinets, so no drawers or shelfs to hide them.

Pardon me editing out photo frames

Having gotten the Intel iTX ATOM MBs, I set out to make a HTPC (No HD) which was more functional.

My criteria was
1) Low cost, so I opt to be using standard off-the-shelf components
2) Must have an optical drive (low cost means 5.25" standard)
3) Can handle 2 HDDs (again low cost means 3.5" HDDs, no 2.5")
4) Small footprint
5) Functional, Free OS

SKetching up ideas, it was more or less something like this.

Oinkypig · 05:18 PM

HTPC Setup:

Atom 2 1.6 GHz (Approx SGD $155)
Standard VGA out to LCD TV 1366X768
1 GB Ram (At that time approx SGD $15)
500 GB HDD (SGD $95)
250W SFX PSU (2nd hand)
A Hauppage TV Tuner Card (SGD $35)

MDFs (approx SGD $20)
Arylic sheets approx (SGD $15)

Sorry that I did not take sufficent photos, so the first shot is already basically the system with the MDFs built up

The foot print (with 2 sheets of A4 paper side by side) is slightly bigger than a sheet of A4 paper for length and width

The DVD drive's bezel has been stripped open as I am thinking of making a small slot type

The arylic was marked for it, but it was much harder to accomplish in reality and I had to drop it later in assembly.

Oinkypig · 05:17 PM

Transparent arylic rods were fused together to black and glued to MDF
This creates an spotless appearance for the top view

Oinkypig · 05:25 PM

On the left side of the case, clean straight lines similar to the right

It opens up to show a space to put a keyboard (30 cm wide, I could probably get smaller, but the cost is going to go up

)
And a mouse which can be put back after usage

I managed to run USB ports (using those dismantled from old casings) to below so that the USB keyboard and mouse can be used.

Oinkypig · 05:27 PM

Old 3.5" HDD used as dummy to fit the racks for HDDs

Now the casing really gets tight.

But it met my 2 HDD capabilities requirement

Oinkypig · 05:31 PM

The back IO, made some mistakes during machining (uneven lines), but it was okay as I used black arylic to cover up the mistakes

The bottom half is also covered by black arylic during final assembly.

Oinkypig · 05:34 PM

The front panel, with the push buttons, LED lights prepared.

The slot concept (cover of the DVD drive is part of the front panel) was later dropped as I did not have confidence to put it right

A 50mm fan to exhaust heat from the drives was placed on the right side

Oinkypig · 05:37 PM

Spray paint time !

Dismantled everything and spray the frame black

Add four door stops as the feet for the casing to reduce vibrations

Oinkypig · 05:40 PM

Assembled back everything, put in the TV tuner card.

Forget about making a slot type DVD faceplate and you get

Oinkypig · 06:59 PM

To put into perspective,

Here's the size of the casing next to the Wii console and you can see the size difference to the CM 330 casing.

The OS chosen is Linux Based Ubuntu 8.04.

I am not an expert on Linux,
a) Tried using a ATOM 1 caused a lot of problem with the REALTEK LAN chip. With the ATOM2 LAN chip, everything was okay.
b) Tried using a Hauppage HVR1300 (built in encoder) did not get me my 5.1 sound output. So I went back to the Hauupage WinTV express

Other than that, the Ubuntu MythTV works well with the hardware

And did I not mention, it is FREE !