Introduction

Overview

For many computer enthusiasts, the phrase small form factor brings to mind cube-shaped systems about the same size as a stack of books. If one visits a site such as www.sfftech.com, one will see many such systems. These days they generally have a Pentium 4 or Athlon processor; a couple of hard drive bays; one or two PCI expansion slots; built-in audio, video, Ethernet, USB, FireWire; and more. They make great desktop replacements and are often used as "Media center" PCs. This paper takes the small-form-factor concept a few steps further to include the very wide range of small, general-purpose computer systems now available to individual consumers.