Shuttle mini X200M review

If you're going to try sneaking a Media Center PC into your lounge without risking divorce, then you'll have to do some homework.

It'll need to be small, whisper-quiet and not require a mass of cables spilling out of its rear. If anyone can do it, and do it well, then Shuttle can, with its history of making shoebox-sized PC cases.

Before you've even unpacked the Shuttle mini X200M from its box, it's quite obvious that this is no ordinary-sized PC, far from it. Once unpacked it's barely a couple of inches high and about 12 deep that's not vastly bigger than many of the Digital TV boxes you'll find stashed on TV racks. The combination of a black exterior and a glowing blue light on its front fascia makes it look far more like a PlayStation 2 than a PC.

The X200M is no games console, though. Inside it's gloriously petite frame, you'll find an Intel Core Duo T2050 processor and 1GB of DDR2 memory. The T2050 certainly hasn't got as much poke as its newer Core 2 Duo counterparts, but its power requirements and heat output are modest a perfect combination for such a tiny case. With a score of 105% in our application benchmarks, the Shuttle is no speed demon, but it's still fast enough for running Windows XP's Media Centre functions.

Square-eyed

Although the X200M is perfectly capable of being used as a neat-sized everyday PC, its real purpose is as a dedicated media centre PC. To this end, Shuttle has installed a hybrid TV tuner that's capable of receiving either analogue or digital TV signals. It's also able to pick up FM radio, but only when you're using the analogue TV tuner.

Another annoyance is that although the single TV tuner works just fine in Media Centre, we'd have much preferred a dual-tuner model that would allow recording of one channel while watching another. Unfortunately, there's no dual-tuner option on Shuttle's configuration website, so you'll have to fill one of the four available USB2 ports with one. Not an ideal solution for an already expensive PC.

One thing Shuttle hasn't skimped on is the storage options. The case may be small, but by some miracle they've managed to shoehorn in a full-sized 400GB SATA drive. This may sound like overkill, but with Windows Media Centre swallowing roughly 1.2GB for every hour of TV recorded, it's a welcome exuberance. The slot-loading dual-layer DVD writer is a nice touch, too.

Port ahoy

Looking around the rear of the case reveals a wide selection of ports. The standard audio inputs and outputs are complemented by a digital output, which is useful for hooking the Shuttle up to home cinema amplifiers, while the DVI video output is accompanied by a dual-monitor adapter cable. This means that two displays can be connected at once one via VGA and the other via DVI. Unfortunately, there's no analogue video output for standard CRT TVs, so if you haven't got an LCD or plasma display capable of accepting a VGA or DVI input, the X200M just isn't suitable.

It does have some nice features though, not least the incredibly solid build quality and quiet operation. The built-in 802.11g wireless networking is a particularly great addition as it'll save trailing more cables into your living room.

The real issue with the Shuttle mini X200M is its high price. It may be neat and good-looking, but £815 for a moderately powered media centre is a lot of money.

There's virtually no upgrade potential and it costs nearly £300 more than the Very PC Green PC 478 (reviewed last issue), which despite being larger is faster, quieter and far more upgradeable. Frankly, we'd much rather put that £300 towards a nice LCD TV.