[geeks] Wow, PCs are cheap...

[Joshua Boyd]

On Aug 29, 2008, at 11:25 AM, Lionel Peterson wrote:
>
> There used to be a small utility program that directed soundcard  
> output to the case speaker, but that was back in the Win 3.1 era...
>
> The only time I've missed it was when I had an extra wiring jumper  
> from the chassis I had no place to connect it to...
>
> Like you said about the custom PCs, I have a Dell USFF (Ultra Small  
> Form Factor) PC that has full audio that comes out of the chassis -  
> it is an Optiplex GX620. It's a pretty nice machine actually - it  
> can take 4 Gigs of RAM, a 9xx series CPU, and a "full size" half- 
> height 3.5" IDE HD - about the size of half-loaf of rye bread. It  
> really suprised me when a flash soundtrack played when I didn't  
> have any speakers attached!

For office machines, that is a really nice feature.

Actually, I use the onboard speaker on my Mac alot.  First, I have  
error and email sounds directed to it all the time.  Also, it handles  
everything when I have the USB audio turned off, which I leave off  
anytime I'm not listening to music or watching video.