May 25th, 2009

CrunchDeals: Mobo, CPU, 4GB of RAM, 512MB ATI Radeon for $140

Pretty nice barebones combo over at Newegg.com today. You can get a motherboard, AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ CPU, 4GB of RAM, and a 512MB ATI Radeon video card for $140 after a $39 instant discount and $25 worth of mail-in rebates. → Read More

March 3rd, 2009

PC case looks like an old-school VCR

Yes, you could absolutely build a PC into an actual old VCR that you don’t use any more but this solution seems far easier if you’re willing to part with some of your money. I tried building a computer into an old VCR once but I gave up after figuring out how many holes I’d have to punch just to get everything to line up. → Read More

January 28th, 2009

Video: Setting up VIA's barebones Artigo A2000

I’m in the middle of reviewing VIA’s latest barebones system, the Artigo A2000. Essentially a tiny PC in a tiny box like other barebones setups, the Artigo sports the latest Nano-ITX mainboard and uses a sort of netbook-level processor, the VIA 1.5GHz C7-D. It’s a simple little device to set up, although getting the RAM in was a bit of a chore. Everything else works like a charm; I’ll have video… → Read More

October 28th, 2008

New VIA VB8001 ‘Nano’ processor and motherboard combo, plus more early info about holiday offerings

You guys like computers, do ya? Me too. I spent a fair amount of time with the good people at VIA today and got some info about various upcoming products – some that have just been announced and some that haven’t yet. For starters, here’s the VIA VB8001 CPU and motherboard combo that was recently announced. It uses VIA’s new “64-bit, superscalar, 1.6GHz VIA Nano processor” –… → Read More

August 14th, 2008

Build your own Atom-based desktop PC (or Car PC)

Here’s a nice little weekend project. You can pick up a barebone MSI Wind system (not the netbook, the desktop version) from Newegg for $140. It’s one of the first desktop systems to use Intel’s power-sipping Atom processor (1.6GHz). You’ll need to add RAM (it uses laptop RAM) and a hard drive (or CF card) to this kit, and maybe even a little Wi-Fi card if you’re feeling adventurous. The… → Read More

May 9th, 2008

MSI launches new pop-can sized "Titan" computer

I suppose it’s a little funny that of all the Greek gods, MSI chose the biggest to lend a name to their smallest computer. This thing is really tiny. It hides a DVD burner, a 2.5″ SATA drive slot, 2 PS/2 slots and 2 USB, ethernet, and a real audio card. It’d make a mean little dedicated media or torrent machine if you had it connected to some network-attached storage; it’s… → Read More

June 25th, 2007

Shuttle XPC Glamor Series SG33G5 Barebones With HDMI

Itching to build yourself a little Vista home-theater PC, but were holding out for an integrated HDMI port? Announced at Computex Taipei 2007, the $360 Shuttle XPC Glamor Series SG33G5 should satisfy your needs. Inside the shiny black case sits a motherboard based on Intel’s G33 Express chipse and offers “top quality, highly efficient components for enhanced system reliability, high… → Read More

January 26th, 2007

Shuttle Releases SDXi Barebones-style

specially designed for the case. I saw the case up close and personal-like at CES and it’s really quite nice. Very realistic looking flames. Anyway, at the time I asked if they’d considered selling it as a barebones unit along with all the other models they sell. They said no, which means either they didn’t know at the time they would be selling it, they were lying to me or I… → Read More