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XPC SS56L

Mini aluminum barebone system with socket 478

Hidden CD-ROM and front panel connectors

Supports Pentium 4/Celeron up to FSB800
( Prescott and Willamette are not supported )

Chipset: SiS 661FX / 963

Low noise with ICE-Heatpipe Cooling

1x AGP (8X), 1x PCI (for simultaneous use)

2x DDR400/333/266/200, 2GB capacity

6x USB 2.0, 6 channel audio, LAN, 3x Firewire

Press reviews about SS56L

Dansdata.com: Recommended

Dan's Data Australia
www.dansdata.com/...
23. April 2004

Overall
If you want a distinctly different looking small form factor box, the SS56L could be what you're looking for. Its slick looks don't mean a lack of features or a disturbingly high price tag, its SiS chipset gets the job done, it's got all of the portability advantages of every other SFF box, and its front panel opens up in interesting ways. The open, plug, close-and-hide design of the front panel is genuinely new, and I think it actually ought to work pretty well; cables snaking out from under the closed panel certainly look better than a bunch of exposed ports with plugs in 'em. (...)

My SFF needs are filled for now, but if they weren't, I'd be quite happy to buy an SS56L. Recommended.

Education Update: SS56L, Desktop-Performance at footprint size

Education Update, Inc.
www.educationupdate.com/...
May 2004

Laptops have their advantages, but desktop component models do as well: the latter are far more robust, upgradeable, generally stable, cheaper, power efficient, and sometimes even more feature-rich. Mobiles are also infamous for their heat generation and cooling problems. In fact, if portability and space aren't primary concerns, you're probably better off with a desktop, especially in an education environment. (...) Thanks to Shuttle's latest entry in the market, the XPC SS56L that's now within the realm of possibility. A highly compact unit, the model's style is referred to with the designator SFF, for “small form factor,” approximately half the size of a typically equipped system. (...) For any institutional planner looking to derive desktop performance from a system with a minimized footprint, especially for multimedia use, when time spent configuring isn't a first priority, the Shuttle XPC SS56L should be a serious consideration.