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Mini PC Grows Up? Shuttle XPC Reviewed

Posted by simoniker on from the big-boy-now dept.

Bender writes "The Tech Report has done a comprehensive review of the just-redesigned Shuttle XPC. These toaster-sized systems, sold with motherboard but sans CPU, memory, and storage, are becoming a very attractive alternative to the standard DIY system that's over twice the size. This latest PC 'cube' has everything: PCI Express, a BTX-inspired chassis design, room for a small RAID array, and pre-routed cables. The only snag is a Pentium 4 thermal throttling problem discovered through some nice investigative work. If Shuttle can fix this problem, this thing could be a killer personal workstation box."

8 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. RAID? by js7a · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wouldn't it be a little more honest to say "an extra hard drive" than "a small RAID array"?

  2. Re:Take a cue from NASA... by networkBoy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They aren't cooling anything, rather they are preventing being heated by the sun. Big difference.
    -nB

    --
    whois gawk date unzip strip find touch finger mount join nice man top fsck grep eject more yes exit umount sleep dump
  3. Re:Cool Network Appliance by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This would make a cool linux router box..

    You know what else makes a cool linux router? FreeBSD on a very, very old machine that you probably have 3 of in your basement.

  4. Finger pincher by iamdrscience · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I like tiny electronics as much as the rest of us, but for desktop PCs I don't think they're always the way to go, especially not for Do-it-yourself-ers. If you're going to be inside moving around parts and whatnot, a lot of times a small case will just piss you off (hell, I have the same problem with my full-size case, and it's one of the better designed ones). For normal desktop users they make more sense because [i]they're[/i] not going to be the ones playing with the guts when they want to add something or need it repaired, some repair tech will be.

    I think if you're fed up with your PC taking up all your desk space, a better solution would be investing in a graphical dumb terminal and just use your current PC as a server you throw in your basement or a closet. Sure it's more expensive in the short run, but you'll be able to keep it between anytime you upgrade your system. Plus it'll be smaller and run quieter than any small system you would build yourself. Also, anytime you upgrade you'll be upgrading a cheaper full-size desktop rather than a more expensive "compact" system.

  5. Re:P4? by neafevoc · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Since that's for Opteron and not Athlon64, wouldn't this be Socket 940?

    Still, I want one of these :)

    I hope nVidia releases an update to the nForce chipset so it can support PCIe. I mean, they're already releasing PCIe video cards.

  6. Not this one... by Grendel+Drago · · Score: 1, Insightful

    You can make a perfect home/office/small business machine for under $400, that will last for years.

    Yes, you can... but not with a Shuttle box. It's a motherboard and a case for $400. With that same $400 I can get an Ugly Beige Box with better hardware on the inside.

    Price ain't the reason to get this baby.

    --grendel drago

    --
    Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
  7. Re:If this works... by slomr2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If this works, then Apple might crap its pants. Really though, the concept of an ultra-compact, cube computer has been around for a while...this is just the PC manifestation. Maybe this could inspire Apple to re-release the Cube...
    The problem with the cube wasn't technology or willing customers. It was last of customers willing to pay MORE than Apple's already inflated prices for a computer that does less than their regular offering. If Apple released a G5 Cube for $999 they would have more trouble keeping those in stock than the iPod-Mini. But Apple being Apple would release it at $1,999.

  8. shuttle is a rotten company by nFriedly · · Score: 1, Insightful


    listen up you guys: DONT BUY ANYTHING FROM SHUTTLE!

    I droped $350 for one of their fancy little xpc barebones boxes a little over a year ago and I still wince every time I think about how much $$ I lost.
    You see, the hard drive controler on the motherboard failed after 4 months, destroying both of my hard drives in the process. I lost more than 60 gigs of data. Western digital replaced both for only the cost of one way shipping, no questions asked (well, ok they asked for my address and such).
    Shuttles RMA was a bit more complicated, but I wouldnt complain about just that. I payed the $20 to ship the barebones computer from Ohio to Caliornia. They took a week or two and then shipped it back to me. Exactly the way it was when I shipped it to them. If it hadn't been for the paperwork claiming that it was fixed, I might have assumed they didnt open the box. It had the same symptoms it had just before killing my other two hard drives: it took a long time to recognise the installed hard drives, and refused to recognise the installed cd roms. This time I unpluged it before any damage was done.
    Because I was about to move, I didn't immediately mess with it any more. After the move I tried the same setup as before, except I used a pci hdd controler. It worked perfectly except the pci hdd controler didn't recognise cd roms either (it said this on the box).
    I called shuttle and was told I would have to rma it again. that pissed me off a little bit so I bought a Gigabye mobo (which works perfectly, by the way) instead.
    A little bit later I decided it would be nice to have two computers, so I did try to RMA the shuttle again. They didnt reply to my request.

    Case in piont: STAY WAWAY FROM SHUTTLE!

    --
    Nathan Friedly