Conclusion
Over the past year we've seen 3 major changes to the appearance of Shuttle XPC's. In my opinion the most recent change is by far the most grown up.
With the release of the SB52G2 that is designed for small/medium office and home use, let’s hope we start to see Shuttle PC's appearing in workplaces all over the world. What I would love to see is a server rack full of SB52G2's.
For the past few months I've been thinking of building myself a small jukebox PC for the living room, with plenty of storage and a LCD screen. A Shuttle combined with a Matrix Orbital LCD screen sounds a perfect match. There's just one thing that keeps putting me off the idea. The Price! Like most good things, they come with a high price tag. I haven't been told the estimated retail price for the SB52G2 but I'd expect it to be a similar price to the SN41G2. (approx. £260).
If you want to buy a Shuttle XPC in the next few weeks I would certainly look at what you intend to use it for. If you are going to use it as a dedicated server for e-mails, storage, etc. certainly consider the SB52G2. Unfortunately the SB52G2 is no good for games unless you install a fast PCI graphics card.
So what will we see next inside a Shuttle? Serial ATA maybe? Dual processor's?
;)
Pro's
- Looks Amazing
- Very easy to install hardware components
- Superb cooling via heatpipe and grills
- Action packed compact PC
- Many additional accessories available
Con's
- No Firewire
- No AGP
- Onboard GFX could be better
