Hardware Talk :: Internet radio/mini itx machine
Ok, I have a plan to build an internet radio component for my hifi. I have seen the commercially built options and believe a mini-itx system could be better for the same price. It would use DSL and connect to my tv, but i would really like it just to start playing from a playlist of stations on bootup, and then I'd use the (mplayer or xmms) keyboard shortcuts to choose a station. I would have to have the keyboard as i cant see a remote that types stream names in....
I was planning on getting a VIA EPIA C3-800 Mini ITX mobo with a case for £120. I have an old 64mb ramstick lying around, and would use a pendrive for DSL.
I don't mind not having a hd, and was just wandering if there is anyone who could advise if this setup is feasable? i.e. does dsl work on this board (especially the tv out!)? Would I need more ram? Could I use a second pendrive as a swap partition instead?
I dont really want to buy anything else (maybee even less, a home brewed case sounds good!), so bear in mnd the strict budget!
Thanks for any thoughts and help!
The only part that I can comment on is the pendrive swap. It's not a good idea. These drives are limited to writing a few million times per sector before the sector becomes unusable. This might sound like a lot, but not if swap is constantly being written.
you will however need to buy a power supply for your new
mini-itx motherboard 
Skip the mini-ITX.
If you have a TV near your home entertainment center, buy a refurbished XBOX.
Then hack the X-BOX and install the following open source projects:
XBOX Media Center
X-DSL - Damn Small Linux ported over to run on an XBOX
The XBox has the following advantages:
Small
Cheap
Microsoft loses money because they sell them for a loss
Can be easily controlled using a IR remote (Xbox DVD kit)
Has an optical output for a stereo receiver (but X-DSL does not support this output yet)
original here.