by James Valle

This 5 Series is a unique cube-like computer with a classic motherboard that has been divided into three interconnecting boards, the CPU board and two I/O boards.

The model of this 5 Series is the X5A-5342US00, running Windows 7 and it is powered by an AMD Ahtlon Dual-core 64-bit 3400e processor. It comes with a 64GB Solid State Drive and 2GB of DDR2 RAM.

Features.
 Useful life of 6 – 10 years
 Low energy use (20 Watts)
 Significant TCO (total cost of ownership) savings vs. standard PCs
 Easily upgradeable & modifiable
 Very small footprint
 Boots Windows 7 in under 25 seconds
 Runs x86-based Operating Systems and Software

In the package, it contains the computer, power adapter with cord, start-up guide and the limited warranty booklet.

The modular computer has a nice brushed aluminum housing with vented chromed sides. On the front you have the Xi3 logo, nothing on the other two sides and on the backside is the I/O panel.

Starting on the top left and going down, you have the Ethernet port, Sound in Sound out and the Mic inputs. To the right of the Ethernet port, you have two video connectors, the Display Port and the Dual Link DVI+VGA connectors which both support dual displays. Here you have the power adapter port and the power button. Below that, you have 6 USB 2.0 ports, one is dedicated for the keyboard and two eSata ports.

The things we liked about this computer are:
– The AMD Athlon processor
– Solid state drive
– Supports dual displays
– Upgradable and modifiable
– Supports multiple operating systems like Linux

There were very few things we didn’t like about the Xi3. We didn’t like that the maximum amount of RAM you can have is 2GB and we weren’t too fond of the price which was about $600.

This would be a great computer for the industrial control market, medical industry, computer labs, retail service kiosk, or even at home as a basic computer or multimedia computer.