The $363 19-inch dual-core all-in-one LCD PC

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    This is the new all-in-one Intel dual-core E2180 19" LCD PC computer I built for the family. The shocker is that I did it for less than $363 in parts (not including keyboard and mouse). The 19" LCD was on sale for $140 and the dual-core Intel CPU/Motherboard/graphics was on sale at Fry's for an eye-popping $88 and I just couldn't resist the temptation to build a nice all-in-one for the kitchen/dining area. I got a 300 GB hard drive for $50 and 1 GB of RAM for $30 (with an additional $20 rebate) and I used a $50 energy efficient "80 plus" 220 watt 1U power supply. For the chassis, I used some scrap wood I had left over and spent 4 hours on a Sunday afternoon building this computer.

    For more details, see George Ou's Real World IT blog.

    Caption by: George Ou

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    I haven't made the top lid or bottom lid for this computer yet but this picture shows the full thickness of the computer bolted on to the back of the 19" LCD display.

    For more details, see George Ou's Real World IT blog.

    Caption by: George Ou

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    With the top and bottom are sealed off (with some holes for venting heat), I wanted to make sure the CPU fan had a fresh supply of cool air so I cut out a hole in the back. I didn't have one of those circular cutters handy so I had to freehand the hole with a jigsaw so I still need to sand it in to something smoother. I also didn't want to make the chassis an extra inch thicker to accommodate the retail box fan that came with the CPU. To minimize cable clutter, I used 1 foot long power cords plugged into a power strip. That strip also comes in handy for plugging in lots of other things.

    For more details, see George Ou's Real World IT blog.

    Caption by: George Ou

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    Unlike the VESA stand PC I built a few months ago, this computer uses the monitor's factory stand which allows me the full range in tilt motion. Here in the photo you see that it's tilted all the way back and it's in no danger or tipping over.

    For more details, see George Ou's Real World IT blog.

    Caption by: George Ou

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    For the photo gallery, I used the Microsoft Wireless Entertainment Desktop keyboard and mouse. Not shown is a tiny USB Bluetooth dongle in the back that connects the keyboard and mouse.

    For more details, see George Ou's Real World IT blog.

    Caption by: George Ou

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    This photo shows the inside of the system with the back, top, bottom covers off. The hard drive is bolted on to the side but I will need to put some rubber washers on to minimize hard drive noise. Wood has a nasty habit of amplifying sound which is great for musical instruments but not so good for computers so I'll need to spray the inner walls with insulation foam to minimize noise. I'll probably look in to plastic materials in the future.

    For more details, see George Ou's Real World IT blog.

    Caption by: George Ou

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    This is the back of the computer with the components exposed. As you can see, the box is not much bigger than the Micro ATX motherboard. The hard drive had to overlap the motherboard a little so that the entire box can be narrower than the 17" wide 19" diagonal LCD display. The LCD has a DVI input but the motherboard only had VGA out so a VGA cable was used. Wired Ethernet was used but I have enough room to plug in a PCI wireless LAN adapter using a 90 degrees PCI adapter.

    For more details, see George Ou's Real World IT blog.

    Caption by: George Ou

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    This is the full profile view of my new all-in-one computer. Note that I made a mistake of not turning the bad side of the wood in so you can see some flaws in the wood. It's not too late for me to unscrew it and turn it around though.

    For more details, see George Ou's Real World IT blog.

    Caption by: George Ou

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This is the new all-in-one Intel dual-core E2180 19-inch LCD PC computer I built for the family. The shocker is that I did it for less than $363 in parts.

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This is the new all-in-one Intel dual-core E2180 19" LCD PC computer I built for the family. The shocker is that I did it for less than $363 in parts (not including keyboard and mouse). The 19" LCD was on sale for $140 and the dual-core Intel CPU/Motherboard/graphics was on sale at Fry's for an eye-popping $88 and I just couldn't resist the temptation to build a nice all-in-one for the kitchen/dining area. I got a 300 GB hard drive for $50 and 1 GB of RAM for $30 (with an additional $20 rebate) and I used a $50 energy efficient "80 plus" 220 watt 1U power supply. For the chassis, I used some scrap wood I had left over and spent 4 hours on a Sunday afternoon building this computer.

For more details, see George Ou's Real World IT blog.

Caption by: George Ou

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