Cheapest way to have a completely silent workstation?

April 21, 2007 2:54 PM

Cheapest way to have a completely silent workstation i.e. my monitors and keyboard/mouse in one room and the computer in another when the distance between them is more than 10 meters (32 feet)?

I'm moving house and while I'm very happy that my new workroom is going to be much bigger than my current one I don't know how to replicate my computer setup. Because I'm a musician and also just because I love silence my monitor, keyboard, printer and scanner are in my workroom and the computer is in the room next door. I use 5 meter USB & VGA cables to connect them but I gather this is the maximum distance possible. Is there a way to extend this to 10 or even 15 meters? My main monitor also has a DVI input, if that helps. I cannot use any solution that has a noticeable screen lag (VNC for instance).

posted by dinkyday to computers & internet (4 comments total)

I have a spare Avocent Longview wireless KVM that I don't use anymore. I'd be happy to let it go for a decent price. I would have emailed you, but there's no email in your profile.
posted by Kwantsar at 3:15 PM on April 21, 2007

I've used a 45ft DVI cable, but the conditions were perfect. I would recommend trying it and if you notice loss of quality to simply buy a DVI repeater. You can also buy USB repeaters.
posted by geoff. at 3:16 PM on April 21, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

i'm not sure what the max length of a USB cable is, but the max length of a VGA cable is pretty long, much longer than what youre looking to do.. I've seen plenty of people with really long VGA cables (at least 25 feet) snaked around a room leading to their projector. however, things might change depending on how high your resolution is on your monitor. i imagine you can push 800x600@50hz a lot farther than 1600x1200@60hz.

as far as the printer/scanner goes, i bought one of the canon all-in-one printers that have an ethernet port. i think i spent like 150 bucks. i can print/scan from another room.

that along with my 24" imac makes my work area nice and quiet. the imac almost never makes any audible noise, unless i am running an extremely processer intensive task for an extended period of time (very rare, only really happens if a process is hung) or if i'm burning or reading a dvd/cd. so you might try that too, if you can afford it. the mac minis are supposed to be pretty quiet too.
posted by kneelconqueso at 4:49 PM on April 21, 2007

Silent PC Review knows all about silent computers. Some of the tips are cheap, like putting your hard drive in an elastic suspension; many aren't.

It's possible to make a 100% no moving parts (and thus really close to silent) machine, but solid state drives are still very expensive. But a good 2.5" laptop drive in elastic suspension is reported to be very quiet.
posted by Zed_Lopez at 8:36 AM on April 22, 2007