The new Mini Barebone System, produced by Shuttle, has got a touch screen in the front wall of the case. The user can control the computer without external mouse, keyboard or screen, so it can replace e.g. a HiFi system.
With its Intel G31-Express-Chipset, the mainboard can be equipped with modern Intel-Core-2-Duo-Processors and up to 4 GB DDR2-Memory. There are SATA2 interfaces for HDDs and PCI-Express slots for TV tuners. The system is available at around 300€ (US$ 450) without CPU and RAM.
Equipped with a HDMI interface and Blu-Ray drive, it would be a quite cool machine for the living room, I think. You could watch movies in Full-HD quality, listen to internet radio or all your music stored on a big hard drive, or play even games on a big 52 inch flatscreen. I’m not quite sure whether you can add one of the new graphics cards to it, since it only has a PCI-Express 1.0 slot.
September 22nd, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Thank you for this information, maybe I will buy Shuttle D10 now!
September 23rd, 2008 at 1:25 pm
I think this is not really a worthwile purchasing.
Because the screen needs much place in the computer, because of this theres not much place for other things. So i would be scared of the heat.
But this are only presumptions.
September 23rd, 2008 at 3:49 pm
The Shuttle Pc`s are really good solutions for an home entertainment system! The only one point why i never would buy such a computer is the small place for new hardware stuff and upgrade possibility!
September 23rd, 2008 at 3:51 pm
i dont think heat is a problem if you dont overclock the thing. and the screen needs much space? its a flatscreen! takes like 2 cm inside the case… i rather think of the price. when i first saw it, i thougt: damn, such a cool small computer, everything inside, and even a touchscreen! but then i recognised that you have to buy cpu, ram, hdd and windows vista, so it will become quite expensive (around 700€ i guess, instead of the 300€ mentioned before).
September 23rd, 2008 at 3:52 pm
@Simon:
true, there isnt much space for new stuff. would be cool if you could add a graphics card supporting full-hd, but since it only has PCI-Express 1.0, and most of the new cards need 2.0, it could be a problem…