Shuttle X50 15.6-inch All-In-One Nettop PC

Jan 12 2010 - Shuttle probably thought that had developed a great concept with the X50. Its a compact all-in-one system with a touchscreen interface that wouldn't require a keyboard or mouse. It can be easily be moved between rooms thanks to a cleverly designed stand that doubles as a handle. Of course, someone probably should have mentioned to them that there are similar all-in-ones from competitors that feature roughly the same level of performance with larger screens and items like a DVD drive for less than what Shuttle is charging.

Jan 12 2010 - Shuttle's X50 is an extension of the company's small form factor design. Rather than being a small box that has to be hooked up to a monitor, the X50 is a standalone all-in-one nettop system that provides a very compact form factor that can be used just about anywhere. In fact, the cleverly designed stand can also be used as a handle for transporting the diminutive all-in-one.

In order to achieve such a small platform, Shuttle decided to use the Intel Atom nettop platform. While many nettops still use the single core N270 processor, the X50 uses the dual-core D330 model. This does provide a slight benefit when the system is multitasking when compared to the N270 but the overall performance is going to be roughly the same due to the 1GB memory provided in the X50.

As with most nettop licensing terms, the storage on the Shuttle X50 is extremely limited. It only comes with a 160GB hard drive even though Windows 7 does allow for up to 250GB drive sizes. In addition to this, they elected not to include any type of CD or DVD drive on the system. This prevents loading of many store purchased software programs or even using the X50 to watch movies or listing to CDs.

The 15.6-inch display on the Shuttle X50 is definitely small even for nettop based all-in-ones. This was likely selected in order to keep the size and portability of the system. The screen does include a single touch interface that is responsive when using included stylus but difficult when trying to use one's finger. It would have been nice to see the company go with the larger 18.5-inch display found on most all-in-one nettops. The 15-inch size is just too reminiscent of a mid-sized laptop than a desktop platform.

One big mystery is why Shuttle would choose to not include a keyboard or mouse with the X50. While it does have a touchscreen interface and Windows 7 has native support for inputing text with such a display, it is just too difficult to do much beyond web browsing on the system without these essential peripherals. Consider also that this is standard on every other all-in-one system available on the market.

The overall problem with the Shuttle X50 though is the cost. At $750, the system is priced well above other nettop based all-in-one's from rivals ASUS, Averatec, eMachines and MSI. At this price point, one can get a more budget oriented traditional desktop all-in-one computer that provides more features, larger screens and hands down better performance.