The DS61 is a tough slim-PC for rough environments—mainly industrial ones. Its looks surely aren't that appealing, but its construction, especially its metal chassis, will allow it to operate flawlessly in extreme conditions of up to 50°C ambient. Not many PC systems, especially of such small size, can handle so much abuse. The small SD61 does, on top of that, come at an affordable price given its features. However, the DS61 does not come with a pre-loaded OS to keep the price low. You will have to install a free version of Linux or buy a Windows OS that suits your needs. Its performance was very good despite the affordable components I installed into my review sample. It easily handled everything except for demanding games since the embedded GPU of the Intel G2020 processor is very weak at 3D graphics performance. The great number of I/O ports, the bundled SD-card reader, and its USB 3.0 support are the cherry on top. The only downside here is the lack of a front USB 3.0 port and the fact that the DS61 doesn't include a WiFi and Bluetooth module. Also, it doesn't feature a BIOS with a graphical interface and mouse input support, although it has a UEFI BIOS according to Shuttle, isn't ErP Lot 6 2013 compliant (Shuttle informed us that the newer DS61 version that is currently available is), and doesn't include any SATA III ports.

To conclude, if you are out looking for a rugged slim-PC with quiet operation and a nice price tag, the Shuttle's DS61 looks to be an ideal candidate. It includes a VESA mount, is built like a tank, and is equipped with enough I/O ports to cover most cases. It will perform fine with even an affordable Celeron or Pentium CPU, and installing an SSD drive will significantly boost its performance. I really liked its compact footprint, the nearly inaudible operation under even full load, and the fact that it has two Gigabit Ethernet ports along with a pair of serial (RS232) ones, which will come in really handy if I want to connect it to a device that uses this old communication port instead of USB. I just wish Shuttle had provided WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity to the DS61 out of the box while also backing it up with a longer warranty. The lack of SATA III support and the classic BIOS interface are not, in my humble opinion, as important as WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. Shuttle should also provide a USB drive or an SD card with the appropriate software and the drivers since the DS61 doesn't have the room for an optical drive.