BIOSTAR - BIOSTAR iDEQ 200P nForce3-150 Mini-Barebones System Review

The Tech Report reviews BIOSTAR’s nForce3-150 based iDEQ 200P:

On paper, the iDEQ 200P has the goods needed to become a state-of-the-art desktop system or a killer home-theater PC (HTPC). The 200P supports all the latest gizmos and doohickeys, including Gigabit Ethernet, Serial ATA RAID, digital optical audio, and the Athlon 64 processor. Thanks to its single-chip nForce3 150 core logic and HyperTransport communications, the K8NBP motherboard ought to have a clean layout, even with its diminutive footprint and healthy complement of features.

..Biostar started well with the iDEQ 200P, but they couldn’t deliver the total package. The iDEQ’s intelligent enclosure design, smart cable routing, slick packaging, and endearing good looks were a heckuva nice start. Biostar has incorporated a number of clever, fresh ideas into the physical design of the iDEQ, showing us that there’s plenty of room to improve on the SFF standard set by Shuttle’s XPC lineup.

However, the fit and finish of the iDEQ 200P isn’t quite up to Shuttle’s standards. The main drive cage for external drives doesn’t fit easily into its slots, so installing it requires a little more force than I’m comfortable applying. With the covers removed on three sides, the iDEQ seemed to bend and sway too easily, making it feel flimsy, and aggravating the fit problems for the drive cage. Similarly, the cooler shroud on our 200P review sample was flimsy and not securely fastened.

The Tech Report
Biostar’s iDEQ 200P mini-barebones system
iDEQ, uDEQ, we all DEQ for iDEQ