Mini-ITX Media Box

[catacon]

Hey Everybody!

So lately I have been upgrading my home theater and I thought the next step would be to upgrade/change the computer I am using for music. I am kind of tired of having a fullsized ATX case and 15" in the room, so I thought it would be cool to make a mini-ITX box, so I could hide it easily. I have the parts listed below.

I would be using a 2x20 LCD screen for the front display, which I was hoping could show what song was currently playing. Is it possible to interface a screen like that with, say, iTunes? If so, how? I assume I would have to have all the music on another computer on the network and the the mini-ITX box would get the music from there. Am I right in my thinking?

Thanks!

Parts List:

Motherboard/CPU: JetWay J7F2WE1G-OC-LF Embeded VIA C7 NanoBGA 1GHz processor VIA CN700 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813153053) - $135

Memory: Kingston ValueRAM 512MB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 400 (PC2 3200) System Memory (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820144164) - $25

DVD Drive: Reuse old drive

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JB 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822144122) - $42

Case: Homemade?

PSU: picoPSU-120 Power Kit (http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-120-power-kit) - $55

Screen: picoLCD 20x2 OEM (http://www.mini-box.com/picoLCD-20x2-OEM) - $40

Accessories: USB to 5 pin cable typeA (http://www.mini-box.com/CAB-USB-5pin-typeA) - $3

Sub Total: $300
Shipping: $15
Total: $315

[catacon]

Anybody?

[HaloAddict19]

I have heard of people getting the 2x20 LCD display to display info for Winamp not sure for iTunes. I would think you would want to throw a sound card in the one PCI slot that that motherboard has instead of using on board, since this set up is for music after all. You don't need to stream the music, I think it would work better to have it on the local drive.

[catacon]

I have kind of been rethinking this. I've decided that I won't use the 2x20 screen because the place where I will put the PC is somewhat hidden and will block the screen. Also, having to select songs with that screen maybe be annoying. So I was thinking I could find a small (7-10") LCD screen to use. However, I am having trouble finding a cheap one that will accept VGA inputs.

Regarding the sound card, I was planning on using the coax out for audio. I'm not sure if the sound quality will be the best, but if not, I can always add a sound card.

Thanks for the help.