There are plenty of companies that offer cases for tiny computers with Mini-ITX motherboards. But if you’re planning to stick a PC next to your TV, or just want something nice to look at, why not make it into a work of art? Jeffrey Stephenson built a case inspired by the works of artist Piet Mondrian – and it might be…
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Microsoft has announced its plans for Windows Media Center in Windows 8. Media Center is a full-screen interface for accessing media on a Windows computer. It includes built-in tools for watching and recording live TV broadcasts, assuming your PC has a TV tuner, as well as menus for watching videos, viewing pictures, listening to music, and even watching Netflix videos…
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The Raspberry Pi is an inexpensive computer a low-power ARM-based processor and virtually everything you need to run a Linux-based operating system on a system board that’s around the size of a pack of cards. Oh yeah, and the goal is to eventually sell it for as little as $25. While the developers behind the project are hoping to see…
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Boxee offers media center software that lets you access music, movies, and internet multimedia all in one place. The company got its start by offering apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers. Plug your PC into your TV and it turns into a full-fledged, internet-connected home theater system. But today Boxee announced that it will be discontinuing its Home Theater…
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The Acer Revo RL100 is a small form factor desktop computer that was designed to hang out in your living room and power your big screen TV. The little guy has a 1.3 GHz AMD Athlon II K325 processor and NVIDIA ION graphics processor which offer 1080p HD video playback and responsive performance without drawing as much power as some…
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Zotac has added a new model to its ever-growing line of mini-desktops with high(ish) performance graphics. The new Zotac ZBOX HD-ID40 features the same case design as the last half dozen or so Zotac nettops,but under the hood it packs all new features, including: 1.83GHz Intel Atom D525 dual core PCU Next-generation NVIDIA ION graphics with 512MB RAM 802.11b/g/n WiFi…
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The Lenovo IdeaCentre Q150 is a tiny desktop computer with a low power Intel Atom processor and optional NVIDIA ION graphics which turn this little machine into something of a multimedia powerhouse — almost. The computer isn’t much larger than an optical disc drive, and as such there’s no room for an internal disk drive, which means that you’ll need…
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I’ve been both baffled and intrigued by nettops for a while. Sure, it’s cool to stuff a fully functional computer into a box about the size of DVD drive. But the only reason I can see for needing your computer to be that small (often while packing high performance graphics and a low power processor) is that the nettops are…
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Earlier this year the folks at Boxee started showing off an unusually shaped set-top box designed to run the company’s media center software. I got a chance to check out an early prototype at CES and at the time it was sporting a low power NVIDIA Tegra 2 chip capable of playing 1080p HD video. Flash forward about 9 months…
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Nettops may have started out as the spiritual cousin of netbooks, with low power processors, tiny cases, and low price tags. But you know what piece never really fit? That underpowered CPU. Because let’s face it, nobody really buys a mini-desktop because they want it to be able to do less. They just want it to cost less, and take…
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Nettops are a strange mix between desktops and netbooks. On the one hand, the idea of a low power, tiny desktop computer makes a lot of sense if you don’t need your computer to do much or if you’re just looking for a PC to stick next to your TV for some light web browsing and video playback duties. On…
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There’s a rumor going around that the next-generation Apple TV will basically be a $99 iPod touch without a display which you can plug into your TV to watch iTunes, web video, and other content. But it looks like Apple isn’t the only company that’s decided the best way to play downloaded and online video on a big screen TV…
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