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Shrinking the PC is a Zen Thing
TheRaindog writes "Tech Report has one of the first reviews of Shuttle's new "Zen" small form factor system, which is almost 20% smaller than current XPCs. The Zen uses a passively-cooled external power supply and variable speed cooling fan to keep the system's noise levels and footprint to a minimum. With support for the latest Pentium 4 processors and ATI's Radeon 9100 IGP chipset, performance isn't too shabby, either."
Apple fans may fall in love with the cube on sight.
:)
Although I am not a fan of using apple systems, apple has really changed the way computer manufacturers design computer systems.
This cube looks like something a cheap apple cousin might design.
AC
"Without an AGP slot, Serial ATA, or RAID capabilities, the ST62K's spec sheet looks a little sparse. However, the Zen's appeal has little to do with its paper specs. In fact, Apple fans may fall in love with the cube on sight."
Basically, the Zen is a limited piece of hardware shoved inside a pretty-looking box, just like every other Mac made. So it's a good analogy after all.
I really welcome new small form factor computers like this one from Shuttle.
As much as I like computers, I dislike
- space they take up
- rats nest of cables in the back (like Brazil)
- fan noise
A laptop solves these problems, but at the sacrifice of a lousier keyboard and mouse interface.The $300 price definitely helps market a machine, too, where used computers are cheap.
"Provided by the management for your protection."
Really what's the advantage here? You're giving up functionality and extra cash to pay for one of these things, and only gaining the clutter of an external PSU, while running parts hotter and less reliably than in a correctly designed case, and there are hundreds of them out there.
In essence it's making a PC worse, and paying more for the privilege, all for only one difference exteriorally which is the height of the box, as shuttles are every bit as wide as a normal PC and almost as long front to back. When all it's going to do is get books and other desk things stacked on top of it then there's not really any advantage?
Well, they got the dimensions down to around the Apple Cube's size, but it is still lacking in aesthetics. For instance, one could never put this thing on your desk with its back facing to someone else if you place any value on style. I mean check this out. The Apple cube had a completely smooth appearance with connections to the display coming discretely out of the underside of the case. Oh, and it is silent. Cooling a P4 chip is going to require some fans on this baby, but I guess its all about tradeoffs. For a PC case though, this is not that bad for small form factors.
Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
I'm so sick of pretentious twits who whine about how much better looking Apple's computers are. First, it's a matter of taste. Second, computers are tools. I don't know about you, but I don't buy tools based on how asthetically pleasing they are.
Yet another Mac-Fanboy who won't be happy with ANYTHING not blessed by the Lord Jobs.
For mainstream markets and applications that don't require discrete AGP graphics, Shuttle has whipped up a smaller, quieter "Zen" XPC ST62K system. By stripping the cube of its AGP slot and using a passively-cooled external power supply...
And this for 20% off the length (not height, not width) of the case. Whoop-ti-doo -- I haven't had an external power supply on my computer since I threw away my C-64. I'm sorry, but this hardly qualifies as innovation...
Cheers,
-j.
I hate to come off sounding like a troll, but what does this thing have to do with Zen?
If I started a line of "Jesus" computers, people would throw a hissy fit, but we slap other people's religions on everything from herbal tea to mp3 players. Granted, a good Buddhist shouldn't care about this, but I think it would be classy if we showed a tad more respect for other cultures than by naming our mediocre product after their religion.
Again, I apologize for the way this sounds... just wanted to get that off my chest! Thanks fellas!
The power supply generates heat, but it isn't itself very sensitive to that heat.
If you move the power supply outside of your computer case you will need less cooling for your CPU and grafx card. Or with the same amount of cooling you'll have some headroom to overclock.
And the power supply itself does not need to be cooled.
The Internet is full. Go Away!!!
Some people use these small machines for more than just games. Duh...
For example, with a PCI slot you can make a nice MythTV box (a TiVo-like system if you're not in the know). This type of equipment begs to be made smaller and especially quieter. The USB video capture stuff really sucks compared to the PCI hardware and is better supported in alternative operating systems like Linux and BSD.
Plus there are a ton of users who only game occasionally and this box would have plenty of power (hell, DX8 is still supported).
I'd rather strike up a conversation on the stupidity of using an ATI chipset instead of nVidia.
The ratio of people to cake is too big
Shuttle sell barebones systems to enthusiasts which you have to open up to add your own CPU, RAM, hard drive, floppy drive, and optical drive, never mind the OS. Compared to an iMac or G4 cube, they have all the base ports built in and yet are highly expandable with standard desktop components - 1 PCI, 1 AGP, 2x3.5" bays, 1x5.25" bay in their standard XPCs, although I believe this Zen lacks the AGP slot.
Does anyone have a drive that fits into 3.5" slots? Or is this completely worthless like I think it is?
With the standard Shuttle boxes, you can leave out the floppy drive and stick in another hard drive. That's what my plan is with my SK41G I'm using as a server. It has a CD and hard drive, no floppy. When I need more drive space I have room to stick in another one. I use the network to transfer files. If, for some reason, that wasn't possible, I can use my USB drive (Laks watch).
-- Will program for bandwidth
The AGP slot in Shuttle's cases is literally right next to the case wall.
I think you've seen the answer to that, maybe without realizing it. A mesh-covered window will take care of that. The mesh can be cannibalized from a metal inbox. You wouldn't even need the whole treatment, since you know exactly where the GPU fan is. A simple hole saw and a drill should do it, which is much less effort than an hour with the Dremel.
As a more extreme re-engineering/cram job, you could watercool it. If you leave the adequate CPU cooler as is, you would only need to cool the GPU and RAM, allowing for the use of a small 12VDC pump. The radiator wouldn't have to be as large as most, though it would still have to dangle from the back of the case.
complete inability to do any work inside the case without disassembling the whole damned thing.
Unless the parts inside are smaller as well, this seems rather inevitable, doesn't it? It might even be enough to drive some to adding external drives rather than fighting the innards of the beast, which would really be counterproductive in terms of space used. The only answer I can think of would be to make something that looks pretty much like a desknote or laptop sans battery, which makes it an entirely different kind of machine.
Mal-2
How is the Riemann zeta function like Trump rallies? Both have an endless number of trivial zeros.