[TapRackPull]

Inteset mini-ITX HTPC case with built in IR

More information about the receiver itself

Has anyone ever played with one of these Inteset HTPC cases? From what they are claiming it has wake from off (S5) capability, built in IR and funcions-out-of-the-box with any Windows 7, 8 or Linux buid with LIRC drivers. Even goes on to say that it is designed to function with Kodi.

Seems almost too good to be true. A completely self contained 1U HTPC with wake from off...

Any thoughts.

*edited for typo

[Soul_Est]

I have not played with the case or the receiver personally. However, having some knowledge of electronics and microcontrollers, I can say that what Inteset claims is true. There is one caveat though in that while the hardware can do the work, the peripherals and software need to work with it and that would your duty.

Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I never knew such a case and receiver existed.

[noggin]

There aren't that many Thin-Mini-ITX boards around though are there? It never really took off as a form factor did it? The bulk of Mini-ITX boards are the non-Thin variant, so you may have limited motherboard choice?

[TapRackPull]

Gosh darn it - I didn't catch the thin part of that... What a crock-o-shit.

[Dougie Fresh]

There are plenty of thin mini-ITX motherboard available at any of the main tech sites like Amazon, Newegg, etc. ASUS, ECS, MSI, Gigabyte and ASRock all have H81 or H87 thin mini-ITX motherboards. In the end, they often end up cheaper since you only need a 19V external AC adapter as the power supply. If you've got an old Dell 18.5V 90W laptop adapter with the 7.4mm x 5.0mm tip, it'll work. Otherwise, you can find one for around $20 on Amazon (look for Bestek). Most thin mini-ITX motherboards have a mini-PCIe slot for wifi and a mSATA slot, keeping the build minimal.

As for Inteset, I've been using their products for years and they're very good. A IR receiver that can turn a PC on from off isn't all that hard to do, especially if it comes with the case. It just needs to tap into the PSU's +5VSB or a USB header that has power when off (many motherboards have this so you can charge cell phones, etc.) and route the power switch cable through the IR receiver. No software required. (No idea if this is Inteset's design but I have several cases with what I've just described).