Shuttle SS40G Mini-PC

Thomas writes "Just got an email from a friend telling me Viahardware.com has put up a review of the Shuttle SS40G - the latest barebones system. I read through the review, and it looks like Shuttle has finally made a system that is capable of being totally silent. It has a cool heatpipe and radiator design for cooling the CPU, not to mention that it looks very cool."

Comments

Silent computers

[MacGod]

I guess it's nice that someone's now offering a silent computer, especially given Apple now has a fan in th iMac, and no Cube anymore

Re:No Noise??

[georgep77]

I'm very pleased that someone is finally serious about the PC noise problem. I have been able to get a fairly quiet pc by using an expesive quiet power supply and a "flower" heatsink fan combo. It would be nice to have more emphasis placed on the noise generated by all of the fans/hard drives/cd-dvd drives within a computer system.

Cheers,
_GP_

Sounds of silence

[jonelf]

Capable of being totally silent if you turn off the two fans and only use the computer a minute at a time?

It looks cool but not being totally silent and not having an AGP-slot are two cons that makes me stay away from it.

Right now I'm sitting in a room with 4 PCs and one laptop. The humming sound is terribly annoying. Not that I hear the laptop in here but even those have fans today. Buy shares in silent computing!

I don't recommend you to read any further.
I remember my Amiga1200 with two internal 2.5" HDs fitted it still didn't overheat and it had no fan, not even the PSU. Come to think of it my C64 never made a sound and booted in 0.2s.

Another review (not ./'d)

[scrm]

here

hmm

[Alcimedes]

actually, seeing this computer, what it has and what it doesn't, really makes me appreciate the cube more.

when it first came out i wasn't all that impressed. it was cool and all, but so much money.

however, i think it gave people a taste for quite, small computers. perhaps this is another newton.

apple enters the market with a great idea, way ahead of everyone else, then charges an arm and a leg and flops. cut back two years later and everyone and their grandma is working to take over that market.

oh well.

concerns

[Permission Denied]

Two concerns:

1. The PSU outputs 200W - is this sufficient for the newer Athlons?
2. It comes with onboard video, but I would rather buy my own video card. Does it come with an AGP slot? AGP 1x, 2x? After looking at the pictures of the back of the case, I don't see where an AGP card would have video port - there are two obvious PCI slots on the back, but I don't see room for an AGP slot. Very few people still make high-performance PCI video cards

i hope they fixed the firewire problem

[frankmu]

i have the SV24 for my sons room right now, and wanted to get a firewire web cam so his grandparents could see him now and then. unfortunately, the firewire connection is the only thing that doesn't work on an otherwise fine machine. i hope shuttle got that fixed with this new machine.

i'm looking forward to getting one of these for a home theater computer that i'd like to set up some time this century, with my wife's approval.

Re:i hope they fixed the firewire problem

[IQ]

Did you try flashing the bios with the current release?

Re:stealth advertising?

[_Sprocket_]

is it me, or do the Shuttle PC's get a lot of free advertising on slashdot. more so than any dell, ibm, etc. equipment.

I must of missed Dell's press release for a barebones, stylish, and quiet compact system suitable for such geeky projects as a mobile LAN party box or multimedia / PVR system. Care to post a link?

Own several of shuttle's boxes, very nice

[Sean Clifford]

I bought about ten of the SV24 and SV25 boxes for the office and I love 'em. In fact, I just ordered 3 more yesterday. I'm just waiting for the SS40 to come out with an AGP slot then it's on like Donkey Kong for a new LAN party box.

These boxes are perfect for office PCs. They're tiny, packed full of features (gotta love the firewire), are quiet - and they're pretty. Only had one problem with a single box - a bad power supply that shuttle promptly replaced.

Out of the can, RedHat 7.2 (haven't 'upgraded' to 7.3 yet) installed though you have to configure the video and some other goodies manually. Once you're up and running it's solid. I'm considering clustering a few of these, though I'm more tempted by Transmeta's rack o' blades.

I have to say that Shuttle has hit the nail on the head with this series. I can't wait for the AMD 1AGP/1PCI version! If you have a grand or so laying around, snap one of these puppies up. :)

Where to purchase

[mkarpinski]

I have seen a few posts regaurding where to purchase the SS40G.

The only place that I have found that even lists this model is NewEgg.

Price is $350.00 and the system is scheduled to be in stock on 6/3/2002.

You can sign up for an email notification when it arrives.

Shuttle's mini PC's are cool, but:

[lazn]

Shuttle's mini PC's are cool, but untill they have a AGP slot they are missing out on a large potential market: The LAN gamer. If I could get one with a AGP slot, I would buy one right now, lugging full sized PC's around is not the most fun thing I have done. I know there is another vendor with a mini PC with a AGP slot, but it is not as easy to find, nor is it as well built. (if I remember the review I saw)

Another review at PC PowerZone...

[Just_Tom]

PC PowerZone also have a review of this posted today, and some more pictures in their forums. They also have reviews of the other Shuttle miniPCs and also VIA Eden stuff, for comparison.