I remember being very impressed by the combined daftness and ingenuity in this and similar builds, to the point that I'm disappointed by the 3D printing community for its lack of imagination in computer cases: there are a great many options for mini-ITX boards, RPi's and their ilk, but for the most part that are just cases, or mini-racks, or open test rigs, with little or none of the imagination that brought us things like this and the infamous PHKL (https://web.archive.org/web/20011212120420/http://www.exonom...).
Wow I remember this being covered in Custom PC, a magazine in the UK.
I emailed the author to get the modified bootloader source code that he mentions at the end to allow the dual boot between XP and red-hat via a hardware switch. It was magic to me at the time as a 13 year old! I probably still have the code somewhere.
There was something special about Mini-ITX machines at the time, nothing was that small.
Also, it was the last serious push of VIA as a processor vendor.
I genuinely miss that era of computing. Simpler, more fun, and with way more but not as crippling problems (except Linux support and WinModem. I'm glad that we're past that).
Back then, a computer case like that often came pre-equipped with a PSU. To save a little money around the turn of the milennium I'd buy the cheapest case they had (IIRC CoolerMaster was very affordable) and just use the PSU it shipped with.
So it really does look exactly like a spare case and no actual computer present.
Back then this was quite a bit of effort and engineering (especially the bootloader auto detection) to achieve and probably got a lot of wowed faces. Today nobody would bat an eye, you can cram anywhere a tiny PC or even stick PC, and maybe have a single USB-C cable sticking out.
Sounds like a fun project and very cool for the nostalgic people (like me).
A bit off topic, but I also loved the fact that the website remains like an antique website from that era (I know the article is from 2003 but the design is clearly not "modern"). I am going to say something probably stupid, but I feel there is a correlation between old/vintage design = good content.
Yes, especially the concern they could accidentally boot XP from their Linux box, and vice versa - I laughed. But also the technical solution, placing it one way up and then another with a tilt sensor, is really advanced.
Great Idea. I wish the times with custom build PCs will come back. Now all Computers look basically the same from the outside which is sad. Always entertaining to look at Retro-Builds.
benheck built a luggable computer into an MGD beer case around the early 00s as well. The build log and pictures seem to be lost to time but I recall it having a flip-open disc door that was cut out of the side of it. I didn't appreciate the humor as a kid but having had a beer or two in my day it's a lot funnier in retrospect.
I was a kid around that era and also thought his builds were very tacky and overrated. You changed your mind over "a beer or two"?
I'm so glad we stopped turning every hobby into an offshoot of modded car culture. I can't unhear the tokyo drift theme every time I'm reminded of this era.
I got my first real Pentium
Bought it at the local shop
Played Quake till my fingers ached
Was the summer of '99
Me and some guys from school
Had a LAN and we played real hard
Jonny lost, the network failed
Should've upgraded our thinnet
Oh, when I look back now
Ninety-eight was more fun than XP
And if I had the choice
My kids wouldn't be stuck with chromebooks
I really miss my old PC
I have on my bookshelf an unopened and still shrink-wrapped copy of Spaceward Ho! (Win 95 version IV requiring at least a 486/33). I like its bold red colour and the exciting way the unseen floppy disk and manual rattle about inside when I turn the box!
MicroATX has almost certainly always been more popular than MiniITX.
MicroATX motherboards are usually cheaper than ATX or MiniITX and you can typically use normal PSUs and optical drives instead small ones that are more expensive and have fewer options.
You can always put a mini ITX board in a full size ATX case if you want though...
Just last night I won an auction for a dual Pentium III supermicro setup with 1GB of memory. To relive this era of computing, including simulating my high school network by deploying Netware in a lab.
I emailed the author to get the modified bootloader source code that he mentions at the end to allow the dual boot between XP and red-hat via a hardware switch. It was magic to me at the time as a 13 year old! I probably still have the code somewhere.
There was something special about Mini-ITX machines at the time, nothing was that small.
I genuinely miss that era of computing. Simpler, more fun, and with way more but not as crippling problems (except Linux support and WinModem. I'm glad that we're past that).
So it really does look exactly like a spare case and no actual computer present.
A bit off topic, but I also loved the fact that the website remains like an antique website from that era (I know the article is from 2003 but the design is clearly not "modern"). I am going to say something probably stupid, but I feel there is a correlation between old/vintage design = good content.
I built a Shuttle xpc cube in 2008. I though that was tiny. I specifically used a laptop hard drive to reduce noice.
I think it was this exact model: https://www.reddit.com/r/retrobattlestations/s/o2HKpeLmrA
It was my firts step away from windows. I ran ubuntu on it a couple of years until I switched to macos to do ios dev.
I'm so glad we stopped turning every hobby into an offshoot of modded car culture. I can't unhear the tokyo drift theme every time I'm reminded of this era.
Bought it at the local PC shop
Played Rollercoaster Tycoon, CD-ROM straight from it's huge box, on it 'til my fingers bled
Was the summer of '99
More like, "back when software came in physical media".
Putting the CD in the drive, the installation starts, and that wow effect starting the game, the hard disk clicking like crazy.
MicroATX motherboards are usually cheaper than ATX or MiniITX and you can typically use normal PSUs and optical drives instead small ones that are more expensive and have fewer options.
You can always put a mini ITX board in a full size ATX case if you want though...