SlashGear

As compact PCs get more and more powerful, the argument for having a full-sized desktop or tower unit in your study grows weaker.  Latest to wave the flag for the little man is Japanese barebones manufacturer Dirac, whose Noah range of Mini ATX cases certainly don't skimp on the specs.  Available in a multitude of colours, each comes with 2GB of RAM, SATA and DVI ports, and a choice of Merom or Yonah CPU support via a 945GT chipset motherboard.  That means you can take your pick of Core Duo, Core 2 Duo and VIIV processors, making this either a very capable media centre or a respectable workhorse. Lounge-friendly features like a 13.8dB 8cm fan will only win Noah friends among home-build media PC makers, as will the included stand for positioning the compact unit upright.  No news on availability or price, yet, though.  Pictures of other colour options after the cut. Read The Full Story

Perhaps it's because I didn't have a spell in supermarket retail when I was younger, but the idea of scanning barcodes and getting that "beep!" sound makes me all a-quiver.  Someone at My Movies obviously feels the same, because they've released a beta of v.2.20 of their Windows Media Centre plug-in that uses a standard webcam to scan in DVD barcodes and add those to the database. On its eventual full-release there'll be a growing, user-contributed store of front and rear DVD covers that'll automatically be added to your own collection.  My Movies Downloads [via eHomeUpgrage]

Here's something useful: a small-form-factor PC that has space for not one, but two hard-drives.  Japanese company MiniPC (I guess the name says it all) have taken all the good parts from their previous designs and come up with a Shuttle-sized box that can support Celeron, Core Solo, Core Duo and Core 2 Duo processors, as well as having a MiniPCI and a PCI Express slot, FireWire, ethernet and those all important dual 2.5-inch SATA hard-drives.  There are two models available, the LF800 and LF800A, with the only distinguishing feature of the latter being DVI; they both measure 210x220x115mm and weigh 2.5kg.  They'd make ideal media-PCs, although that big top-mounted fan is a tad ugly for the living room. Read The Full Story

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Mini media PCs seem a great idea in theory, but often practice is a cruel highlighter of flaws and that's just what Pocket-lint attempted to do to the Evesham Mini PC.  Fitting a full Windows Media Center computer with digital TV tuner, 100gb hard-drive, 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 1gb of DDR RAM into something with a 165mm-square footprint sounds like witchcraft to me, although my top calendar-sources tell me Halloween has passed. Read The Full Story