A couple of years ago, I was building small form factor computers for a
client.  A company called ECS has a bare bones system that is about the size
of a small VCR.  It was a socket 370 system so it took Celeron processors
and maybe an AMD.  It was very integrated with modem, lan, video and decent
audio all on board the motherboard.  I would add the processor, RAM and hard
drive (all normal sized components) and have a decent system.  I think they
are called "Book PCs".  You could try a Google search.  I've also seen a
product that I believe is called "LAN Station" that is the entire PC inside
a slightly oversized keyboard.  Maybe either of these ideas would work for
you.  You could hook either to an LCD display and have a very small
footprint.  I tend to agree with this approach versus a notebook computer.
Although notebooks are becoming more and more powerful all the time, I have
yet to be impressed with the performance of any notebook I've ever used.
I'm not sure what the cause of this is, but they just seem sluggish to me
all the time.  It may have to do with the fact that most are purchased from
manufacturers and come preloaded with gobs of software.  I prefer the build
it yourself approach and then install the minimum software to get the job
done.  Hope this helps.

brian.

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