Shuttle has been refining its P-series chassis for years now, and it's dangerously close to perfection for a form factor of this size.
The faceplate just doesn't do it for me, though. Yes, it's sleek, and even stylish. However, mixing flat, brushed, and polished plastics looks a little muddled to me, especially when nothing exactly matches the aluminum skin that covers the rest of the enclosure.
At least the design isn't vulgar, so it should have pretty broad appeal. Shuttle's even exercised a measure of restraint with the polished bits so that the entire face doesn't turn into a giant fingerprint magnet.
Since end users can't be relied on not to break the XPC's all-black dress code, Shuttle hides the system's external 3.5" and 5.25" drive bays behind a couple of stealthy doors. The 5.25" drive bay door is spring-loaded, opening and closing automatically with tray-loading optical drives. You'll actually have to open the 3.5" drive bay door manually if you want to get at a floppy drive or memory card reader, though.
Along the bottom edge of the XPC we find another hinged door that hides the system's front-mounted port array. You get headphone and microphone jacks up front in addition to one Firewire and two USB ports. The reset button is also tucked away over to the left, although it's recessed enough that you'll probably need a pin, pen, or mangled paper clip to press it.
The rest of the SD39P2's ports can be found at the rear, where there's no shortage of cutting-edge connectivity. In addition to the requisite array of USB, Ethernet, and Firewire ports, you also get an eSATA port for external Serial ATA devices. Shuttle has gone all out in the audio department, too, outfitting the SD39P2 with a full array of analog input and output ports in addition to TOS-Link digital S/PDIF input and output ports, and an additional coaxial S/PDIF output.
Along with the regulars, the SD39P2 also features a handy recessed CMOS reset button at the rear. This will save you from having to pop the case open and to reset the CMOS jumper manually in the event that BIOS fiddling or overclocking renders the system unable to post.
With all these goodies at the rear, it's almost easy to forget that the SD39P2 is devoid of "legacy" PS/2, serial, and parallel ports. The absence of the latter two isn't likely to cause a stir, but there are some who stubbornly cling to old-school PS/2 peripherals or KVM switches. Perhaps it's time to upgrade, folks.
