Shuttle XPC G5 6801M: Media Center that swings both ways

Shuttle is back with another Media Center PC, and this XPC G5 6801M is aimed at HD movie enthusiasts. Its major selling point is that it packs an LG Super Multi-Blue combi drive that can play Blu-ray movies and those dusty HD DVD discs too.

It's based on the Shuttle XPC SN68SG2 chassis, so it resembles the vast majority of the company's small form factor machines. That's not a bad thing, though -- it's compact enough to fit in any spare nooks, crannies or cubby-holes you have in your living room, and the mirrored front panel is perfectly nice.

Don't let its dimensions fool you. Our sample shipped with a potent AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ dual-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, an ATI Radeon HD 3400 graphics card, a 500GB hard drive and a Freeview TV tuner -- for £996. If that's too rich for your blood, you can customise it to cut back on what you don't need. Prices start from £611.

Would we buy one? On first impressions, yeah, why the heck not? We'll have to test it on our big-ol' LG 50-inch telly before we make a final judgement, but we're initially quite positive about it. Watch for a full review soon. -Rory Reid

Update: Read our full Shuttle XPC G5 6801M review.