If you haven’t seen how small Shuttle’s XS35 series of ultra small PCs are, then you need to look more closely at the picture on the left. The PC is the unit stuck to the back of the monitor.
The XS3510M is now available with a Blu-ray player making this a full hi-def media device. Powered by Intel’s dual-core Atom D510 coupled with Nvidia’s Ion graphics, it’s capable of 1080p playback via HDMI.
At only 38mm thick, it’s just a little bit bigger than an external USB 3.5″ HDD unit and yet there’s both the Blu-ray / DVD writer combo drive and a 500GB disk drive (I assume that it’s of the 2.5″ variety) crammed in there, along with a 4-in-1 card reader on the front. Round the back, there are four USB ports for your mice and keyboards. 11n Wi-fi is built in too.
Shuttle also touts the low power credentials, claiming a maximum of 29W, which would hardly get my standard desktop PC started. Power is supplied via an external power brick, much like a laptop.
There are no fans in the XS35 series and all cooling comes from air circulating through the many holes in the case. Consequently, the PC has to be stood upright, not on its side, but it makes the system totally quiet apart from the gentle whirr of the Blu-ray drive.
Windows 7 comes pre-installed with the XS3510M but the range has also been tested with Novell’s OpenSuSE Linux.
Prices start at £171 for barebones systems and around £650 for the unit featured above (depending on options, exchange rate, etc.) Brochure (.pdf) available here.
All pictures courtesy of Shuttle.