Hi All,

I want to upgrade my main PC to a Shuttle. I'm having a hard time deciding which one. Their choices are so numberous!

Can anyone help me narrow it down to a model? Things that are important to me:

1) Quiet
2) Want to have USB 2.0 and FireWire (800?) - (for possible future use - do I need the 800)?
3) I like their Card reader clusters on some models.
4) Want to get an Intel P4 chip.
5) Want a BIOS and chipset that is HEAVILY supported. I don't want to get left in the dust by a Microsoft upgrade, for instance (a friend of mine can't use his mainboard VIA chipset USB 2.0 since Microsoft did FP2)
6) Expandability is important to me. Since most stuff is built in, I don't think I'd NEED to add cards, but I want to be able to if necessary.
7) Gaming is NOT that important to me, but I do want to play the occasional HL2 or similar game...

Lastly, lemme ask a quick question... I currently am using an Abit motherboard and the built in sound processing that comes with it. I get a ton of noise through my speakers with this config. I can hear interference from the HD, and other stuff. I always figured that I'd need a seperate Sound Blaster type card to fix this. If I get a Shuttle, should I still expect to need a seperate card? Is this a typical problem with on board sound chipsets? If I use the SPDIF output, I'm guessing that this kind of issue wouldn't be present. Any comments?

- Thanx
- Jon