Eurocom’s Panther 2.0
While many custom builders have similar chassis, Eurocom is the only one we know to get its own custom parts. As a premium brand, the company also take pride in putting its own logo on some of the standard components.
A black-anodized brushed-aluminum palm rest matches inserts on the lid, adding grace to what otherwise might be considered an enormous beast of a desktop replacement/mobile workstation. Eurocom also offers workstation-duty components, such as Quadro FX graphics modules and desktop Xeon processors, as options for this particular model.
On the left edge, coaxial input for the optional TV tuner sits between the Panther 2’s dual-link DVI and gigabit network ports. These are followed by HDMI out, two USB 3.0 and an eSATA port, an IEEE 1394 connector for the optional FireWire controller, an HDMI input for displaying other devices on the Panther 2’s “True HD” panel, and a multi-format card reader. An $87 option included in Page 1’s list price, the HDMI input also allows frame grabbing.
The right edge features three USB 2.0 ports plus microphone, headphone, line in, and digital out audio jacks. Though Eurocom adds custom parts, the chassis itself is a standard design that has been covered in previous articles.