CompuLab Intense PC Pro Barebone

I sort of have mixed feelings about this PC. On one hand, it's great to have a fanless PC, and performance-wise, it's pretty good (on par with a moderately high-end ultrabook).I do have a few design issues though. For one, while connectivity is overall fantastic, there are a few omissions. I would gladly sacrifice a front USB port or two for an SDXC card slot and a proper headphone jack. The rear USB ports are very tightly spaced, so good luck with a USB 3.0 thumbdrive or one-piece card reader. I have attached an extension cord to be able to use these. Putting one USB 3.0 port in front would have been nice.As for core temperature, I can't seem to get it above 82 degrees or so, even at sustained load for hours (playing Portal at moderate settings or encoding X264 video on the "very slow" setting), which is pretty good, and only four or five degrees hotter than my full-sized desktop. Idling, on the other hand, is considerably hotter than I'm used to--it stays around 51 or 52 degrees. I wonder if a few small air vents in the back or in the FACE module might not have been a good idea to allow some small degree of airflow. The case itself heats up a LOT under load, as it's supposed to--it's about like touching a metal seatbelt buckle after hours in the sun on a hot day. I hope this doesn't cause issues with any peripherals, as USB connectors pulled out of the back are sure hot.If Compulab makes a FACE module with the SD card slot, headphone jack, and some kind of simple air venting, as mentioned above, I am definitely on board if the price is right. If I could also get S-Video+audio capture capability (there is a mini PCI-E board for this but I would need the inputs on the unit) this could COMPLETELY replace my other desktop. Maybe someday I'll try a BlackMagic Intensity Shuttle or something similar through USB 3.0, though I'm a little wary due to the high processor demands of the Intensity Shuttle and the reported finickyness of its USB 3.0 support.People buying this should definitely get the barebone version, as you can get Win7 professional, 16GB of RAM, and a 120GB SSD for only a few dollars more than the Win7 version of this computer. And if you spring for Windows 7 Home instead, you'll spend a little LESS than the Win7 version for a much more capable machine.Edit: Incidentally, for video capture on this, I have bought an XCAPTURE-1 for VERY versatile SD and HD capture from 240p through 1080p, and it works EXCELLENTLY; it is far better than any PCI device I have owned. For those that don't care about 240p (NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, etc.) or 60fps 1080p, I am now pretty sure the Intensity Shuttle would also work with the chipset (it supports settings from 480i to 30fps 1080p). For those who don't care about near-realtime capture, there are even more options.

I have been in the PC industry for the last 20 years and due to the nature of my work I need to always keep my PC on and running as a result I would come into the office in the morning and hit a wall of heat which is just wasted energy. I have been on the hunt for a more green option that does not use 400 watts and this PC is that answer. I comfortably run two monitors off of this and it is as powerful as the tower it replaced.I would recommend you max out the memory and get it barebone so you can install a solid state drive. With a SSD this PC has no moving parts at all. The end result is a truly solid state PC.Very happy with is PC.

Love this PC. Installed a 250g SSD for computer with truly no moving parts. I use it as an HTPC and it never even gets above room temperature. I have a small thermaltake fan blowing across it, and a few of my other hubs/routers. I can honestly say that it'll handle pretty much anything you throw at it. No more choppy HD video like I had with my entry level HTPC. It's a beast, and it's exactly what I was looking for. So far I've owned this computer for a year. It's never been shut down and I've not had any issues. If you're thinking about getting this and it meet's your needs, then look no further. This pc really is intense.

A really impressive small form factor (SFF) PC. It's amazing how much power they packed into such a small enclosure and still kept it fanless. There a few minor downsides that cost it a star in my book. The available configurations aren't great, so you'll almost have to supply your own SSD and RAM. It's a bit out of date, having only 3rd-gen (Ivy Bridge) CPU. And the price is steep compared to a NUC or a Gigabyte BRIX. Still, the other SFF options don't have the same power with a fanless option, even if they use a more modern CPU.

Customer Support is very minimal. Device works fine but you are pretty much on your own with it.

Upon installing memory (16 Gbytes) and a spare disk I had laying around (containing an Ubuntu derivative distribution), the system booted perfectly and much more quickly than expected.Now I am revisiting the value of the larger workstations that suddenly appear to be cluttering valuable space. Makes me wish I could rationalize replacing my other workstations. :-)All in all, this machine balances good performance, great connectivity and quiet operation in a convenient form factor.

Disposable computer.Mine was fine until it stopped working just outside of warranty.The company said to send it back to Israel at my expense, and the fees to repair were going to be more than a working used unit.