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Introduction As
surely as the desktop PC is a part of our daily lives so I think it is that the
small form factor (SFF) PC is set to become equally ingrained. Since CPU's developed
the power to cope the sole drawback to the PC becoming a fully featured and incredibly
flexible home entertainment center is its unwieldy size. Shuttle should perhaps
be credited as the biggest factor in the push for the widespread acceptance of
the compact SFF PC but despite all this there's still a lot of room for development
in what is essentially a market still very much in its infancy. Almost
without fail small factor PCs have been just that, regular PCs crammed into small
and often very stylish box and I firmly believe that for a large segment of the
market this is all they'll ever want or need. I also believe that for other, less
computer obsessed individuals the only way in hell we'll ever see an SFF PC in
their living rooms is if it stops being just a computer and starts being something
more. Well, that something more starts right here in the shape of the MEGA (MSI™
Entertainment Gaming
Appliance) PC. We took a MEGA651 for a ride
out to see if it could last the pace. Let's do the specs: | | •
Hi-Fi Audio + Performance PC + HomeTheater
•
AM/FM Radio Tuner
• Audio CD Player
• MP3 Music CD Player
•
Front Panel LCM Display
•
Provided Remote Controller
• TV-Tuner
Function(Optional)
•
6-in-1 Card Reader Function |
| CPU |  Intel® Pentium® 4
Socket 478
FSB 533/400MHz | | Chipest | SiS® 651
SiS®
962 | | Memory | DDR333/266/200 x 2
Max.
2G | | Expansion
Slots | PCI Slot x1
AGP
4X x1 | | On-board
USB | USB2.0 x6 | | On-board
IEEE1394 | Integrated SiS 1394 Controller
UPD72852 PHY
Front
Panel con. x2 | | On-board
Modem | MDC module | | On-board
Sound | Integrated Realtek ALC650 AC'97 Codec
6
Channel | | On-board VGA | Integrated VGA Engine in NB chipset |
| LAN | RealTek RTL8101L Fast Ethernet Controller
10Mb/s
and 100Mb/s auto-negotiation operation | | On-board
Connector | Rear Panel:
| Parallel
port x1
Serial port x1
VGAx1
PS/2 x2
Mic-In/Line-In/Line-Out x1
USB x2
LAN (RJ45) x1
SPDIF x1
Modem (RJ11) x1 |
Front Panel:
| Mic-In/Headphone
x1
USB x2
SPDIF x1
1394 x1 (4 pin)
1394 x1(6 pin) |
| | Card
Reader Function | 6-in-1 Flash Card Reader |
| TV
Tuner Function | MS-8606 TV Tuner Card (Optional) |
| Power
off Function | | Playback
for MP3, Audio CD, AM/FM Radio Tuner (Remote Controller) |
| | Power
Supply | 200W (PFC) | | Chassis | 202(W) x 320(D) x 151(H) mm |
| Packing
Dimension | 279(W) x 435(D) x 360(H) mm |
If you weren't already familiar with the concept of the
MEGA PC then I can't imagine you're not already impressed. What we have here is
an extremely compact but fully featured PC that comes with an AM/FM tuner and
CD/MP3-CD player accessible without even booting to your operating system. Fronted
by a vast selection of ports, a swish graphical LCD display and even a 6-in-1
memory card reader this should appeal to even the most PC-phobic of people. Time
for a closer look...... | 
