Shuttle has taken the wraps off its second generation consumer electronics-styled PC chassis. The M2000 squeezes in twin TV tuners and a fully functional Windows XP Media Center Edition system into a box designed to replace your DVD player, set-top box and music centre.

The M2000 measures 44.2 x 35 x 7.8cm and packs in a 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo T2400 processor, 1GB of 533MHz DDR 2 SDRAM, an Nvidia GeForce 6600 LE graphics engine with 256MB of DDR video memory and a dual-layer DVD±RW drive. Audio is routed via a Creative SoundBlaster Live! board with line in, eight-channel line-out, and co-axial and digital optical S/P DIF ports.

Shuttle said the machine's specification is a preliminary one and subject to change. So far, it's not said what capacity hard drive the M2000 will include, though it expects it to be a 3Gbps Serial ATA unit.

The M2000 also features a second 2.5in drive bay, covered with an easy-to-open hatch on the front panel and ready for an optional USB 2.0-connected external drive. There are four other USB 2.0 ports the machine's front, along with earphone and microphone sockets, an four-pin Firewire connector and an eight-in-one memory card reader. There's a six-pin Firewire connector round the back, along with a VGA, DVI and S-video ports.

The machine provides a Gigabit Ethernet port for wired networking and an 802.11a/b/g adaptor for Wi-Fi connectivity. It has twin analogue and digital TV tuners to allow you to record one programme while watching another.

Shuttle didn't say when the M2000 will go on sale, or how much it's likely to cost. Expect it to reveal more when it launches the machine at CeBIT next month. ®