I do believe that I’ve found the first Shuttle XPC barebones system truly suitable to be used as a Home Theater PC and it’s called the SG33G5M. Sure other XPC systems can be built and used as potential HTPC systems but this is the first system to actually come with an HDMI connector and built in HDCP support. This is key for getting protected HD content onto your big screen television set. The Shuttle XPC Barebone SG33G5M features:

• G5M-type aluminum chassis (black)
• Mirror front face with golden finish
• Integrated VFD Media Display
• 1 x 5.25 inch drive bay and 2 x 3.5 inch drive bay
• Measures 31 x 20 x 18.5 cm and weighs 3.3 kg
• VFD shows information such as date and time,CD track and title, TV channel, DVD title and progress etc
• Integrated receiver for remote control
• Shuttle multimedia remote control
• Compatible with Windows Media Center 2005 or Windows Vista
• Comes with Shuttle FG33 motherboard
• Intel G33 Express Chipset + ICH9DH
• Solid Capacitors for excellent heat resistance for enhanced system durability
• PCIe and PCI slot
• 250 watt mini power supply unit
• Supports single, dual, quad core processors from Intel with 800, 1066, 1333 MHz FSBs - Core 2 Quad Q6xxx, Core 2 Duo E6xxx/E4xxx, Pentium Dual Core 2xxx and Celeron D 4xx series
• Designed for upcoming 45nm Core 2 Multi-Core processors
• Supports Pentium 4/D processors at 800MHz FSB
• Shuttle ICE2 cooling
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100
• Full Windows Vista Aero experience
• Intel Clear Video technology
• Hardware acceleration for MPEG2 and VC1 content
• HDMI with HDCP support
• SPDIF digital output
• DVI adapter included
• VGA connector for analog systems
• Realtek ALC888DD codec for 7.1 HD audio
• Supports Dolby Digital Live! and DTS Connect
• Marvell Gigabit Ethernet controller
• Firewire controller

About the only thing missing is a TV tuner which you can optionally get for the system of course. My dream system would be to put in:

• NTSC/ATSC TV Tuner
• 500GB HDD
• Blu-ray or HD DVD drive

The only other concern I would have with the system is ambient noise. Shuttle XPC machines can be loud sometimes - especially since we’re talking about a small form factor. While a quad core processor might be awesome for the system, I wonder what the resulting sound output would be like.

This might very well be my next experimental HTPC system.

Note - the product page is for Europe. There is a U.S. version of this system without the VFD display. It’s called the SG33G5. Shuttle is selling the G5 3300m in the U.S. as a complete system sale and not as a barebones yet. You can purchase the complete system here.

[Check it out via eHomeUpgrade]

[Check out the U.S. Product Page for a full system here]

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