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."

Comments

Apple?

[BoldAC]

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

Re:Apple?

[the_2nd_coming]

what is funnny is that this dude thinks looks are all that matter.

OS X is the reason I use Apple computers.

Market for Small Form Factor

[4of12]

I really welcome new small form factor computers like this one from Shuttle.

As much as I like computers, I dislike

1. space they take up
2. rats nest of cables in the back (like Brazil)
3. 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.

What's the advantage here?

[Amiga Lover]

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?

Zen eh?

[BWJones]

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.

External power supply and no AGP!

[jpatokal]

It's right there in the story writeup and the article too, but let's recap since nobody reads the articles anyway:

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...

...and besides, I'm perfectly happy with my Creative SLiX as is. (The thing could be a little quieter though.)

Cheers,
-j.

Zen?

[joethebastard]

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!