News Stealth Computer launches fanless mini

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2009/03/23/stealth-computer-launches-fanless-mini/1

Stealth Computer has launched a fanless mini-desktop capable of full-HD playback via DVI or HDMI - but the silent design comes with a hefty price tag.

 

could they not have made it wider (same as a regular under-TV DVD player) to add a Blue-ray drive?

 

That thing is rediculously overpriced.

 

Zero noise is absolute overkill for a Media Center anyway. You'd watch movies on it, or listen to music. A few slow spinning 120mm fans won't be noticed.

 

One 120mm or even a 140mm at low RPM settings right on top in the middle with air vents on the sides would be fine for something like this!

£1k+ is rediculous - although sods law says that they'll actually sell quite a few of them to the embedded market, thus making it commercially viable and hence considered a "success" and therefore they won't see this as "overpriced" so something that could blatantly come down in price significantly never will...

 

90watts is insane for power draw.
Heck my backup PC with a few HDDs and full ATX board + graphics card takes up 100watts max. (per kill-a-watt meter)

 

I agree --and overpowered. My completely passively cooled HFX Mini HTPC runs a 2.4Ghz Core Duo CPU, 1 Gb RAM and 1Tb of HDD and uses no more than two-thirds of the power: 60 Watts instead of 90 Watts. And it cost me about £500,-- to build.

 

Thirded on both the price and power usage. Complete overkill, completely overpriced.

Don't agree with the reason behind the serial port though - it's probably there for automation purposes rather than digital signage. Most AV kit is controllable through RS232 (Sky HD boxes even have serial, although it's only one-way comms) - the ability to turn all other kit when using the HTPC.

 

build Log???

 

Power consumption seems a little high for laptop parts, VeryPC offer similar, albeit fan-cooled products for less, and they are a UK company.

 

Don't complain about the 90 watts. You can heat your room while watching TV! It's GREEN!

 

Keep in mind also that modern TVs use a buttload of power: my 50" plasma uses 218-400 watts. Others including LCD use even more.

 

Log.

Article.

 

The other thing to keep in mind is that it probably only uses 90 Watts at peak load. At idle it probably uses less.

 

Why build a noiseless HD playback device anyways? When I am watching movies (or TV) on the 40" LCD I have the external speakers turned on. They do more than enough to cover the sound of any device that would have fans running. Ok, so if the movie goes completely silent for a moment, would I really notice the fans over the central air or the pump on my aquarium?? Likely not.

 

very cool looking but no where near worth it

 

Nah they don't. I have a 40 inch LCD and it draws about 100 watts, half what the spec sheet says. The rated power draw is when the backlight is maxed out... which is just silly. In a darker room it only needs to be 20 or 30%.. in a bright room you still wouldn't have to go past 50%. I don't have a plasma so I don't know if you can cut down the power on those.