Hey everybody,
Inspired by Smilers Sun Microsystem case build I am starting to use an old workstation tower of mine to house my PSUs, drivers etc. I'd still like to have the computer in same case though. Since most of the space is taken up by the cnc equipment, I am thinking of using one of Intels "Atom" boards. They seem to meet the vague spec provided by ArtSoft. Thinking of going for this one http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=47#d945gclf

The only thing is that it has an integrated GMA 950 graphics card, and ArtSofts web site has the Mach 3 spec saying "Non integrated video card".

I know some people are using laptops to run Mach... I was just wondering if anyone is using a laptop with a GMA 950 graphics chip or similar, and if so does it work alright?

I don't really know Mach, but from what I do, I don't really see why this is a requirement.

On another note i'll be receiving my smooth stepper tomorrow :), so no need to worry about power issues from the parallel port on these small mobos, which I think I read about somewhere.

Oh, one other thing, how important do you think one of the more expensive opto isolated breakout boards are?

Thoughts?
Cheers,
Dave.