Comments on this Small Form Factor Case?

[johnnymk]

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=382312


Ultra ULT33114 MicroFly Aluminum Micro ATX Case (Black) Retail
w/400W Power Supply

Color: Black
Material: High Grade Aluminum
Dimensions:
Depth: 15"
Width: 11.25"
Height: 9"
Drive Bay:
2 - External 5.25" Bays
1 - External 3.5" Bay
2 - Internal 3.5" Hard Drive Bays
Form Factor: ATX
Expansion Slots: 4 Standard Slots
Case Fans:
1 - 120 mm
1 - 80mm
LEDs:
Green - Power
Orange - Hard Drive Access
Switches:
Power
Reset
Easy access front panel:
2 - USB 2.0
1 - Firewire
1 - Headphone
1 - Microphone
Temperature Display
Connections:
1 - 20/24 Pin Motherboard Connector
1 - 4 Pin +12V Motherboard Connectors
8 - 4 Pin Molex Connectors
2 - 4 Pin Floppy Power Connectors
1 - PCI Express Connector
2 - SATA Connectors

[Hoser]

It looks similar to the shuttle cases, but slightly larger. The power supply is stronger that what you'd usually find in a case of this size. Since it has large fans and they spin slower than smaller ones, it should be fairly quiet. It has enough drive bays to hold everything you need, especially since you could put up to six drives (hard, DVD) in it. I've got larger cases that don't fit this many drives. The only concern would be that there's enough airflow to keep things cool. Since the case is smaller than usual cable management and component placement is a little more critical.

Do you want to use this for a HTPC or an everyday computer? If I were building a computer now, I'd use an Intel Core 2 Duo. It has plenty of computing power and low power usage.

[johnnymk]

It will be for a Karaoke host. Probably used 4 hours at a time at events. And a few hours a week for burning.

Possibly a CDROM and a CDRWriter for direct burning. For customers who bring their own CDs, the CDROM or CDRW will be used.

External hard drive (either Firewire or USB 2.0) to be used some of the time. Very low CPU usage I believe.

[Hoser]

So it'll be used to hold and play the music? Will the video be output to a screen? Since you'll be moving this computer around, a small case is a plus. Have you priced all the components you'd be putting in this computer? If it comes to over $600, I'd rather get a laptop. It would be able to do everything that this computer would do and be smaller and lighter. The computer wouldn't need cutting edge parts, since you're not doing anything that needs massive computing power. You can get fairly large hard drives in a laptop now, but using an external hard drive makes this unneccessary. There's a laptop on the the front page of here that would be more than enough for what you'd be doing and it's only $699.

[johnnymk]

The problem with a laptop is the max size available of the hard drive.

I will require approximately 300 GB of space and the max size available currently is 160 GB or is it 120 GB.

I can utilize a laptop with a 60 or 80 GB hard drive and then use a 250 GB external hard drive. This is what some local guys are currently using.

[Hoser]

I think using an external hard drive with a laptop would be the way to go. The laptop could be used for other things when you're not doing Karoke. Add a WIFI card and you could be cruising the internet while waiting for other things. Plus you could hook the external hard drive to a home machine and you wouldn't have to transfer song files between the laptop and your home machine. All your songs would be located on one specific hard drive.

[johnnymk]

I think using an external hard drive with a laptop would be the way to go. The laptop could be used for other things when you're not doing Karoke. Add a WIFI card and you could be cruising the internet while waiting for other things. Plus you could hook the external hard drive to a home machine and you wouldn't have to transfer song files between the laptop and your home machine. All your songs would be located on one specific hard drive.

I will seriously consider it. I wonder what the absolute minimum CPU would be required, should I buy used?