I'm thinking about trying to build a diskless (maybe even
fanless) HDTV frontend based on a microATX board w/ an NVidia
6150 and a low-power AMD X2 CPU.

However, I can't find any decent small cases.

All the "HTPC" cases are pretty large. In particular they're
all deep (front-back). I'm current using a Shuttle Zen as a
combined FE/BE. At 10.5" deep it just barely fits in the spot
I've got for it. The "mini" HTPC cases start at about 14-15"
deep and go up from there. They've also all sorts of crap I
don't want like a volume knob. Who the heck uses a volume knob
these days?

And when I get my new HDTV with a total depth of about 8", who
wants a box sitting under it that sticks out 2 feet into the
room?

The shallowest case I can find is the Antec Aria at 13". It
won't fit on the current shelf unless I knock a big hole in the
back of the cabinet (which, I admit, is an option-- it would
make cooling and cable management a bit simpler. Even 13" is
pretty deep compared to a flat-panel TV when you ahve to add
another 3-4" to allow for reasonable cable bend radius.

What would be cool is a tower-like case that's meant to sit
with the broad side "forward" with cables coming out of the
back/side in a hidden way the way many HDTVs do

Top view


It dosn't have to be cheap, it does have to be quiet.

Anybody seen anything that would work well for a small, shallow
HDTF front end?

_________________
Grant

Like you said, just turn a regular case sideways. Just put a smoke glass door in front to hide it, or maybe a door with speaker grill cloth. I know there's a guy who builds custom cases out of wood, that's an option too.

Wait a minute, why wouldn't a mac-mini work? I thought KM could install on an Intel mac.

Silverstone makes some fairly shallow cases:
http://www.silverstonetek.com

Look specifically at the LC02 and LC04.

_________________
LinHES 8.3, 1 BE, 3 FE

I could probably build one from aluminum, but the opportunity
cost would be pretty high, and due to lack of tools, the result
probably wouldn't look all that great.

Last I read, HDTV playback wasn't working on a mac-mini. If
I'm wrong, then a mac-mini would be pretty nice.

_________________
Grant

Ah ha! I'd always been clicking on "micro ATX" category headers
on web sites, and since the LC02/04 will actually accept a
regular ATX board, I wasn't seeing those two.

Those aren't too bad at all. The LC02 is only 11.6" deep.
That's about as good as it's going to get for micro ATX. With
a micro ATX board at 9.6x9.6 mounted horizontally, 10.5" is
probably about the absolute lower limit for depth without going
vertical.

Another option I just found is the Lian Li PC-V300

http://www.boxgods.com/dept/htpc-sff/in ... cle&ID=212
http://www.silverpcs.com/product_info.p ... cts_id=424
http://paininthetech.com/2006/07/05/lia ... se-review/

It's a 'shuttle' style micro-atx box, but the external drive
bays face sideways (either side). So, When you set the box
sideways, the dvd spits out the "front" -- it sort of looks
like it almost belongs that way.

Sitting sideways with the cables coming out of the "left" side
panel, it's only 11" "deep" with no requirement for cable bend
radius (though an inch for ventilation is probably a good
idea).

They Lian Li is a lot bulkier/boxier than the LC02, but that also
means you can fit a lot more stuff inside should the need
arise.

_________________
Grant

Another alternative is to buy a laptop. There's a lot of deals at the moment, and you can connect with a VGA cable.

That might be an option providing the video chipset/driver has
Xvmc support. AFIACT, the vast majority of laptops have ATI
video chipsets, though there are a few NVidia and Intel
chipsets being used now. A lot of laptops aren't really any
shallower than 11-12", so they're about the same depths as some
of the ATX cases. Another problem with laptops is that they
don't tend to be very quiet under load.

_________________
Grant

Take a look at the Hipermedia cases. http://www.hipergroup.com/English/products/media.html

MnDBnDr

BJefferys, do you have any personal experience with MythTV and the Hiper cases? I found a barebone case on Newegg for $300, it's pricey, but looks real nice. However, according to the Newegg reviews, Hipermedia is not very Linux friendly. Specifically, they could not get the VFD to work under Linux and Hipermedia was not amenable to providing information for someone to write a Linux driver fro the VFD...

Newegg Reviews

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LinHES 8.3, 1 BE, 3 FE