Ain't nuttin but a G thang
When I first heard that the SG33G5 fell under a new "Glamor" brand of XPC, I expected a wildly new exterior bursting with visual flair. Part of me hoped for a glam look reminiscent of the Thin White Duke in all his her its Ziggy Stardust glory. Shuttle, however, had other ideas. Or more accurately, it had none at all. The Glamor brand may be new, but the SG33G5's exterior is all but identical to that of the SN21G5, which made its debut almost a year and a half ago.

So this Glamor brand is really just a new name for the emperor's old clothes. I suppose that's fine. Despite its lack of fresh aesthetics, the SG33G5 looks rather dapper with its sleek lines and brushed face. The understated appearance should certainly blend well into most living rooms, although the splashes of glossy plastic (the ring around the face plate and a strip along the bottom hiding the front port cluster) end up looking a little out of place. Shuttle may be trying to add what little contrast it can to an otherwise all-black exterior, but the glossy bits are fingerprint magnets, and they don't really break up the black theme.

Shuttle does well to preserve that theme by stealthing the system's external 5.25" and 3.5" drive bays behind retractable doors. The spring-loaded top drive bay door pops up and down automatically with tray-loading optical drives, and an adjustable eject button ensures compatibility with a broad range of button configurations. This setup doesn't work particularly well with slot-loading optical drives, though.

Below the 5.25" drive bay hides an external 3.5" drive bay ready for floppy drives and memory card readers. This bay sits just above the XPC's array of front-panel controls, where you'll find power and reset buttons alongside subtle power and hard drive activity lights.

Along the bottom edge of the system we find a front port cluster that contains a pair of USB ports, a mini Firewire jack, and headphone and microphone jack—all behind another stealthy door.

The rest of the XPC's expansion ports can be found around the back. Here, we're greeted by four USB ports, two eSATA ports, Firewire and Ethernet jacks, and a full suite of analog audio ports. You'll also find a TOS-Link digital S/PDIF output tucked away in the top right-hand corner, and VGA and HDMI outputs in the lower left. The HDMI output can carry audio signals to compatible devices, allowing you to run audio and video across a single cable. Just in case you feel the need to be protected from the immediate danger that is digital content, HDCP is supported over HDMI, as well.

If you don't have a display equipped with an HDMI port, you can still coax a digital video signal from the SG33G5 with a provided adapter that pipes HDMI output to DVI. This converter can be used to connect to standard PC monitors, although only those with native DVI inputs; you can't daisy chain a DVI-to-VGA adapter into the mix to connect an analog display.

Rewinding for a second, I should point out a couple of other things we can see from the rear of the XPC. In the lower right-hand corner of the port cluster you'll find a recessed CMOS reset switch that comes in very handy when immersed in the trial-and-error joy that is overclocking.

Over to the left, there's a small fan attached to the XPC's power supply. The PSU in question is a 250W model that Shuttle has used in a number of its systems over the years, and it should be adequate for the kinds of low-power systems we'd recommend for home theater PCs. However, we've seen this power supply fan develop an annoying whine over time with other systems, and that makes its suitability for low-noise living room environments a little dubious. It's not like you can easily rip out the stock PSU fan and swap in a quieter replacement, either.