SFF or small form factor PC's are just about everybody's game these days with one feature or another being heralded as the next great step in the evolution, but is there really that much of a difference between them? After reviewing and playing around with these things since their onset I have seen many companies alter the basic design that was introduced by Shuttle and change the feature characteristics of the basic product, but essentially they are all alike. Some people throw in FM radio and other multimedia features, while others focus on expandability and ergonomics.
Is space really a factor? That is the pertinent point of whether size matters or not in the SFF equation and if you have a limited area to work in the existing space becomes precious real estate to the intended user. The XC Cube is a very small unit and one of the smallest there is in the SFF game, which is a dual edged sword that I will discuss in detail within the review. Needless to say that if you need small then you need it and that's that and many sacrifices are made in the name of available room so you may find that that is not too high of a price to pay for progress.
For those not familiar with AOpen I can just say this; they know what they are doing and have been in the PC business for many years and are a part of the much larger Acer group that we are all familiar with in one way or another. One of the biggest problems with AOpen in the past was not the quality of their products but their availability in the U.S as they are sometimes hard to find in the mainstream American market. This is changing slowly and their products can be found at least on the west coast at PC club or through Price Grabber on the net so this is changing, albeit as I said slowly. Their product line is very vibrant and they offer a vast variety of PC components from LCD monitors to 5.1 surround sound systems, in addition to motherboards and now Mini systems. Take a look at their website and I am sure something will catch your eye.
