Bundle and presentation
First impressions count, and on this score the P4PA does well. The well designed, weighty box gives some indication as to the contents located inside. Aside from the board itself, you are given 1 ATA133 IDE cable, 1 ATA33 cable and 1 floppy cable. I've previously bemoaned the fact that other manufacturers only give you one IDE cable as standard, so it is pleasing to see two. You can connect the usual 3 IDE devices located in most peoples' systems immediately.
A quick start guide written in 8 languages is included to serve as a rudimentary setup guide for those who are competent in PC building. The main guide, written entirely in English, delves into much greater detail. I found both guides to be well written, grammatically excellent, and easy to follow, a welcome change from some that I've read in the past.
A custom backplate was included due to the irregular assortment of connectors that we'll discuss later. A USB bracket, providing two extra USB 1.1 ports, was included along with the VIA driver utility CD. The CD contained the usual chipset drivers, along with USB 2.0 and network drivers. VIA's in-house SmartGuardian hardware monitoring software was included, too. We'd have appreciated extra software along the lines of Norton's excellent Ghost or a greater range of utilities. Still, the bundle is reassuringly solid.
