Thin Mini-ITX Platform Enables DIY iMacs 206
crookedvulture writes "Shipments of all-in-one PCs are growing exponentially faster than those for typical desktops. Unfortunately, highly integrated systems like the iMac have traditionally made it difficult to replace or upgrade parts. And forget about assembling an all-in-one for yourself. Now, however, Intel has developed a Thin Mini-ITX platform that allows system builders and end users to put together all-in-one systems with standard parts. This hands-on look at Thin Mini-ITX pieces together an ersatz iMac using off-the-shelf components, and the process is pretty easy. While the end result isn't quite as slick as one of Apple's creations, parts can be swapped out with ease, and the configuration can be tailored to suit one's needs."
Re:You can't do that! (Score:3, Informative)
You're advocating violating the OS X EULA!
Heresy!!!
Pretty positive TFA is about building an all-in-one similar to an iMac, not installing OS X. :P
Re:You can't do that! (Score:4, Informative)
Which is legal in a lot of countries! For example Europe!
Re:No OpenFirmware, no Mac. (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Why? (Score:3, Informative)
I've had a 27" iMac running at home powered on 24/7 for over two years now. It has never shut itself off due to over heating.
I'm guessing you either got a faulty unit or your school room is a pig sty or you're lying.
Re:Competition is a good thing. (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Why? (Score:-1, Informative)
Clearly your experience is typical of iMac use which is why the sell so well, they must all be broken like ONE that you've seen.
Why do people like yourself make such retarded statements about one trivial experience as if its the norm?
Just curious as to why no one at your college was smart enough to have it replaced since you know, it has a warranty and all. Sounds like you went a college full of people too stupid to return a defective product, which leads me to believe theres more to this story than you're telling us.
I have no doubt you had a broken iMac ... but your response just makes you sound like a moron.
Re:Why? (Score:4, Informative)
I currently work at a location with 41 27" iMacs, and I used to work at an authorized repair depot for apple. I have repaired and handled MANY of these machines, and I can tell you they don't "shut down due to overheating". They will clock themselves down to a point where the machine is excruciatingly slow, but the aluminum back of the machine will act as a large enough heatsink to keep the processor cool at whatever speed it clocks down to (probably something like 200mhz judging by the slowdown).
There are three components that would likely cause the symptoms that you describe:
1. DC/SATA Cable - on early 27" (and some 21.5") iMacs, these would short out somewhere along the cable and cause all sorts of shutdown and sleep issues. It was a bitch to fix but generally the first part we would replace if we couldn't determine the cause of a problem.
2. Power supply - Even someone as simple-minded as you would probably understand how a faulty power supply could cause this issue - not "Steve Jobs hating fans".
3. Display Inverter Board - The inverter board on early 27" units would fail regularly, causing the screen to go black, and making standard luddite users think the whole machine powered off.
Steve Jobs did not hate fans. Steve Jobs hated loud and obtrusive fans. The 24 and 27" cinema/thunderbolt displays contain fans, and every iBook, PowerBook, and MacBook (including the air) has had at least 1 fan (the 15" before late 2009 and 17" up until they cancelled it had 2).
Get your facts straight, your single anecdotal story != true for every iMac.
Re:Are all in one desktops now all known as iMacs? (Score:4, Informative)
Yes, the Commodore PET [wikipedia.org] was 7 years earlier.
Re:You can't do that! (Score:5, Informative)
Pretty positive TFA is about building an all-in-one similar to an iMac, not installing OS X. :P
Then it's hardly an iMac, now is it? You might as well say your Linux desktop is a Mac. If it's not running Windows it's not a Windows computer, if it's not running Linux it's not a Linux computer, and if it's not running OSX it's not an iMac.
A computer is a lot more than just hardware.
Re:Why? (Score:5, Informative)
The most rational thing that people can do is make judgements about their own personal first hand experiences and second hand experiences from people they know and trust.