External Front
Specifications give you some idea of what's involved. There's nothing quite like looking at it in the flesh.
You can almost do away with a specifications sheet, such is the information contained on the flashy box. Shuttle have honed the art of presentation down to a tee.
If you remember the first set of AGP-powered Shuttles, some said the front was questionable in appearance. A perspex front with a coloured insert made it look a little tacky, we thought. Shuttle have had a change of heart recently and given the newer XPCs a cleaner, sleeker look. The front now gives off an air of quality rather than cheapness. Brushed aluminium is the preferred material for mid-end systems, Shuttle have used it to good effect here on the SB61G2.
A closer look at the buttons reveals the detail that was missing on my last XPC review outing (SB51G). A chunky power button with a firm clicking action is paired next to a similar reset button. The power and hard drive LEDs glow a pleasant blue and amber when in action. High-speed connectivity is a must for these babies. We're blessed with 2 USB2.0 ports, a diddy 4-pin Firewire (ILink format, usually for camcorders and some digital cameras). The 4-pin Firewire connector is most commonly found on laptops and does not supply power to the Firewire bus. The the usual headphone, microphone and line-in ports complete the front.
