A single PCI expansion slot is left empty on the inside -- one more than most home users will ever use -- while an AGP slot accommodates a video card. Two memory slots are included; they're much easier to reach if you move the stack of CD/DVD burner, card-reader module and hard drive out of the way (a task that requires undoing two screws and sliding that assembly up and out of the case).

Most of the expansion potential here comes on the outside: four USB 2.0 and two FireWire ports (one of which is a full-size, six-pin model that can provide power to peripherals like iPods or external hard drives), plus two PS/2 connections and a serial port for any older peripherals. Best of all, two of the USB ports, one of the FireWire connectors and all of the standard audio jacks are parked right on the front.

But if you don't have a broadband Internet connection, the XPC is not for you -- it doesn't include a modem. If you need to dial up for your Web access, you'll need to put a modem into that PCI slot or plug an external model into one of the USB ports.

Shuttle says it can't include a modem in its motherboards, as almost all manufacturers do, because that would stop it from being able to use the same basic component in all its models worldwide. It also argues that its tech-savvy users ditched dial-up years ago.

That's most likely true (Dell's Dimension XPS, a powerful desktop marketed to hard-core gamers, also omits a modem in its default configuration). But for the rest of the market, giving up a modem entirely requires a big leap of faith.

The packaging of the tested machine is another potential obstacle. Its relatively thin load of bundled software didn't include any antivirus software.

This computer also exhibited serious quality problems. The card-reader slots didn't work until I opened up the case and noticed that one data cable had detached from its socket. The bundled wireless mouse and keyboard kept losing contact with the machine for the first few days until, for whatever reason, they began acting normally. When I plugged in a set of headphones, I heard an annoying background buzz and static even when nothing was playing on the computer.

Even the toll-free tech-support phone number listed in the System control panel was incorrect (the right one is listed online, and the folks there picked up in seconds both times I called).

And as I was wrapping up this review, I found that inserting a CD began to freeze up the entire machine -- the kind of random hardware glitch that should have gone out of style years ago. Shuttle says it has just switched to a different model of DVD+RW drive to fix this problem.

Defects like those, if at all common, can frighten away customers. But they don't impeach Shuttle's basic design, which other manufacturers could learn a few things from.

Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro at rob@twp.com.