A custom-built, All-in-One, desktop computer in a small form factor.
Important note: All footage for this project was lost in a computer accident...R.I.P.
Introduction
What was it? This project was a fully finished and working prototype, a transition prototype to go from HTPC 001 to HTPC 003.
Why? HTPC 001 was fine, truly a formidable piece of craftmanship. It was fast to deploy and easier to transport than a desktop PC but it was on the heavy side and still quite thick to be considered a portable computer, very similar to a modern slim prebuilt system.
I was also having problems with the room to accommodate the keyboard when using it on a desk and the screen's angle wasn't fully adjustable.
Concept and Design
The main objective was to make something lighter and smaller, so I took the briefcase design of HTPC 001 where the screen's components were in one side and the computer's were in the other, I extruded both sides to get a common denominator (spacewise) and got an All-in-One design: A box, a compact one.
My concept was to build a box with the back side open so that the interior components could be installed and serviced, but also had a removable cover to seal and protect the integrity of the box and its interiors. The LCD panel would be mounted on the front face of the box and the computer plus all the other electronics would be installed in that same front surface but on the inner side, back to back with the LCD panel. The box also featured two round holes on the top for the cooling fans and an opening at the bottom so that the backpanel, buttons (power/reset), connectors and cables were accessible from the bottom when placed in its stand. The box was able to stand still on its own when completely unplugged but required a stand to setup and operate, this was easily and beautifully solved by using an artist wooden easel (a stand/frame/tripod to support a painting or canvas), this also fixed the screen's angle adjustment issue.
The design involved a main wooden box to act as hull, all components were mounted on this box and then perfectly cutted panels from the ex-HTPC 001 body were used to cover and keep everything tied together. The LCD panel also had its own support panel, which also had the cutouts for the speakers, remote control LED and status LEDs. The aluminium L rails and plastic corners from HTPC 001 were reused to maintain the look and robustness. Everything was tightened together using sets of screws, nuts and washers so that the prototype could be completely disassembled when required.
If you want to make yourself an idea then take a look at HTPC 003 and make the following comparisons: Add it an extra 2 cm of thickness, 60 mm chassis fans (instead of 40 mm), stock Intel 92 mm CPU cooler (instead of a 60 mm low profile one), stock EVGA 90 mm GPU cooler (instead of a 60 mm low profile one), dual slot GPU (instead of single slot), support for two internal 2.5" SATA drives (instead of none), internal TV power supply, AC power circuitry (instead of a DC centralized one) and better airflow. Those extra 2 cm don't sound like much but, taken squarely, they really gave it room for a lot of stuff but also made it a lot bigger.
The Build
The construction process went smooth, I had a clear idea of what I wanted to do. It first involved stripping HTPC 001 apart and recycling its body parts. Other components came from other scraps, I had most of the materials already so the project was very cheap to build.
The look turned out quite attractive with its silver and black finish plus all the aluminum, very eye-catching.
I kept the exact same PC components from HTPC 001. The only additions were the two Cooler Master, 60 mm cooling fans able to spin up to 6000 RPM, so they were able to move a lot of air but at the cost of high noise. The motherboard was put in place with proper brass standoffs. The PC was still powered by the same 300W sfx-ATX power supply from FSP but it had to be externally attached. The ATX and SATA cables had to reach the box from the opening at the bottom with extension cables.
I built the main box with 3 mm thick MDF and carpenter's glue. The cooling fans and speakers cutouts were protected with metallic meshes. I managed to implement a back panel (accessible from the bottom) that had the TV's power button, RF cable input, A/V and component inputs plus the PC's power button. I also improved the WiFi antennas with the use of high quality copper plates.......
......Look, this is going nowhere. I see no point in describing the build process if I can't support it with the corresponding images and it gets even worse if I can't show the end results. So I'll better spare me the details.
Next
The prototype was a successful manifestation. I accomplished the objectives and used my invention for about a year. But something was still not quiet right:
The power supply, while not having problems myself with an external one, was ATX format and it had an unreasonable chunk of cables going into the box while the rest of the unutilized ones were just lying around, they were a bit difficult to plug in and were delicate to manipulate because they plugged straight into the motherboard and drives. It wasn't visually appealing, hazard safe nor easy to deploy. Quite the mess to be honest.
And then there was this thing, this little bug, this mind virus that affect all of us ITXers and that is never being satisfied with the dimensions of our machines and always wanting to shrink them as much as possible. I saw the potential to decrease the thickness by 2 cm and the weight for a substantial amount, while taking into consideration all the sacrifices but at the same time all the benefits, fixes and optimizations that were available in that path. I looked at my PC every day, but every time I did then I couldn't stop thinking in the rebuild process. I even had trouble sleeping because of this, I kid you not. After suffering and deliberating with myself for months, I finally decided to jump into the next project.
