Small Is Beautiful

Mighty Mini-Boxes

Photograph: Marc SimonShuttle pioneered the toaster-size (or shoe box-size) PC design, and the XPC i8600b shows the company's mastery of the art of packing a lot into a small space. Though the case is only 8 inches high and just under 15 inches long, it contains a sample of pretty much everything a full-size PC offers, including a PCI Express slot, two hard-drive bays, and a plethora of expansion ports. It's also the only system in this roundup with support for surround-sound audio.

In spite of its small size, the Shuttle can pack enough horsepower to attract gamers: The box is easy to carry to LAN parties, and Shuttle's XP17 LCD, which came with our review unit, has a convenient carrying handle and a padded case.

Cute isn't a word we use often to describe personal computers, but it certainly applies to Apple's Mac Mini, the latest and least of the mini-boxes. (Smaller computers exist, but they target niche uses.) Even in the context of Apple's previous design achievements, the Mini is visually striking in its lack of features. A silver-and-white box measuring just 6.5 inches square (about the size of a CD case) and barely 2 inches high, the Mini includes only an optical disc slot on what passes for a front panel. The power button is on the back (a design flaw, we believe), along with video, USB, and FireWire ports.

Because our benchmark test suite focuses on Windows-based PCs, we cannot measure the Mini's performance against that of the other small models we reviewed. But sidestepping the issue of whether OS X or Windows XP is the better operating system, we enjoyed using the Mini: It was easy to set up, came with a nice software starter bundle that included video editing tools, and ran almost silently--the cooling fan produced just the barest whisper. It's easy to picture a Mini going places a typical desktop PC won't: into the kitchen, the family room, or the ad hoc home office that pops up on the dining-room table every evening.

Though marketed to compete against cheap PCs, the $500 price for the most basic configuration doesn't include a keyboard, mouse, or monitor. (The slightly upgraded model we tested costs $574.) But you can use any USB mouse and keyboard, and any DVI or VGA monitor. Apple offers a USB keyboard and mouse set for $58; the keyboard is fine, but most Mac users end up replacing the mouse. You'll also need a USB hub to expand the Mini, as it has only two USB 2.0 ports and the keyboard and mouse use one of those.

Your Choice: Flat or Thin

Photograph: Marc SimonThe thin-profile systems we looked at from Dell, Gateway, HP, and IBM are marketed primarily as low-cost business machines that corporations can buy and deploy in large numbers. But the business advantages they offer also suit home-office users, especially those with modest expansion demands. If you tend to buy a system and use it without significant changes for a couple of years, you'll find that this group combines reasonable prices, good performance, and relatively easy maintenance. You'll also get the option of positioning the system horizontally or vertically, or mounting it under a desk or swinging out from a wall.

Thin-profile models are proliferating as system makers embrace the slim-PC concept. Some vendors now offer several sizes of small, thin systems. When tipped on edge, the systems we reviewed ranged from 10 to 13 inches tall, from 10 to 17 inches deep, and from 3 to 4 inches wide.

The Dell OptiPlex SX280 packs a lot into its small case, fitting a 3.4-GHz Pentium 4 and 512MB of RAM into a box that's just over 10 inches long and 3.5 inches wide. But this leaves no room inside for expansion: The system lacks open PCI slots. The compact case can mount behind Dell's LCD monitor to transform the components into an all-in-one system with an even smaller footprint on your desk. We were impressed by the OptiPlex's design and versatility, and it was also the fastest performer in its class.

The IBM ThinkCentre A50, in its ultrasmall case, is a well-designed no-frills PC that accommodates a modest amount of expansion--it includes a single PCI slot--in a confined space, with an easy-to-open case that requires no tools. The A50 uses the same optical drive model that IBM notebooks do, but you have to open the case to remove the drive.

Gateway's E-4300 4-Bay SB nicely balances small size and expandability: Placed horizontally, the case is merely 4 inches tall, yet this model is the only system we looked at that contains a floppy drive and an open 3.25-inch drive bay. You also get two PCI slots (although one is blocked by the power supply) and a single PCI Express slot; however, you can't use standard-size PCI cards in them--only the smaller, low-profile PCI cards will fit.

At just 3 inches high (or wide, when sitting on its side), the HP Compaq Dc7100 Ultra-Slim Desktop is the thinnest system in this group. But it still sets aside some room for expansion, offering plenty of USB ports (two on the front and six on the back), plus space for a single PCI card inside the case. The PC uses the same hot-swappable MultiBay drives found in Compaq notebooks. If you buy an optional stand ($99) for the HP L1740 17-inch LCD, you can mount the Dc7100 behind the monitor, creating an all-in-one unit. The monitor also has a convenient handle.