Mini-Hog Lunchbox Mini-ITX Project

The second easiest small computer to build
The original
idea behind this project
was to make a computer that was
small enough and good looking
enough to put on the coffee table
in the living room.
It had to pass the wife test.
That meant it had to match the decor
of the apartment.
Of course I also wanted it
to attract a little attention!

The basic construction is
the same as the blue
lunchbox,
except for a few details and improvements.
The power supply on the blue box
was to far forward and did not give
clearance for higher profile RAM modules.
I moved it more toward the back/bottom
of the box to fix that.

I wanted to dress up the holes
a little, so I cut strips of metal from
the piece I cut from the bottom.
I used those to make a cross grid
in front of the fan hole, and put
a piece under the power plug
to clean up the lower edge. I
twisted the metal a little to add
style!


I also wanted this one to have flash, so I plugged in the
lights. I didn't want the lights to just stick out of the box and blind
anyone,
so I made a bracket inside to hold them, and drilled holes in front for
them to shine through.
This also adds a little extra ventilation.
I think it looks pretty good on the coffee table.
I use a netgear WMA111 802.11b USB dongle for my wireless internet
connection.