MINI ITX SYSTEMS

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Example Mini ITX System with PAR8CH -- click for photo tour

Mini ITX systems are new and becoming increasingly popular because of their small size, low price and standard PC connectors.

Some of the benefits of Mini ITX systems are described below, and more information can also be found on our Mini ITX & PC104 FAQ page.

Easy to use: Mini ITX motherboards come with all the accesories on a single board. These typically include disk controllers, video, ethernet, all standard RS232 serial, parallel, USB and etc. Furthermore, all of the features are on standard connectors so you can use desktop PC peripherals such as monitors and keyboards directly.

In contrast, even though they are smaller, PC104 motherboards often use non-standard connectors making them difficult to use during development and in the field. PC104 cannot match Mini ITX for ease of use and low power. If you are comfotable using desktop machines and operating systems, you will immediately feel at home with Mini ITX.

Low Price: The Mini ITX system shown here in the photo was purchased for approximately $400. That includes the motherboard, a fanless Via 533 MHz Eden CPU, 256 MB of memory, a 30 GB 2.5" hard disk, and a Travela case with wall transformer (operating system software not included). In other words, one can purchase a complete system for about the same price as a typical PC104 motherboard alone.

Low Power:The Mini ITX shown here, including a 30G hard disk, ethernet, and one of our PAR8CH data acquisition systems consumes 800 milliamps at 12 volts. And, that includes running standard desktop Win2K/XP or Linux and one of our data acquisition programs, scope or simp.

To find out more about standard Mini ITX products such as motherboards and cases, check our list of third-party Mini ITX vendors or search the web.