A look around the cube
We've taken a look inside Shuttle cubes before, but it seems that each model differs at least slightly from the others, and the whole line is so well-designed in general that it's worth revisiting.

The later cubes have an appearance that's almost Mac-like, and I mean that in a good way. The outside is all brushed aluminum and rounded edges, with a stylish faceplate that varies depending on the model but always looks good. As with the other cubes, there are bays for one 5.25" and two 3.5" (one internal) drives, with blanks that match the front face. The front face has all that ports you'd typically like up front, including USB for mice or keyboards, Firewire for easy camcorder hookup, and microphone and headphone jacks. Power and reset buttons round things out.

The back of the cube looks pretty similar to the SS40G, but in case you're not familiar, here's a picture:

You can see that three thumbscrews hold the cover in place. There are exhaust holes for the small power supply fan and the internal 80mm fan. On the right are the backplates for the expansion slots, and at the bottom is the port cluster. The SK41G has just about everything you'd expect in terms of ports, though the parallel port has been omitted, probably because it takes up too much real estate. The yellow connector is S-Video, in case you were wondering.