At 11:22 13/04/2009, you wrote: >----- Original Message ----- >From: "Sean Gibbins" <s...@funkygibbins.me.uk> >To: "Hampshire LUG Discussion List" <hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk> >Sent: Sunday, April 12, 2009 3:30 PM >Subject: Re: [Hampshire] What is a Shuttle PC? > > > > Rob Malpass wrote: > >> Hi all > >> > >> I've done a bit of googling but (apart from the obvious shape of the > >> case) what's so special about a shuttle PC? > >> > >> I'm looking to put together a new machine with quite a bit of grunt > >> (6Gb RAM+ and as fast a CPU as I can afford). The only other real > >> specification I need is that it can handle dual monitors. Aside from > >> that, standard sound is ok, as is standard network. A front USB port > >> would be handy but no other major requirements. I intend to dual > >> boot Ubuntu and Vista and the main thrust of the machine's work will > >> be video editing (hence the RAM, CPU and graphics). > >> > >> Physical space is an issue but is there anything else to watch out > >> for? I notice for instance that lots of Shuttle PCs have only 275W > >> power supplies - presumably the case can't take any more hardware so a > >> stronger PSU isn't an issue - is that right? > >> > >> TIA - I promise I have done a lot of googling on this but not turned > >> up the one answer I need - why buy a shuttle PC as opposed to a > >> traditional tower? > >> > > > > Having owned a couple I'll have a go for you Rob! > > > > Shuttles are typically compact, nice looking, and well built from good > > quality components, and as such come with a price tag to match. > > > > For your money you'll get a case, a Shuttle motherboard and a cooling > > system that latterly has negated the need for fans. You'll get good > > instructions and pretty much everything you need to get going if you buy > > barebones, and obviously if you shell out for a pre-built system you'll > > get something ready to go out of the box. > > > > High-end Shuttles will typically take a similarly high-end graphics > > card, although you need to be careful when selecting it that the > > physical size of the card (or cards!) does not make it incompatible with > > the case. The last Shuttle I owned had room for an optical drive and two > > hard drives on board, which made conditions pretty cramped inside > > although because of the clever design cooling was not compromised by this. > > > > The last time I upgraded to take advantage of the then new dual-core AMD > > CPUs I struggled to get everything working where Linux was concerned > > (Ubuntu Hoary or Warty - I forget which), and workarounds were needed > > where some of the newer components were concerned. Shuttles are > > typically up to speed where latest developments in CPU technology and > > memory are concerned, although I'm not sure about the spec as far as > > maximum memory is concerned so you'll need to check out the Shuttle site > > [1] for specifics, but I suspect that you might be pushing it where 4Gb+ > > is concerned. > > > > The PSUs are often the topic of hot debate regarding whether or not they > > are suited for purpose in a high-end machine. They are good quality and > > the ones I owned were certainly capable of performing above and beyond > > what their rating might have suggested in normal PC terms; I was using a > > PCI-e graphics card that demanded a PSU rated over 400W, and the 275W > > Shuttle unit worked just fine. > > > > Why buy a Shuttle? Well, if you want a good looking machine that has a > > small footprint and is reasonably quiet then a Shuttle might be the one > > for you. However, due to the proprietary nature of the mobos you will > > not be upgrading that machine forever, and as mentioned the small size > > of the case will limit you in terms of what will physically fit inside. > > I have a soft spot for them but I don't think I will be going back to > > them for the reasons outlined here and because of the high purchase price. > > > > So, my advice is that if you want a beast of a gaming machine or a real > > workhorse you'll probably get more mileage out of a decent tower machine > > than you will out of Shuttle, which will look nice and perform well for > > a while, but will age quicker and not be as upgradeable in the long run. > > > > Sean > > > > [1] http://sys.eu.shuttle.com/home.jsf > > > > > > -- > > The computer can't tell you the emotional story. It can give you the exact > > mathematical design, but what's missing is the eyebrows. > > Frank Zappa > > > > > > -- > > Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk > > Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire > > LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk > > -------------------------------------------------------------- > >Thanks Sean - very useful. > >My inteded use for this new box is to basically build something that can run >Vista or W7 brilliantly so I guess the exapandability argument wins it for >the traditional desktop case. > >If only decent screen magnification software were around for Linux, I reckon >I could dump M$ completely but I've done a lot of research and those >programs that there are e.g. gmag are very buggy - hence I use Vista and VNC >into Linux boxes where I can use ZoomText to do the magnification.
How about Mac OS X hacked onto a PC? Google for osx86 project I got it going on a p35 chipset motherboard os10.5.4. Then you will at least have a BSD variant instead of windows. Martin N Co-Moderator of MiniDisc and amithlonopen yahoo groups. -- Please post to: Hampshire@mailman.lug.org.uk Web Interface: https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire LUG URL: http://www.hantslug.org.uk --------------------------------------------------------------
