Thoughts
SCAN has decided to take a different look at small form-factor PCs with its ISOTOPE range. The premise is simple; have an eye-catching design in both form and colour that appeals to the gaming/modding crowd by carefully selecting components for both performance and visual impact. The ISOTOPE chassis is much like Marmite; you will either love it or loathe it. I must confess, having first seen it on display at the recent CTS show, I was set against it. Too many hard edges and too much internal activity. However, it's the kind of chassis that grows on you ... it becomes a talking point as much as anything else, and if you're the kind of enthusiast that likes to have something look a little different, the chassis, with its pre-distressed look and colour choice, is a real alternative to regular SFF PCs. I'd prefer SCAN/PYP3 to cover the drive and ports on the front, but that's purely a personal viewpoint.The ISOTOPE's size dictates internal form factor. The review model had a micro-ATX-sized nForce4 board from Foxconn that was reasonably specified but light on the BIOS front. A lack of voltage control will deter enthusiasts looking to pair it up with a low-cost S939 CPU, Of course, there's other chipsets and platforms to choose from, but SCAN needs to research a better board. It's not helped by the annoying chipset-mounted fan, either.
The review model's performance was good. An AMD Athlon 64 4000+ CPU is the second-fastest S939 CPU, so gaming, allied to a GeForce 6800 GT PCI-Express card, will be inevitably quick. Low-latency RAM from Corsair further adds a performance punch, and Maxtor's excellent DiamondMax Plus 10 250GB was speedy. The ISOTOPE suffers from the same kind of expandability problems encountered on all SFF systems, but that's to be expected.
Any product should be judged with due respect to its intended market. SCAN's ISOTOPE system offers something different from the series of comparatively bland, high-spec. SFF PCs littering the market, and at a reasonable price, given the spec. With this particular model in mind, I'd like to see a multi-card reader and wireless networking installed as standard, along with a better, enthusiast-friendly motherboard.
HEXUS Awards
HEXUS Right2Reply
Commenting under the HEXUS Right2Reply initiative, Elan Raja III, Director of SCAN International, had this to say:Dear David,
SCAN International would like to thank HEXUS for the time spent thoroughly investigating and quickly reporting on the exciting new SCAN 3XS ISOTOPE.
The past 12 years has clearly seen SCAN evolve as the UK's most respected e-tailer/retailer of PC components, and for the best part of the last decade SCAN has also established a solid reputation as the UK's foremost OEM system integrator which is justifiably renowned for award winning Quality of Service.
SCAN 3XS branded systems build upon that expertise and reputation, and as one of the latest in our broad range, we're proud to bring to market the innovative SCAN 3XS ISOTOPE, a strikingly unique 3XS system for gamers and PC enthusiasts.
During the course of 2005, we think that your readers will hear a lot more about SCAN 3XS and, most importantly, why we believe the SCAN 3XS proposition - Specification Service Satisfaction – simply guarantees a straightforward deal for the HEXUS readership.
SCAN believes that purchasers of computer systems should settle for nothing less than true value for money in every specification of their choosing, and this should always be coupled with exceptional service; this is the SCAN mindset and we're confident that our customers, in having the satisfaction in knowing they've made the right choice in SCAN 3XS, will lead them to recommend SCAN to others. We're confident in this because personal recommendations and repeat business has been a key ingredient of our success.
SCAN 3XS is simply the basis for everything we do, and is arguably the reason why, through the years SCAN has continued to move forward from strength to strength, whereas other suppliers have fallen by the wayside.
My co-directors and I are sincere in our saying that we're honest and transparent enough to realise that occasionally we might not get everything right, but if there's an issue, the 3XS mindset – which pervades and drives our 150 strong staff-base – allows us to achieve the best and fastest possible solution, and all with the minimum of hassle. We treat people and their custom, in the way we'd like to be treated.
Here at SCAN we're obviously proud of what we do, and we do our best to make sure we're fully considering the things that really matter.
HEXUS' reputation for simply 'telling it like it is', is something that we recognise should not be taken lightly by a manufacturer who simply wants glowing editorial to tart up a lacklustre offering, with little sincere substance to back it up.
SCAN believes that the buying public is smart enough to see there's no value in publications which say that everything is good. We've grown to learn that HEXUS.net very distinctly breaks that mould.
Knowing the value of your observations, despite the risks of your spotting and reporting on something that could be improved, made HEXUS the obvious first choice in our decision on where to get the world's first opinion on the SCAN 3XS ISOTOPE.
Unsurprisingly your editorial has made some valid observations that we need to think about, and I appreciate this opportunity to address them. SCAN believes that the HEXUS Right2Reply initiative adds another obvious authority to your editorial like no other.
We'd like to point out that the SCAN 3XS ISOTOPE received by HEXUS, was the very first of five pre-edition 3XS ISOTOPE units, and that these were especially crafted for the SCAN Clan Gaming Team.
In fact the 3XS ISOTOPE we sent belongs to 'Baka', a member of SCAN's CLAN, and that's why it's marked with the cool but cheesy tagline "sit baka and feel the pain!". The tagline is Baka's own doing, and is unique to only the SCAN 3XS ISOTOPE you received for your review.
As much as we like our cheddar, we certainly wouldn't force feed it to our customers. Perhaps you'll be happy to know that the production models of the SCAN 3XS ISOTOPE will be 'cheese free', and are scheduled to be available for customer customisation on the week beginning 25th April 05.
On which point it's also important to note that many of the core components of the SCAN 3XS ISOTOPE – CPU, 3D graphics and hard disk drives - can be easily selected by SCAN customers to suit their own specific performance requirements and budgetary considerations. Furthermore there will be the added-value of a multi-card reader/floppy which will come as standard with all 3XS ISOTOPE production units.
Thanks also for raising a comment regarding the wireless network adaptor, a point well made by HEXUS and as a result we've already made sure that so our customers can tailor their own SCAN 3XS ISOTOPE precisely how they'd like it, an appropriate high-performance wireless adaptor is listed amongst the wide variety of options within the SCAN 3XS system configurator.
In closing I'd once again like to thank HEXUS and your readers for taking the time to consider the SCAN 3XS ISOTOPE and the SCAN 3XS proposition.
Please keep your feedback flowing, our view is that it really helps us to our customers.
Please be assured that all the important action points which HEXUS has raised, have already been actioned.
Best Regards,
Elan Raja III
Director
SCAN Computers International Limited
