Shuttle I 8600b

Shuttle XPC i8600b Review

by Richard Baguley

- Resembling an oversize toaster, the Shuttle XPC i8600b is one of the largest of the small systems we looked at, but the extra size has a payoff: greater expandability. Though the case is only 8 inches high and just under 15 inches long, it includes a sample of pretty much everything a full-size PC offers, including a PCI Express X16 slot, a PCI slot, two hard drive bays, and a plethora of expansion ports. It's the only system in our ten-model roundup that comes with support for surround-sound audio: the built-in sound chip can drive up to eight channels of analog surround sound, while the other small systems we tested are limited to two channels. The $1611 XPC is also the only one with an S/PDIF digital audio-in and -out port--very useful if you want to use the system as a home theater PC. There's also an eight-in-one media card reader built into the case.