Bundle and presentation
Compared to other Shuttle XPC boxes, the SD31P's is a muted, understated affair.
The bundle, too, is more basic than deluxe. The 70-page main manual, however, is pretty good. It covers the various points of installation in good English, and it complements the text with a number of useful photographs. We reckon even first-time XPC builders will have little trouble in the getting the unit packed with various hardware goodies. Experienced users will be able to install the components required for a complete PC in under 20 minutes.
A couple of SATA cables are already attached to the ICH7R's 3 internal ports. The remaining one is included, along with a Shuttle-branded floppy cable. Hard drive and optical drive mounting brackets are also included. A molex-to-floppy plug adapter, a couple of front feet, and a sachet of thermal goo are also thrown in, as well as a RAID/SATA driver disk and separate manual.
The software side of things is rather lightweight for a premium XPC package. Alongside the various drivers needed for features and chipset installation (including 64-bit support), a separate CD contains Trend Micro PC-Cillin 2004 and Muvee autoProducer 3.1. Given that the SD31P is almost perfect for multimedia use, we reckon a comprehensive package from the likes of CyberLink wouldn't go amiss.
