Quote Originally Posted by Clive S View Post
I have just bought one of these:

http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=34#JNF9C-2600

with a SSD it will also run off 12V It is being mount on the control box door inside. Using a mesa 5i25/7i76 combo
I'm well aware of mini-ITX boards, but you still need to make a control panel.
Ideally I'd just like to modify/make a housing, wire the controller in, bolt it in place, configure it, and be good to go.
The big thing is cost/time.
A good metal industrial panel mount keyboard with track pad/ball is around £200, a suitable resistive touchscreen monitor is another £200, then you have the cost of separate switches, which will probably be at least £50 for good quality ones, and say another £50 for assorted wiring/connectors to connect that lot up. That's £500 before you even consider the controller or PC, which means you can quite easily spent £1000 on the hardware. Then you still need the time to design it all, build it, and wire it up.
Admittedly, that's buying stuff new, and building a good industrial quality controller, which is overkill for most hobby users, but when you need the machine to make money, you have to consider the whole picture.