Shuttle's XPC SB81P mini-barebone

Zitat

[...] So I have my complaints. But you have to understand something about the XPC SB81P. This little box is one of the coolest pieces of gear to make its way into Damage Labs for a long, long time. Shuttle's new P-series chassis is a massive stride forward for the XPC line; it erases most of my objections to the smaller XPC boxes without compromising Shuttle's small form factor concept. The fit and finish are characteristicaly excellent, and the new tool-free interior makes installation a breeze. With PCI Express graphics and dual-channel DDR400 memory, performance is comparable with competing full-size ATX systems. And the thing manages to wrap up the Pentium 4 Prescott 3.6GHz processor in an attractive package that doesn't sound like a wet-dry vac. Also, with apologies to the SB75S, this may be the most aesthetically pleasing XPC yet.

Wrap all those things together, and you get pure geek lust. To see one up close is to want one. Shuttle may be banking on the lust factor in setting the XPC SB81P's list price at a healthy $399. Given the thing's merits, though, I can't really complain. Although Shuttle's engineers may disagree with me about that.