At CeBIT 2005 AOpen presented the newest member of the XC Cube range, the MZ855, to the big public for the first time.

The MZ855 has a very compact size ? the smallest among the XC Cube family, measuring 200 mm wide, 106 mm high and 320 mm long. It is designed to meet the market trend and demand for ?light, thin, short and slim? products. It weighs only 1.85 kg (4.08 lb).

Despite the fact that the MZ855?s dimensions are the smallest for the x86 system architecture, the system is built with standard components and connectors. Such a system design is a great departure from conventional design approach that seeks to reduce the size by using non-standard proprietary components and connectors.

The MZ855 can be equipped with the Banias or Dothan Pentium M processor. The Pentium M architecture ensures that the system provides outstanding performance while generating little noise and heat and saving power. When operating at full load, the system will not exceed 22 dB, which is barely audible at a distance of 60 cm.

Like the rest of the XC Cube family products, the MZ855 has the stylish and sleek chassis design which resembles consumer electronics products. Other features of the MZ family products include: I/O ports accessible from the front panel, compact size and small footprint, proprietary SilentTek technology, outstanding thermal performance, light-weight ?green? housing (environmentally friendly), high expandability, and flexible upgrading modules.

The MZ family is an ideal product, designed for those who prefer slim products. Vincent Cho, vice president & general manager of AOpen?s Solutions Products Business Unit, says, ?The MZ product line will be our major ?Cube mini solution?, and is expected to generate impressive sales and popular market acceptance this year.?

Despite its miniature size, the MZ can be equipped with a Pentium M CPU that has a 400/533MHz Front Side Bus as fast as 400/533 MHz and a 2MB L2 cache.

Integrated on the MZ motherboard is the Intel 855GME chipset and Intel ICH4-M chip (Input/Output Controller Hub 4). Therefore, the MZ provides integrated graphics solution with Intel Extreme Graphics 2 Technology. The MZ also provides AC?97 Codec 5.1-channel high stereo digital audio output, which allows a user to turn his or her MZ into a high-fidelity digital audio player.

A wide range of peripherals can be connected to the MZ855. The front panel of the MZ provides two USB 2.0, two 1394a, one S/PDIF video output, one microphone, one earphone connector. So a user could connect a digital camcorder, digital camera, iPod, Bluetooth dongle, wireless base station/Ethernet card/repeater, memory stick, SD card, RAID, PDA, or digital audio equipment. Also, the MZ comes with a built-in 9-in-1 card reader, which allows you to access all kinds of memory cards used in DV camcorders, digital cameras, PDAs etc.

The housing is made of an anodized aluminum alloy which reduces the weight to only one third of products with similar size housing. The housing also provides better shielding against electromagnetic interference. The anodized housing not only provides a more appealing look and feel, but is also resistant to oxidization, erosion, and rusting. The aluminum housing offers a thermal dissipation efficiency of 51W/mK, which is three times more efficient than the housing made of iron and ten times more efficient than housing made of stainless steel. Moreover, the material of the housing does not create industrial waste because it can be recycled.

AOpen?s proprietary SilentTek technology provides an outstanding thermal performance. The company?s firmware can detect the loading of the CPU in advance and adjust the rotation speed of its cooling fan before the temperature achieves its peak.

The scalability and modularity of the XC Cube family products can be enhanced by the MZ850e. It offers expansion space for two 5.25? disc drives and two USB ports. One of its 5.25? drive bays can accommodate two 3.5? disc drives. The MZ850e also greatly enhances the system expansion flexibility. For example, one can add an MZ850e to an XC Cube to incorporate a CD/DVD copy function.

The MZ850e can also be used to accommodate Serial ATA hard disc drives, an audio amplifier, speakers, online power supply, or cooling equipment.