Reviews - Shuttle XPC Barebone SH55J2 review

[HEXUS]

Intel's Core i3 Clarkdale and Core i5 Lynnfield meets the Shuttle form factor.

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[jake.hand07]

When looking at the shuttle range why do we feel necessary to compare it to a system we would desire in the living room. These are not designed to be a HTPC. Surely in a day and age where Laptops rule the living room and Atom ion based systems are connected to peoples TV`s. The shuttle system is a refreshing solid designed Desktop with bags of functionality in a small neat design. We could all go for a pre built dell or even as you say buy a Mini ITX Chassis and H55 Motherboard and build our own. This is for people who want quality and sharp design. They don't want to conform they want a lifestyle product something different. With the added benefits of being able to pick and choose the rest of the design. Not to mention the 2 years warranty. Shuttle are shuttles and are out their on their own and this is why we should buy one.

[rickhdee]

Good review and good comment jake.hand07. I love Shuttles for small office environments. The wiring is well thought out and the design of the drive basket makes it fairly easy to get at the RAM and the various MB connectors. Most importantly they combine stylish looks with a good mid to higher range performance. I like specifying my own components and find tuning each box for its mission. I use them from CAD/CAM stations with high end work station video cards to basic data entry and office program machines. I have built over 50 shuttles and even though they sometimes have some quirks, I have not found a better overall design for my needs. I will offer some clients the ability to get a dell, I just help them configure it. I like dells, they are solid machines with a good on-line site, well organized. I also use dells for servers. However, I love these little Shuttle boxes. I just built 5 of the H55's and think they are one of the best boxes Shuttle has designed. Yes, I think the missing DVI port is a pain in the but. My KVM is DVI and converters didn't work well with some monitors, and marginally with others. So I opted to go with fanless video cards that take two slots. May just be my imagination, but a big part of Win7 for the customer experience is the zippiness of the interface and I think the descrete cards are still the way to go. I have used various size SSD's with them and that's just plain fun.

My concerns with Shuttle boxes over the years have been 1) A bit picky on the memory they will accept, 2) sometimes the BIOS support is sketchy and 3) I wish they had a better web presence - ie very easy to buy add-on boards and options without going to Ebay.

Obviously since I continue to spec and buy them, I still think they are great little boxes. The only issues so far with the H55: Working out bugs with some components when coming out of sleep mode (S3). You must set the video (in the bios) to refresh(?) and am still experimenting with the onboard NIC that has trouble coming out of sleep mode. May have to set to S1 or modify NIC power option settings some more. The onboard video port is attached to the board on a riser that could be a bit more solid. Everything else is very solid and all posted on the first go.

I don't think you can go wrong with this shuttle. I like the fact they put a card reader in the front and the subtle changes to the case add a bit more style - like the lighted logo on/off button. It also seems that the latest boxes have a re-design that makes it easier to install a DVD without worring too much about the eject button posion/style on the DVD. Just use hole set number 3 when installing the DVD.

Hopes this helps if you are considering this Shuttle.