Shuttle Computers is preparing for one hot summer, with three innovative product launches planned for June-July.
The most exciting of those is the Shuttle M2000, a home entertainment PC featuring wireless inputs, an Intel Core Duo processor with Viiv Technology, gigabit Ethernet and a DVD +/-R/RW burner.
I’m sure that sounds like a lot to swallow so let’s take a look at the M2000.
The M2000 is a media center. It seeks to replace a good chunk of your existing home theater components by providing an all-in-one digital video recorder, HDTV tuner, radio tuner, DVD player and audio/MP3 player.
It’s only three inches tall and 17 inches wide, making it roughly the size of a first generation DVD player. That is the truly amazing part of this product. Shuttle has squeezed optical audio, a/v inputs and outputs, digital video out, component video out, a TV/FM tuner card, a front panel LCD display and your typical firewire, USB and Ethernet ports (and 802.11b/g wifi just for good measure) into one of the smallest HTPC packages I’ve ever seen.
Shuttle’s new home entertainment PC is being received well so far. CNET gave it a 7.0 out of 10. It lost points for lack of expandability and for not having enough RAM. I agree with the RAM part—the M2000 comes with 512MB of DDRII-533 standard and it really should be 1GB minimum. However, I disagree with “lack of expansion options” being a negative factor. You don’t buy a Shuttle PC to expand it. Apple users don’t buy an iMac to expand it and both Apple and Shuttle manage to squeeze a lot into a spall space. It’s not mean to be ripped open and rebuilt.
Sheila Dy is the Public Relations Manager for Shuttle Computers. I recently asked her about the M2000 and their marketing efforts.
“We have a few viral marketing efforts around the M2000,” Dy said. She also credits the success of Shuttle’s newsletter and their efforts to reach out to media relations groups for the success of the M2000 buzz.
Shuttle has two more releases up its sleeve this summer. The X100, ultra-slim PC will feature a duo 1.8GHz and 1GB DDR2 standard. The P2 2700 is a gaming PC with a 64 bit processor that can load up to 8GB of DDR2.