2005-12-01 - C't: The M1000 is "ready for the living room"

"Whether it's watching TV, playing DVDs, enjoying dia shows or games and internet: a noiseless hub for digital media in hifi format combines classical entertainment media with latest PC technology." 14 of the latest solutions for Media Center were put to the test at the German IT-magazine C't. Of course, the Shuttle XPC System M1000 didn't miss this round up.

"The conventional big and grey box from the office cuts no fine figure in the living room. For the ideal multimedia center in the living room it takes carefully selected hardware that is attractively packed and peacefully quiet," explain the editors of the German IT magazine C't the ideal living room PC. This is when Shuttle's XPC System M1000 comes into play and faces the requirements – a fully-configured PC for the living room: "Shuttle, normally known for PC construction sets, now offer with the Shuttle XPC System M1000 a fully-configured PC that comes along in stylish hifi-format."

But it's not only the looks making it fit in the living room, the performance also helps the M1000 conquer it: "The heart of it beating inside is a Pentium M 740. The GeForce-6600-LE graphics card even manages games like Doom3. Two TV-tuner cards (analog TVm FM), a 250 Gbyte hard disk and a DVD-writer complete the package." Very important for a Media Center PC is according to the editors easy operation with remote control, wireless keyboard and compatibility with other media. Of course, Shuttle could score here, too: "We really liked its high connectivity. The M1000 showed plenty of connectors compared to stereo systems, TVs and other entertainment media, as it features SPDIF (optical and coaxial), eight cinch connectors for 7.1 sound, two Video and S-Video-in each, VGA, DVI-I and S-Video- and YpbPr-out save you from buying expensive adapters."

Despite high performance and the varied range of use that lets you get rid of stand-alone-devices like DVD- or CD-player, videorecorder or stereo system, it remains pleasantly quiet: "With only 0.5 Sone in idle mode and 1.2 Sone under full load the Shuttle machine is definitely ready for the living room."

Want more storage capacity? No problem, the Shuttle XPC System M1000 provides a 2.5 inch case that lets you easily connect external hard disks: "The case for additional hard disks is a clever feature. If you insert a 2.5 inch hard disk, another hard disk is what you get, easily docking to the front panel of the PC. Via a cable that is included in the delivery, the hard disk can be connected to any other PCs."

Conclusion:

"Thanks to good 3D-performance the Shuttle XPC System M1000 is also suitable as a gaming platform."

Source: Issue 25, page 112 ff