First Impressions and Unique Features
The case is packed in a box just slightly larger than the case itself.
The unit is only 16 pounds, and measures 12.79” in length by 8.66” in width by 8.26” in height (325 x 220 x 210 mm). It is a slightly larger case than most Shuttle products, which usually feature dimensions of 12.20” x 7.87” x 7.28” (310 x 200 x 185 mm).
The SX38P2 comes with a built-in fingerprint reader. This is a new feature on Shuttle products, and is integrated into the flip-down cover for the front I/O. It is intended to provide integrated security so that you use your fingerprint to log into Windows. Testing this only required installing and using the software. When launched, the software would ask you to configure it, which included selecting which finger you would be adding to the database.
You then scan the finger several times to get a record.
This proved to be challenging, but after about 10 attempts we were able to get one finger registered. This was then stored on the system and we could use it to log in whenever required by Windows.
We found this feature failed to work more often than not, and usually had to try over and over, only to get a failure.
After much work, we were finally able to log in.
Once logged in with our finger, the software allows you to save IE passwords.
The XPC also allowed us to configure Windows login options, resume from screen saving, and get help using the software. We believe the issue that caused this to be so difficult could be that the flip down panel is pretty flexible and moved as we ran our finger across the reader. This is perhaps an issue that could resolve itself with more practice. Of course, it may be more likely to result in user frustration and simply turning the feature off. It is a nice idea, but perhaps placement of the reader should have been somewhere easier to access, and it should have been more stable and reliable to use.
The system also includes something that Shuttle calls Speed-Link Technology. Basically, you press a button on the front of the Shuttle SX38P2 and connect two PCs together with a USB cable to allow the transfer of files.
The software creates a new removable storage device called Speed-Link. Selecting this device opens the software explorer on both PCs, allowing each to see files on the other’s drives. This proved to work well, and could be used to move files between the Shuttle system and another PC. It was tested successfully with Vista and XP, but not other operating systems.
External SATA or eSATA connectors work out of the box, but you have to supply a power source for the device attaching to it. It would have been nice to provide a power header on the back of the case for temporarily connecting a SATA drive via the eSATA headers.
