GearBits

Shuttle XPC Mini Barebones Systems

Shuttle is continuing its successful stream of miniature bare-bones PCs -- its XPC line of products. These systems come without CPU, memory, or drives of any sort, but most feature audio, video, networking, and a raft of connections on the mainboard. Offering front and rear expandability, they seem to offer a nice compromise between upgradeability and compactness.

Most of these cases are about the size of a 12-pack box of Pop-Tarts, and some even have room for a PCI card and an AGP graphics card. Some nice review of these units can be found at Hot Hardware, Hardware Zone, and (of course) Tom's Hardware. While not everything's perfect, a lot of people seem to find these systems compelling.