Shuttle XS3510MA - my dream come true
As the first pages have shown, I’m a real HTPC fanatic. With the advent of the Ion, I was already seriously hoping to put the machine of my dreams together. Then this could not happen for several reasons. I mentioned on the previous page that the Ion didn’t become strong enough. If that hadn't been enough, there wasn't really a choice in Hungary, what it was, it cost a lot. Instead of Ion, I put together another desktop, taking HTPC expectations into account, of course.
Front and back
Now, however, here is Ion 2 and here is Shuttle. It’s good to know about the manufacturer to be able to release quite surprising hardware from your hands. He is well versed in barebone systems and is committed to building small machines. We could say that it was almost inevitable that the Shuttle’s path would cross mine, or vice versa, to anyone who liked it. The point is that they came up with a machine, more precisely a family of machines, that not only conquered but also made me in love.
A common feature of the X35 family is that Intel they are built on an atomic platform and are extremely tiny. The three members, of course, differ in equipment, and not a little. There are other family members, but they are not a newer version in terms of hardware, we just get an operating system with them.
X35-704 butt
The X35-702 and X35-704 bases were given an atomic structure. In both cases, the processor is a dual-core D510 version with a clock speed of 1,66 GHz. The 704 knows more in that we find a 160GB piece in it compared to the little brother’s 320GB hard drive and got a DVD burner. Other capabilities are the same, the image is provided by the Intel GMA 3150 graphics chip, the system memory is 1 GB, and we also find a wireless network interface that is already familiar with the n standard.
Passive cooling, ventilation in all directions
The third member of the family, the XS35-GT-804, is the real cannon, and we were delighted to be able to test it as well, more specifically the XS3510MA, which is essentially the same as the XS35-GT in that it includes an operating system. and of course the top of the X35 machines due to the existence of the operating system. With this structure, the hard drive is already 500 GB, and the onboard memory is also 2 GB. Of course, the range of capabilities has not only expanded this much, but since we will also be testing their fabric, let’s take a closer look at the specification list!
Computer case
- Slim, 1,5 liter housing
- Dimensions: 25,2 x 16,2 x 3,84 cm
- Weight: 2,5 kilograms (fully assembled)
- Rear Kensington Lock
- Optional: VESA75 / 100 mounting kit PV01
Operating System
- 7 Windows Home Premium
Processor
- Intel ATOM 510 dual core 1,66 GHz (45 nm, FCBGA559, Hyper-Treading, Pineview-D)
chipset
- Intel NM10 Express Chipset
Graphics
- Discreet second generation NVIDIA ION graphics 512MB DDR3, HDMI and VGA (D-Sub) outputs, DirectX 10.1
Memory
- 1x SO-DIMM socket, 2GB DDR2-667 / 800
Disk Arrays
- Slim-line DVD burner
- 2,5 ”SATA 500 GB hard drive
- 4 in one card reader
Audio
- IDT92HD81 Audio Codec with Azalia support
- Two analog audio connectors (3,5 mm): 1. Line out (headphone) 2. microphone input
- Digital Audio via HDMI port
Connectors and network
- HDMI (v1.3, max resolution 2560 x 1600)
- D-Sub VGA (max. Resolution 2048 x 1536)
- 5 x USB 2.0 (1 front, 4 rear)
- Ethernet, WLAN 802.11 b / g / n
Tápegység
- External 40 watts without active cooling
As you can see, the Shuttle XS3510MA is a well-equipped, completely silent - as it has completely passive cooling - and a surprisingly small machine. Nevertheless, it has all the capabilities that a person who likes an HTPC today can expect from such a machine. Here we can also turn back to the first pages. Actually, the goal with the introduction would have been to see that the time has finally come for us to buy a complete machine with peace of mind, not to deal with the house, to design for weeks, just to go into the store, take it off the shelf and go place it next to the TV. It looks good, doesn't take up space, it has no voice. Aside from that, I don’t find much difference, at least in terms of performance, between my previous machine - built two and a half years ago - and this one, but these differences are all in favor of the Shuttle machine.
While we liked the clean shape of the tiny machine for sure, it’s not over-designed. The obverse is flashy in any case, and that’s what we’ll be looking at most. The power button is located on the top edge of the front panel, these two small LEDs are lit. The one on the right informs us about the on state, the one on the left informs us about the operation of the hard disk. Of course, here you will also find the tray door of the slim optical drive. Slim, that is, like what we find in portable machines. As you can see from the table, we get a DVD burner, but we can even replace it with a Blu-ray reader later. On the front panel we also find a card reader and a USB port, which is quite useful, as we can connect a flash drive here, the contents of which can be browsed right away.
The top model from behind
It is very important that the machine should be placed in a well-ventilated place, or at least not in small places. The cover and side panels essentially consist only of a ventilation opening, and since the machine has been given completely passive cooling, it can easily overheat if it cannot ventilate through these openings.
As can be seen from the table, there will be no problem with accessing the networks. On the back panel, we find an Ethernet connector that provides 100 megabits of bandwidth - why not gigabit? - and inside the machine there is an n WIFI adapter. Although it is n, it only has one antenna (1T1R), so it "only" provides a speed of 150 megabits.
The image can be output from two connectors. One is traditional D-Sub, the other is HDMI. The table shows that the resolution available on the two outputs is not the same.
Regarding the connectors, however, we need to mention one negative, and that is the lack of digital audio output. To be precise, of course, this is also solved, as HDMI is perfect for this purpose, and the amplifier marked for testing also had such an input, but this is far from common. We believe that at least one optical output would still fit on the back of the machine. This shortcoming results in the fact that if the D-Sub output is used, sound can only be heard through the headphone output. This is a nasty black spot.
Two important pieces of information remained at the end. Despite the small housing, the manufacturer has put together an easy-to-assemble, modular machine. This is a great help if you want to expand later. True, this expansion option on the most powerful machine comes from replacing the hard drive or optical drive, but even so, it’s good to know that if you want to make the little thing Blu-ray capable, you won’t have to buy dynamite for disassembly.
The other important thing is that an optional mounting frame can be purchased and ordered for the machines, with which we can mount it on the back of a flat panel display with standard mounting points. A mental solution, so the machine does not take up space on the table.
Let's measure!
