Shuttle squashes Mini-PC

SHUTTLE, the company which popularized the toaster-sized PC, is trying something a little smaller. And just in case that doesn't work, they've got something a little bigger, too.

"We don't know where the market is yet, but we'll find it," says the ebullient Ken Huang, godfather of Shuttle's mini-PC range. This daring approach was a spectacular success with the small form factor PC. Can Shuttle do it again?

The smaller product is the XPC X100, a flat black slab the size of a large book. Inside is a 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo CPU, slot-loading DVD burner, and a 3.5-inch hard disk drive. The power supply is an external 120W adapter.

What's most interesting about those specifications is that bulky 3.5-inch disk drive stuffed inside this extremely compact PC - why not use a smaller notebook drive to save space?

"The ability to store a lot of video and digital media is essential today. But we only have space for a single drive inside, and only 3.5-inch drives are going to give the 500GB or more storage that many people need", says Ken Huang.

This kind of attention to what users actually need, rather than just an impressive specification sheet, is Shuttle's advantage over competing products, says Huang, who is Shuttle's Vice President of System Development, and is generally credited with the original concept of the Shuttle-style small form factor (SFF) PC.

Similarly, the X100 has an internal USB socket at the front, so you can plug in a Bluetooth or other wireless USB stick without spoiling the unit's clean appearance. There's cutout in the metal chassis to ensure radio waves from USB devices can pass through the plastic outer case.

Components are crammed in there, but Shuttle has tried to make things accessible. Removing three screws lets you slide off the lid. That big hard drive is in its own, easily-removable metal cage (for accessibility and thermal transfer).

The other new-look Shuttle is a mini-tower PC. The nano-BTX XPC SS31T. Of course, every small village in China has at least one factory churning out mini-towers these days, so this doesn't sound like anything special to me. But, enthuses Huang, this isn't any old PC, this is a Shuttle.

He says a lot about design and airflow and noise control. So much and so fast in fact that my scribbled notes become illegible at this point. However, I have to agree that it looks very nice.

Shuttle's approach with all of these new products, says Huang, is to try to anticipate user's requirements in the design phase, put them into the market, and see what happens. The intention is to create a new market. If things go well for the X100, for example, they're ready with an X200. µ

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