Check It Out!

Here's a computer that suffers from a severe case of the 'cutes'. At first look, you would think its diminutive size would limit its usefulness. You would be wrong. Take a quick peek at the peripheral connections to get a different impression.

An apartment dweller might easily see this as a solution to their 'space' problem. Just take the large size bag of potato chips off the coffee table, and you'll probably have room for the computer and a flat panel display. (I was going to say put the six-pack in the fridge, but I don't want anyone to think I'm trying to be offensive. All I hope for is a smile.)

As for me, I have different goals for a system like this. I see it as a replacement for my security system PC. That machine is old, ugly, and doesn't fit well in the closet where it is hidden. Because the ITX system already has a full complement of peripherals including 10/100 networking and USB 2.0, it could actually replace two machines in my application. The second use would be as a small server and printer driver.

I'd probably leave the AGP slot empty, the ProSavage8 is good enough for me, but that empty PCI slot would continue to bother me. I just can't think of anything I need to put in it at the moment.