Shuttle XPC M1000 - HTPC Done Right?
by Jarred Walton on October 17, 2005 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Features
Normally, we like to see how a system is put together. In a typical case review, we'd also have to worry about the ease of assembly, but we can skip that topic this time. The M1000 comes as a pre-assembled unit from Shuttle, complete with all the accessories shown in our test unit. The Shuttle site has a few options that can be modified, but for the most part, you'll buy exactly what we're testing. You can add speakers, a second (external) hard drive, and some additional software. Otherwise, the M1000 is a set design. That can be a good thing, though, as it saves on support and build costs and also allows Shuttle to design within the previously mentioned constraints - upgrading the graphics card or processor could change the thermal envelope. Here's the feature list of the M1000.
It should be immediately clear that this is a system designed to fit into an entertainment center with minimal effort. The Pentium M processor has a very low heat output, making it a far better fit than something like a Pentium D. The processor is also EIST (Enhanced Intel SpeedStep) enabled, so it can drop to even lower speeds - with the accompanying power and heat drop - when the system is idle. The Pentium M isn't necessarily the ultimate powerhouse of multimedia that you might expect in an HTPC, but there are ways around that. In fact, the CPU isn't even one of the top Pentium M models, as the 740 only runs at 1.73 GHz compared to the top 2.26 GHz of the 780.
The chief way to eliminate the need for a high-end CPU is to offload the work to separate, dedicated components. Shuttle has done this by including two hardware accelerated TV tuners/MPEG encoders. The cards used are region dependent for obvious reasons, but the unit that we received included an AverMedia AverTV M113 along with an AverMedia Grander M187. The primary difference between the two cards is that the M187 includes an FM tuner along with the video capture capabilities. Going along with the dual TV tuners is an NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE 256MB card. This card offers NVIDIA's PureVideo technology, along with a couple of other critical options. VGA output is nothing special in a PC, and in fact, it can be a hindrance for a HTPC - how many of you own a TV capable of taking a VGA connection? For serious TV users, component out as well as a DVI port are going to be far more useful, and the 6600 LE provides both. Composite and S-VIDEO are also offered, though component or DVI will provide the highest quality connection and are essential if you're connecting the unit to an HDTV.
You can see all the included cables and accessories in the above image. There are quite a few other features worth noting. Audio is HD compliant, provided by a Creative Live! 24-bit 7.1 chip integrated onto the motherboard. Gigabit Ethernet along with 802.11 B/G wireless networking are provided, which should more than handle any connectivity requirements. The chipset is Intel's 915PM with ICH6M south bridge, so performance and features will be better than the outdated 855M chipset. USB2.0 and Firewire connections are also present, which comes as little surprise. What is interesting is the inclusion of a 2.5" HDD enclosure that can plug into a front bay on the system; though, unfortunately, you'll need to purchase the actual HDD on your own. That external HDD connection is also the only way to increase HDD capacity, as the internals are completely full. The one area that is a little lacking is the RAM, as Shuttle only equips the M1000 with 512MB. More RAM wouldn't really help the audio/video departments, though, so unless you plan to use the system as more than an HTPC, this isn't a major shortcoming.
Normally, we like to see how a system is put together. In a typical case review, we'd also have to worry about the ease of assembly, but we can skip that topic this time. The M1000 comes as a pre-assembled unit from Shuttle, complete with all the accessories shown in our test unit. The Shuttle site has a few options that can be modified, but for the most part, you'll buy exactly what we're testing. You can add speakers, a second (external) hard drive, and some additional software. Otherwise, the M1000 is a set design. That can be a good thing, though, as it saves on support and build costs and also allows Shuttle to design within the previously mentioned constraints - upgrading the graphics card or processor could change the thermal envelope. Here's the feature list of the M1000.
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Shuttle XPC M1000
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| Dimensions | (w)442 mm x (h)78 mm x (d)350 mm | |
| Processor | Intel Pentium M 740 (1.73 GHz, 2MB Cache) | |
| Memory Support | 2 DDR SO-DIMM slots 2x256MB PC2700 Included |
|
| Motherboard | Shuttle Proprietary Intel 915PM + ICH6M 400/533 FSB |
|
| Flash Reader | 8-in-1 - SD Reader MMC, SM, MS, MS Pro, CF Type I/II, Micro drive |
|
| Expansion Slots | 1 x PCIe X16 - GeForce 6600 LE 256MB 1 x PCI - AverMedia AverTV M113 1 x PCI - AverMedia Grander M187 Tv/FM Tuner |
|
| Power Supply | 150W SilentX | |
| Audio | Creative SoundBlaster Live! 24-bit HD 7.1 | |
| LAN | 1 x 10/100/1000 Mbps 802.11 B/G WiFi |
|
| Drive Bays | 1 x 3.5 Internal (HDD) - Seagate 250GB SATA 1 x 5.25 External Slim (CD/DVD) - 4X DVD+RW |
|
| Front I/O | 2 x USB 2.0 1 x IEEE1394 (4pin) MIC, Head-phone Power button Front VFD (Versatile Front Display) 8-in-1 Flash Card Reader 2.5" External USB HDD Bay (Enclosure included) |
|
| Rear I/O | 2 x USB 2.0 1 x IEEE1394 (6pin) RJ-45 LAN Port (10/100/1000Mbps) L/R Front, L/R Surround, L/R Side, Center/Sub S/PDIF Out - Optical & Coax S/PDIF In - Optical IR Out, 802.11 B/G Antenna |
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| Overclocking | None | |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE 256MB | |
| Full Image Set | Shuttle XPC M1000 Pictures (3.6 MB) | |
| Manufacturer Link | Shuttle XPC M1000 | |
It should be immediately clear that this is a system designed to fit into an entertainment center with minimal effort. The Pentium M processor has a very low heat output, making it a far better fit than something like a Pentium D. The processor is also EIST (Enhanced Intel SpeedStep) enabled, so it can drop to even lower speeds - with the accompanying power and heat drop - when the system is idle. The Pentium M isn't necessarily the ultimate powerhouse of multimedia that you might expect in an HTPC, but there are ways around that. In fact, the CPU isn't even one of the top Pentium M models, as the 740 only runs at 1.73 GHz compared to the top 2.26 GHz of the 780.
The chief way to eliminate the need for a high-end CPU is to offload the work to separate, dedicated components. Shuttle has done this by including two hardware accelerated TV tuners/MPEG encoders. The cards used are region dependent for obvious reasons, but the unit that we received included an AverMedia AverTV M113 along with an AverMedia Grander M187. The primary difference between the two cards is that the M187 includes an FM tuner along with the video capture capabilities. Going along with the dual TV tuners is an NVIDIA GeForce 6600 LE 256MB card. This card offers NVIDIA's PureVideo technology, along with a couple of other critical options. VGA output is nothing special in a PC, and in fact, it can be a hindrance for a HTPC - how many of you own a TV capable of taking a VGA connection? For serious TV users, component out as well as a DVI port are going to be far more useful, and the 6600 LE provides both. Composite and S-VIDEO are also offered, though component or DVI will provide the highest quality connection and are essential if you're connecting the unit to an HDTV.
 |
| Click to enlarge. |
You can see all the included cables and accessories in the above image. There are quite a few other features worth noting. Audio is HD compliant, provided by a Creative Live! 24-bit 7.1 chip integrated onto the motherboard. Gigabit Ethernet along with 802.11 B/G wireless networking are provided, which should more than handle any connectivity requirements. The chipset is Intel's 915PM with ICH6M south bridge, so performance and features will be better than the outdated 855M chipset. USB2.0 and Firewire connections are also present, which comes as little surprise. What is interesting is the inclusion of a 2.5" HDD enclosure that can plug into a front bay on the system; though, unfortunately, you'll need to purchase the actual HDD on your own. That external HDD connection is also the only way to increase HDD capacity, as the internals are completely full. The one area that is a little lacking is the RAM, as Shuttle only equips the M1000 with 512MB. More RAM wouldn't really help the audio/video departments, though, so unless you plan to use the system as more than an HTPC, this isn't a major shortcoming.
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glennpratt - Monday, October 17, 2005 - link
Mean't to clarify that, I was refering to MCE at the moment.Too bad shuttle didn't source a dual tuner card and at least leave a PCI slot open.
DigitalFreak - Monday, October 17, 2005 - link
Unfortunately, you can't play a DVD via an extender, according to what I've seen. Obviously you could play it directly from an XBOX360, but what about all the DVD rips people have on their MCE / server machines?glennpratt - Monday, October 17, 2005 - link
If you make them a format the extenders can play, then they'll play. It'll prolly have to be WMV9 if you wan't decent compression because Divx/Xvid don't work for the extenders as far as I know.When longhorn comes out, you should be able to stream, rip and compress DVD's ie stream them to extenders. They wan't to have the 'Trusted' stuff in place first so they don't get sued. Supposedly there's talk of letting the MCE machine convert MPEG4 compatible files on the fly to a stream that can be played on the extenders in the future.
DigitalFreak - Monday, October 17, 2005 - link
All I can say is blah. You can build the same thing using m-ATX boards and cases, and customize it however you want. Still waiting for the Nvidia 6150/430 based motherboards to hit the market....Pandamonium - Monday, October 17, 2005 - link
Nothing on the DIY market is as pretty and all encompassing as this. The DIY market has only a handful of cases that are low profile, and none that are low profile with a centered DVD drive AND VFD/LCD display. There is also no sound card (to my knowledge) on the market with built in support for 7.1 via RCA out.Perhaps a more valid criticism of the M1000 would have been lack of the SPDIF out.
JarredWalton - Monday, October 17, 2005 - link
It has S/PDIF out - both coax and optical. It only has optical S/PDIF in.The M1000 is an awesome looking case. I think it looks great, and it works well for what it does. I really hope to see Shuttle (or anyone else) get a fully compatible HDTV machine out in the future. For $2000, that's what I really want to see.
DigitalFreak - Monday, October 17, 2005 - link
...and BTW, why aren't they using DDR2 memory? If memory (no pun intended) serves, using DDR with the 915PM chipset results in single channel only operation. Seeing as how tests with the older 400Mhz bus P-Ms showed that is was memory bandwidth limited, this seems to be a stupid decision on Shuttle's part.JarredWalton - Monday, October 17, 2005 - link
915PM should be dual channel DDR. It is simply the mobile variant of the 915P and will support DDR or DDR2. DDR2 wouldn't really help that much, and the BIOS at present doesn't have the option to tune the RAM for higher performance.mlittl3 - Monday, October 17, 2005 - link
One of the big gripes about Apple is that you can only download audio in the AAC format. Everyone hates that you are locked into their format in order to buy music. I read in the article that WMCE only supports it's own format and not xvid, divx or mpeg4. Am I reading this correct? Are you only able to encode video on these devices in a proprietary format from Microsoft? How would it work if you wanted to transfer your content to a non-WMCE PC or non-windows PC?I guess that was a lot of questions. :)
BigLan - Monday, October 17, 2005 - link
It only supports recording to ms-dvr files (which are based on MPEG2.) MCE can play xvid, mpeg4 or anything else that you can play with WMP 10. You can also play back these files on other Windows boxes.There are some tools to convert ms-dvr to regular mpeg2 files, which can then be converted to xvids etc, but I've never used them.