Verdict: A high-quality, pint-sized media PC.
Building your own PVR has its joys, but they usually centre on activities that take place when everything is up and running. Installing and configuring Windows XP Media Center Edition certainly isn't one of the highlights of the job.
For more reliability and immediate gratification, it's less hassle to buy an integrated system that has MCE pre-installed, although this isn't necessarily the cheapest option. As Shuttle XPCs so often form the basis of PC PVR systems, it's not surprising that the company has a healthy selection of ready-made MCE computers. The latest of these is the pint-sized XPC Mini X200M.
It's unlikely that you'd be able to custom-build a system as compactly proportioned as the X200. Shuttle has taken advantage of its ability to use a mix of custom and laptop components, and created a staggeringly tiny unit; measuring just 5.5cm in height, and a shade under 30cm in width, the X200 weighs only 3.4kg. It's sleek too, with a silver indented strip and blue light preventing the gun-metal grey case from looking boxy and dull. If Steve Jobs introduced one in white then the bloggers would swoon, call him a genius and the world would be queuing up to set Apple cash registers ringing. It's a mystery, then, why Shuttle's designs remain so relatively unacknowledged - when the X200 adorned the cover of trendy games mag 'Edge' last month, under the headline 'The ultimate games machine?', the magazine even saw fit to Photoshop out the Shuttle and XPC logos.
Given its looks, it's easy to see why 'Edge' picked the X200, but it isn't a games machine, unless you want to stick to playing flash games on the Web. There's no room inside its svelte case for a PCI-E graphics card but, for a media PC, it packs in a lot of hardware. There's a slot-loading, dual-layer DVD writer, a hybrid TV tuner with FM radio, and a 300GB S-ATA hard disk. As appealing as it is, the X200 isn't a brand-new chassis - in fact, it's the same as the X100 machine released in the second half of 2006. The primary difference with the X200 is the chipset. Instead of Intel's 945PM, the newer machine uses Intel's 945GM. This offers built-in Intel GMA 950 graphics, obviating the discrete Mobility Radeon X1400 graphics used by the X100.
Although the X200's Socket 479 motherboard supports up to Intel Core 2 Duo T7000-series mobile processors, our sample had only a Core Duo T2050 running at 1.6GHz. A cheaper X200 is available, with a Mobile Celeron M 420 CPU, although considering how underpowered this chip is, it would be a false economy, as it would struggle with HD video. The processor is backed up by the now standard 1GB memory, and 2GB is supported. Since the chipset is a mobile model, however, the memory is on a pair of SODIMMs, so upgrading won't be as cheap as it would with a desktop system.
As we mentioned earlier, the TV tuner is pre-installed. It goes by the name of a YUAN MPC718, which is a little-known hybrid analogue and digital unit with FM radio. It's a tiny little card that sits at the front of the motherboard, although the two ports (TV aerial and FM radio) are both at the back of the X200. The Yuan is MCE-compatible, and the Shuttle is equipped with MCE 2005 and an IR remote. This made it a breeze to use as a PVR, and the 300GB hard disk is large enough for a fair amount of music and TV recording.
The slot-loading Panasonic UJ-846 DVD writer provides archiving options if required, although its 8x writing, 4x re-writing and 2.4x dual-layer writing are hardly state-of-the-art. To ease the viewing of photos from your digital camera, there's a 4-in-1 memory card reader hidden next to the slot-loading DVD drive. However, although a single USB 2 port is also located on the fascia, there's no front audio ports or FireWire. There wouldn't be much room for these anyway, but their absence could be an inconvenience. In fact, there's no FireWire at all on the X200.
Although there's no room for anything other than integrated graphics in this chassis, at least Intel's fairly recent GMA 950 is used. This won't have you cruising through Crysis, but GMA 950 is one of the few integrated chipsets that are compatible with Windows Vista's Aero Glass interface. On the downside, the limited real estate on the rear of the X200 means that Shuttle has partnered the GMA 950 with just a single DVI-I port, and no analogue TV output is available, despite the Intel graphics' ability to provide analogue component signals. Shuttle is clearly banking on you hooking up the X200 to a PC monitor or HDTV, and the options here are legion. As well as the usual DVI-VGA dongle, our system had a Y-splitter, allowing you to use both a VGA and DVI monitor at the same time. A DVI to HDMI adaptor is another optional extra. The latter will be particularly handy for connecting the X200 to a modern HDTV in your lounge, and we found that the X200 had no problems driving our 40in DiBoss set. However, it's worth noting that the DVI port isn't HDCP compatible.
Audio output options are similarly digitally orientated. Mini-jacks are available for microphone, line in/out and headphones, but if you want multichannel sound from the Intel HD Audio, then you'll need to use the coaxial digital output and an external decoder. At least networking options are comprehensive, with 802.11g wireless fully integrated, so you don't need to add a messy external adaptor. There's also a port for Gigabit Ethernet.
There are four USB ports at the back, so you won't need a hub to connect a reasonable number of devices.
No self-respecting PVR would pass muster if its fans were unbearably noisy; with its external passively cooled PSU, the X200 is exceptionally quiet. In fact, it's virtually inaudible. We've heard (or not heard) quieter Pentium M Shuttles, but the X200 is unlikely to cause a disturbance in your lounge.
PERFORMANCE
The XPC's integrated graphics meant that there wasn't much point in us even attempting to play our regular test game, Need for Speed: Carbon. The odd round of Reversi is about all you can hope to achieve in the gaming department on the X200.
However, reasonable 2D media performance is essential for a PVR, so we ran our usual suite of DVD encoding and photo editing benchmarks. With its 1.6GHz dual-core processor, the X200 is no speed demon. It couldn't even keep up with our reference PC, which is based around a 3GHz Pentium D 830. That said, the X200 wasn't far off, which is perfectly acceptable, considering that its clock speed is nearly half that of the reference machine. The Paint Shop Pro image editing score of 0.93 won't have you screaming with boredom, although the DVD encoding result of 0.80 shows where limited clock cycles have the most effect. In contrast, multitasking performance was better than it was with our stock Pentium D, underlining the benefit of Core Duo's more advanced Level 2 cache technology. Overall, the score of 0.94 is nothing to write home about, but ample for a PVR.
However, that will be your lot for this configuration of the X200. Although it would be a bit mad to overclock a system you rely on to record your favourite TV programmes when you're out, raising frequencies isn't an option with this Shuttle's BIOS. So, if you need more processing power, you'll need to buy a faster processor. Opting for the top 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo T7400 would add a sizable amount to the price, but as much as 40 per cent to performance; Evesham's Voyager C720DC Plus uses the 2.33GHz T7600 and scored 1.44 overall in our benchmarks.
CONCLUSION
We're accustomed to Shuttle systems being expensive but, at a little over £830, the X200M isn't as pricey as we might have expected for a fully functional MCE PVR. Factor in the extremely diminutive design, and it looks like an even better deal. While it wouldn't be hard to build your own MCE box with similar base features for less, you'd have little chance of matching the Shuttle's petite integration. Limited video connections are really the only issue for the X200.
