Review: Ambros Shuttle SD36G5M

Ambros specialises in small form factor PCs, so we weren’t surprised to see that its latest entertainment system is built around a compact Shuttle chassis .

It may look like a fairly conventional compact PC system – in which case it will probably look better on a desk than sitting in your living room – but the SD36G5M is the first Shuttle case that is officially ‘Viiv ready’, which means that it provides the main features required for a Viiv entertainment PC.

Inside the case there’s a 2.8GHz dual-core Pentium D, which should provide plenty of processing power for handling large audio and video files.

There is 1GB of Ram and a good-sized 300GB hard disk that will be able to store many hours worth of audio and video material.

The ATI All-In-Wonder 2006 graphics card has a DVI interface as well as a built-in TV tuner, radio receiver and an adapter for connecting a Scart cable. Alongside this there’s a second digital TV tuner card, so you can watch either ordinary analogue TV or the various Freeview digital channels.

We were also pleased to see that the SD36G5M has a Firewire port to enable you to connect a DV camcorder and transfer your own home movies onto this Shuttle SD36G5M system.

ATI’s All-In-Wonder cards sometimes trade a bit of graphics performance for their additional video features, but the SD36G5M performed well in all our tests, including 3D graphics, so it will perform equally well when running games and audio and video work.

Ideally, we’d like to see a slightly more front-room-friendly design, but that’s our only criticism of this well-priced and versatile entertainment PC.

This is part of a group test on remote access software. Other articles are:
Media Center PCs introduction and Editor's Choice
Ambros Shuttle SD36G5M
Cube 247 Omega ST2
Dell Dimension 5150C
Elonex Artisan VX
Evesham Ebox V
Fujitsu-Siemens Scaleo E
Hi-Grade DMS II 3200
Mesh Cubex Media TV PCW
Panrix Mantis
Sony Vaio VGX-XL 100
Entertainment systems and Viiv