I have to buy a new PC for my parents. I want to reuse an existing 19″ screen, so I am only looking for a desktop. My dad has been using a PC for a couple of years and don’t feel like switching to Mac. So a Mac Mini is not an option. So I started looking for a PC that was as simple and beautiful as that, at the same or smaller price. I was in for a disappointment…
The baseline
First off, the original Mac Mini
sleek, square, white, with just a minimal CD slot and no buttons or logo on the frontpanel.
If evolution would build a PC, this is what it would look like. Now let’s take a look at what ‘intelligent design’ has to offer:
‘Barebone’ PCs
This was my first option. A barebones is a (small) PC case with the motherboard already inside, to which you just have to add CPU, memory, hard disk and CD-drive.
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First try: the Shuttle XPC G5 8300 Not much on the front panel, granted, but evenso it’s industrial design with the stress on ‘industrial’. Too many lines, and a prominent unsexy logo. |
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Second: the iWill XP4-D I don’t like the blue that much, but the frontpanel is quite sober, which is good. Now if they could replace that slide-out CD drive with an even nicer slide-in version (like the Mac Mini)… |
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Third: the AOpen EZ-65 Pretty close! I also chose AOpen when I bought my first barebones PC a year ago because I liked the design. But I have bad experiences with the CD-drive cover (it blocks most of the times when I eject the drive, so I have to pull it open manually), so I would prefer a vendor that makes a model with the CD drive built in and, for esthetical reasons, puts the USB/Firewire/audio connectors on the back. |
VCR form factor or Multimedia PCs
A PC in a box the size of a VCR/DVD player. In most cases either too ugly or too expensive.
![]() the Shuttle M1000 |
![]() the Hush Mini ITX |
![]() the ASUS Digimatrix |
Tiny tower
Rectangular box that stands up, and small enough to be put next to the screen. Small but not beautiful.
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the IWill ZPC-sp | the Asus Pundit | the Antec Minuet II |
Original designs
At least they try …
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the AOpen MZ 855 | the Asus S-Presso | the IWill ZMAX D2 |
Conclusion
So I have seen no PC design close to the geek-sleek of Apple. Is it a lack of balls or of talent? What advise can I give Shuttle, Iwill and the likes?
- hire a super-talent designer
- someone with no experience in PC design and a fresh mind
- Philippe Starck has designed a Microsoft Mouse, I’m not sure that counts as ‘PC design’ but this is the caliber you should be looking at
- Maybe someone who has done car design. Pininfarina?
- aim a bit higher than a barebone PC
- add 512 MB RAM with option to add more (it’s a commodity product, no one cares about the brand)
- add the CD-drive (it’s the biggest moving part on a PC, the ‘eject’ should be silent and flawless), offer choice between a DVD-CDR combo or a DVD writer
- CPU and disks change too fast, leave those out
- set up VAR (Value Added Resellers) network
- they should not only sell the product but also assemble it to a fully finished product. Not enough shops allow “Add P4 3GHz, 250GB disk and ship it, already”. I want to see more minisystems shops!
See pictures of these and more designs on http://www.pixagogo.com/2022405128
Technorati: pc – design – sff – barebone – shuttle – aopen – iwill – asus – antec
2006-01-30 at 5:18 pm
Wait for the intel-mac-mini and see if you can put windows on it?
2008-04-02 at 2:02 pm
You can check out aopen minipc at http://minipc.aopen.com/Global/