Cleric said:
What are your thoughts on the difference (since you've had both).
The primary differences between the two are size and output power. The cased Opus is larger and includes an integrated fan. The non cased Opus is still a bit bigger than the M1-ATX. There output power is the same on every rail except +12V. The Opus can do 5A, the M1-ATX only 2A. Also, the M1-ATX draws power for its 12V rail from its 5V rail. That means if you use the full 2A on the 12V rail, then only roughly 5A is available on the 5V rail (instead of the rated 10A). If you want to run a P4 or Athlon, there's no way the M1-ATX is going to do it. If you run several desktop peripherals, it's also probably not going to do it. For my system, the only thing that uses +12V is the LCD and the case fans.
The two have slightly different timing options availabe for controlling startup shutdown delays. The M1-ATX also has an option to completely disable the +5VSB rail when the computer is off. The Opus doesn't do this so you have to hack around that problem if you want your battery to last. The M1-ATX includes a socketed flashable microcontroller on board that you can reprogram any way you want -- assuming you know how. This would give you the ultimate flexibility in making your system startup & shutdown exactly how you want it to.
The M1-ATX is less than half the price of the Opus 150W.
- Have you measured the heat dissipation from your unit? I would think it would not get enough airflow in that compartment.
No, I don't have the tools needed to do this right. I can tell you that the previous setup (with the Opus) got wicked hot, especially last summer, but that never caused even a hickup. I just ran the new setup for 2hrs tonight and it was fairly warm but not as hot as before. Then again, it was probably 40 degrees cooler outside today than last summer.
Your observation is right though. A sealed compartment isn't the best for airflow. It would be hard to build a system that ran any cooler than mine however. The VIA boards, by design, generate very little heat. My laptop drive will run cool all day long. The hottest thing in my system is the RAM -- it runs very hot. The fans in there probably don't do much more than swirl the hot air around. There isn't much room inside the C134 for airflow anyhow.
I'll wait until something burns up before I consider making any serious cooling modifications to the storage cubby. One of my design goals was to do minimal modification to any interior panels. So far, that's been achieved.
- You took apart your screen and mounted the buttons on the back. Given what you saw when it was taken apart, would it be possible to run the wires and mount the buttons in the center console? Or is the remote really all you need?
The remote does everything the buttons do.
If you want the buttons up front you'll probably have to do some work. The buttons are attached to a seperate circuit board that is attached to the main board with a ribbon. There's no easy way to extend the ribbon unless you have wicked soldering skillz (or access to a longer ribbon). The easier thing to do is relocate the button board. You could then remove any buttons from the reloated board and reconnect them with wire extensions. In fact, you could replace them with any kind of button you wanted too.
There are many pictures of the internals of these screens posted at mp3car.com and elsewhere.
