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Technology is marvellous. Everything it touches has a tendency to shrink, which is why we have mobile phones that get lost in pockets and CD Walkmans barely thicker than the discs they play.
Unfortunately, this doesn't explain why we're all still using PCs the size of packing crates.
What does explain the undiminished size of PCs is the perceived need for 'expansion'. Your requirements may swell over time and a PC with a roomy case is a PC that can have lots of new bits and pieces installed as required.
However, today's PCs come with all the bits and pieces most people will ever need as standard, which begs the question: why the big case?
Shuttle has addressed just that issue with its range of XPCs. You can buy its latest, the SN41G2, as a bare bones system for around £270. But we've reviewed a ready-built model from Enigine called the enuCubeSN.
Like all of Shuttle's XPCs, the SN41G2 is a compact box that's about 8in square at the ends and just under a foot long.
This compactness is deceptive though, since the SN41G2 comes with just about everything you'll ever need built in - four USB 2, three FireWire, two PS/2, network and serial ports, plus an S-Video socket for connecting to a TV.
The nVidia nForce2 motherboard also has on-board 5.1 sound that's more than a match for most dedicated sound cards but there's a free PCI slot should you wish to fit a better card later on.
Judging by its lacklustre performance in our 3D graphics test, the on-board GeForce4 MX440 graphics chip isn't quite so useful but it's adequate for general Windows work and there are even two VGA ports for connecting two monitors simultaneously.
That said, there's also a free AGP slot, so there's nothing to stop you using a much better graphics card.
While Enigine will build an SN41G2 to your specification, in the enuCubeSN's case, it opted for an AMD Athlon XP2700+ processor, 512Mb of memory, a CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive, floppy drive and a 120Gb hard disk.
Since this high specification would be hamstrung by the poor onboard graphics, Enigine also stuck a powerful ATi Radeon 9700 Pro graphics card in the AGP slot, resulting in a PC that turned in blisteringly fast scores in our system and 3D graphics tests.
Unfortunately, this high specification also results in a high price and with the supplied Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, the price tag is a staggering £1,313 and that doesn't include a monitor.
However, this is a PC that offers everything a full-size PC does. You'd also be hard pressed to build the same system yourself for the same price but that's not to say we think it represents great value.
A slower processor, lesser graphics card and ordinary keyboard and mouse will save money, which could be spent on a monitor.
Contact: Enigine 020 8554 0746
www.enigine.com
Also consider
Shuttle SS51G
A bare-bones kit which you can build into the PC of your dreams.
See also:
We take a look at MSI's new barebones system, and test a prebuilt PC from Systemax. 05 Aug 2003
The latest MicroPC proves size isn't everything by packing a lot into its small frame. 15 Nov 2002
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