FRANK! WTF ARE YOU DOING? EVIL?

Why do you keep promoting this garbage? Let's put forth examples from your article:

Yeh, you mean things like a place to plug in your modem, TV tuner card, etc. Or a place to put that second hard drive. Or room for a double wide VGA card like your glorious 5800FX you mentioned here:

And just where did you plan on PUTTING that card? The AGP slot being on the outside, there is no extra SLOT needed for its oversized cooler!

I have a floppy drive still today. Why? Handy for transferring small files, upgrading BIOS, etc. I also have a ZIP drive. Why? So I transfer files from other computers that don't have CDRW. I suppose I could get an external ZIP drive. And then? An external modem maybe? And an external TV-tuner, with all the performance of USB 1.1? Do PC users now have to suffer the fate of so many MAC users, with little boxes strung out all over our desktop that don't even perform as well as internal devices? Now, having a small PC and then being forced to use all these external devices that don't work as well, with cords and boxes strung out everywhere...how convenient is that?

We already HAVE a superior solution! For small cases, we have the Micro ATX form factor; it's only about 1.5 inches wider. And with those 1.5 inches, you get two more slots!

But you might say that this thing would be great for a HTPC? WRONG AGAIN! Have you ever tried to put one of these things in a stereo rack? Or tried to make it look right? WE ALREADY HAVE MICRO ATX CASES THAT LOOK LIKE STEREO EQUIPEMENT!!!

So what, you're not interested in HTPC and just want something portable and "cool" looking? WE ALREADY HAVE MICRO ATX TOWERS THAT ONLY TAKE UP A TINY BIT MORE ROOM, AND THEY'RE NARROWER!

You say that "Of course, some experts have long since realized that conventional, hulking PCs are a dying breed." I'm sure as a journalist you're familiar with the "self fulfilling prophesy". Like when the dotcoms started crashing, public officials kept saying the economy was good, so people not directly invested in dotcoms kept spending their money. But as soon as news agencies started telling people the economy REALLY WAS bad, those people quit spending their money. And the lack of spending resulted in an even worse economy! By promoting this garbage, you're dooming future users to it. People WILL BUY based on your recommendations. And by the time they realize that they REALLY DID NEED more expansion room, their choices will be far more limited.

What we're dealing with in these mini PC's is a compromise. A very poor one for many users. It certainly isn't your ideal HTPC, nor is it your ideal "power system". Ignore the "cool" factor for a minute. It's barely enough for a typical user, and you're speaking to a crowd of high end users. Instead of promoting this thing as the wave of the future, why not be honest about it's drawbacks from the BEGINNING of your review and simply state that it's a reasonable alternative for people who really don't want much from their system? I really don't care how COOL you think it is. People come in here asking about setting these things up with an audigy and a TV tuner, I have to tell them "no you can't DO that". They ask about putting two hard drives in them, I have to tell them "only if you can afford to give up the only external 3.5" bay". I've already talked several users into going with Micro ATX desktops for their HTPC plans by showing them cases that match their home audio equipment. It's all damage control I've been facing since THG's LAST Mini PC review!


<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>

The article has been pulled from the main page.
And I didn't get to read it.


<font color=red><i>Doctor Hooter</i></font color=red> <A HREF="http://www.page3.com/" target="_new"><b>(·Y·)</b></A>