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Specifications
SiS has never been my favorite of chip experts but lately they seem to have pulled their collective act together and started making quality chipsets based off the Intel reference design, which it seems to have paid off for them and making them a serious player in the silicon market. The new MSI MEGA PC is based around the SiS NB651 / SiS SB962 chipsets and supports the Socket 478 P4 CPU's up to 2.8MHz at a 533MHz FSB. Heat protection is offered via their proprietary heatsink and fan combination that draws hot air away from the CPU allowing for a cooler running CPU. The Intel CPU runs rather cool especially if compared to their nemesis AMD line of Athlon XP processors that run at much higher temperatures. Using the Intel chip in lieu of the AMD proves to be a better core solution for the mini PC due to the cooler tolerances of the Intel CPU line and is implemented quite well in the MSI MEGA PC.
The front of the unit offers the user a variety of interface options allowing for a multitude of device connectivity that is seldom seen on any unit's large or small, leaving little room for complaint or want. There are digital as well as analog sound outputs, two USB 2.0 ports, two IIEE 1394 ports and a two 6 in 1 media ports for viewing and editing your pictures from your digital camera. The front panel comes with an alternant front plate allowing the installation of a 1.44 floppy drive if you do not want to use the smart or flash media inputs but floppy drives are oh so passé these days and the system is color coordinated perfectly as is so why mess up a good design with that old drive. The CD is hidden behind a plate that opens and closes with the CD tray and is operated by a button on the front of the unit allowing for any colored CD drive to be used and not clash with the color scheme of the unit.
The onboard VGA power is provided via the SiS chipset and the sound by the Built-in AC97 Digital Audio (Realtek ALC650) that has 6-channel output supporting SPDIF functionality. The on-board sound works well enough in games and plays MP3 and DVD media adequately, the sound is not the absolute best but it does work well enough to satiate most users. The unit comes with a remote control that operates and controls the AM/FM receiver, MP3 player and the DVD / CD player. The default setting have the either the PC or the Hi-Fi mode operating one at a time but that can be set to run together if you so wish. There is a cool scrolling message that appears when you turn on the Hi-Fi mode that lights up in a cool orange glow with a welcome message. The Hi-Fi mode is the only thing that works with the remote control as the remote does not operate the PC in any fashion.
There is support for up to 2GB of DDR33/266 SDRAM via the dual DIMM slots and one PCI, AGP port as far as expansion slots go making for slim upgrade options, but in light of the everything including the kitchen sink options package the only real upgrade will come in the form of the high-end VGA card in almost any case. For your ATA devices the MEGA PC offers the user Support for Dual Ultra ATA/133 ATA/100, Ultra ATA/66, Ultra ATA/33 channels supporting up to 4 devices, which is overkill as there is only room for two devices period as far as the ATA channel is concerned making that a mote concern. The chassis itself sizes in at a very modest 202mm (W) x 320mm (D) x 151mm (H) and should be placed in an area that has good ventilation to help insure a more stable system as good airflow can make or break a system because high heat causes the CPU to react most unpleasantly causing Blue screen errors or system locks. Well that wraps up what the system is about so let us move forward and see if it works as well as it looks. 
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