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1 2 3 4 NextAugust 4, 2003 -- by Mike Chin
Small Form Factor PCs have been around for a while. They haven't always been called SFF; that's a term coined maybe 2 years ago, perhaps to suggest more than a passing fad or obscure interest in miniaturization. Slim PC, Book PC, Mini PC -- these terms preceded SFF PC and are still in use today. But it's when Shuttle, the motherboard maker, came up with a toaster-sized highly integrated barebones system called the SV24 that the SFF PC started to really take off.
Simultaneous with Shuttle's takeoff was the release of VIA's Mini-ITX integrated systems. Suddenly tiny PCs were a happening thing. Recent VIA advertising even tries to link their Mini-ITX to BMW-revived Mini coolness. Now, it seems little PCs (that are not notebooks) are everywhere. One of the most recent additions to the competitors in this sector is ECS. Their first of several entries is the EZ-Buddie.
The ECS EZ-Buddie is a barebones system in a brushed aluminum box with a lot of stylish appeal. It is so feature packed that it's difficult to describe it as a "barebone", although that's what it is: It is supplied without CPU, memory, hard drive or optical drive. It does, however come with the ~half-cubic foot case that you see, a highly integrated microATX motherboard, a PSU, a heatsink fan for the CPU, and a case fan. As you might guess from the unusual colorful LCD display front panel, it has a gimmick or two to perk up even jaded hardware addicts.
What ECS designers have done is to shrink the proportions of a mid-tower case around the microATX motherboard. It's somewhat unusual, as most small vertically aligned cases are narrower. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; while it may not be beautiful to all, the design works for this beholder.
The mix of LED colors, including the super-cool blue that's all the rage, the brushed aluminum and the black trim all combine for a sharp, appealing modern look.
Before going farther with this descriptive narrative, let's get all the technical details down.
| Case Parameters |
- ECS custom form factor ATX specification
- Slots for 2 expansion cards (1x AGP 4x,
1x Shared PCI and CNR slot)
- 1 x 5.25-inch drive bays (external)
- 1 x 3.5-inch drive bays (internal)
- Power, reset and eject buttons for PC
- Blue LED for power and HDD indication
- LCM display for system status (EZ-Watcher) and
Overclocking control (CPU Tuner)
|
| Expansion Ports |
- Front Panel
- 1x USB 2.0 ports
- 1x Line-out / Headphone
- 1x Mic-in
- 6-in-1 Card Reader
- Back Panel
- 1x Serial Port
- 1x Parallel Port
- 4x USB 2.0 ports
- 1x RJ45 10/100 LAN port
- 1x VGA ports
- 1x Center/Bass speaker output or Mic-In
- 1x Front Left / Right speaker output or Line-Out
- 1x Rear Left / Right speaker output or
Line-In
|
| Motherboard & CPU Support |
- ECS S4-2 Custom Form Factor ATX
- Based on SiS 651 Northbridge chipset and SiS 962L
Southbridge
- Supports Socket-478 CPU (400/533 FSB)
- Supports DDR266/DDR333 memory
|
| Graphics Subsystem |
- Integrated SiS 315 Graphics Engine
|
| Sound Subsystem |
- C-Media CMI9739A 6-Channel sound output with
Xear 3D Virtual Surround Sound
Technology
|
| Case Cooling |
- Cooler Master DI4-7152A HSF provided but
standard Intel P4 Cooler is also easily mountable
- 1x 80mm Rear Exhaust fan
|
| Power Supply |
- Chi Sam Electronic AD200-12P External AC to DC
Adapter
|
| Dimensions & Weight |
- Width: 162mm
- Height: 263mm
- Depth: 310mm
- Material : Aluminum
- Color: Brushed
Aluminum
|
Even though it has only 1 AGP and 1 PCI slot, it is a PC capable of competing with full sized ATX systems, what with so much integrated right into the system.
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