Shuttle's SB83G5M SFF Windows XP Media Center PC

This one goes out to all the Shuttle fanboys out there (yeah, we're guilty as charged). Been waiting for a stylie barebones XP Media Center-designed small form factor PC? Well, looks like your wait is over on account of Shuttle's new SB83G5M. In addition to having a MCE-compatible VFD (vacuum fluorescent display) media display up front, the Intel 915-based system will feature two FireWire and four USB 2.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, 6-channel audio, PCI-Express, SATA RAID, and all the rest of the fixins. No word on price, but you know how these guys love to charge a very pretty penny for their boxes, barebones or not.

[Via The Reg]

[Paul @ Dec 19th 2005 12:53AM]

It's looks like its going to be sweet!!!!

[Dralt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:53AM]

Let me save some time to the Apple zealots:

OH MY GOD! This is such a Mac Mini rip-off.
OH MY GOD! It is so ugly.
OH MY GOD! Too bad it does not come with iTunes.

[hamish @ Dec 19th 2005 12:53AM]

It's not a mac mini rip off Dralt - in fact, these have been around a lot longer than the mini.

Plus, as iTunes is a free download, it's hardly effort to add it.

As for ugly, it's not bad, for a PC.

Also, at what point does a hater of mac zealots become worse than the old mac vs pc argument anyway.

[cpsethgt @ Dec 19th 2005 12:53AM]

Now that Apple made a small form factor PC mainstream, every other one is believed to be a 'Mac Mini rip-off'.

Even just a white colored gadget gets the same remark...

[Roy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:53AM]

I think this is a great system except it should also be offer to accept AMD Athlon 64 X2 CPU's. They run much cooler and offer more power for multimedia applications.

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:53AM]

"It's not a mac mini rip off Dralt "

I think you missed his point. I was going to make a similar post if he hadn't already. (I know, I sound like that classroom sketch on SNL with Adam Sandler raising his hand a bit too late and going "France! I was gonna say... France.") You just know if he hadn't said it cheekily that there'd be five other people up there saying it seriously. Apparently a lot of people seem to think Apple invented small form factor PC's with the Mac Mini.

[James Manning @ Dec 19th 2005 12:53AM]

Apple simply doesn't measure up to a pc as a home theater computer. No FFDSHOW, no video postprocessing, godawful software dvd players...all the development has gone into Directshow and Apple is years behind.
The shuttle series has been around, what, 4 years longer than the mini-mac? To my eye, the shuttle looks better than the mini-mac too.

[Eso @ Dec 19th 2005 12:53AM]

Apparently very few people realize exactly how small a Mac mini is -- it's smaller than a DIN-standard head unit that goes in your car, which means it's several times smaller than this Shuttle has to be (the Shuttle evidently has enough space in it for PCI cards and more than one 3.5" hard disk, if it has RAID -- the Mini has basically *no* extra space in the case with a notebook hard disk and no card slots).

There has yet to be a PC with built-in hard disk and optical drive that approaches the size of the mini.

[Spamcan @ Dec 19th 2005 12:53AM]

Didn't the G4 Cube predate shuttle?

Anyway, this shuttle looks nice. In another year or two I hope to replace my current machine with a mini PC and will probably go for a shuttle system.

[Manfesto @ Dec 19th 2005 12:53AM]

Wow, even when an article has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with macs, it still becomes the same old mac vs. pc debate. Amazing. Simply amazing.

Anyhoo, yeah, I think that this is a great lil' shuttle, but it really should be offered with Socket 939 - like #5 said, Athlons put off less heat and take less energy than P4s - considering Shuttles inherently have less powerful PSUs (not energy isn't free) and ventilation and cooling is a bit harder to pull off with small form factor PCs.