Introduction

I heard from a friend about the Mini-ITX, and I got interested immediately, I also wanted a small computer looking like no other computer. The first step was to find a proper case to put the computer in. My girlfriend did not want any ugly computer in the living room, so I had to find something good looking.

I found a beautiful old radio that did not work any more - it was perfect. I removed all the old electricals and only saved the panels and the wooden case. You cannot see that much difference from the old radio. This is a 45 year upgrade to Internet radio!

Construction

I bought all necessary parts to build a computer, and could also re-use some old hardware, for example a spare keyboard and harddrive. I wanted the buttons on the front side to work so I had to find small swiches to connect to the buttons. An old video recorder came in handy as a donor.

There was not much room in the case for the power supply unit, so I had to remove the cover from it. The case is wooden so I don't think it will be dangerous.

The next thing was to find a slot-in DVD that would fit. The Pioneer 106-S was the only one I found. I had to remove the front panel to squeeze it into the box. To be able to control the eject function with the buttons on the front of the radio I had to connect cables to switch on the DVD. The CD now comes up on top of the radio, like a Toaster. Making the small gap for the DVD player was hard work. The gap should be as small as possible, but the DVD should not get stuck!

There is not much space in the case, so it was quite tricky to put everything into position. The fan between the power unit and the computer seems to be enough to keep the heat down.