Shuttle XP17 - A high end 17" flat panel to go

For an MSRP of $649, Shuttle packages up a nice full featured 17" flat panel offering but it's still a bit pricey when compared to other 17" LCD solutions in the market.  Regardless, this display is a very different beast altogether versus many of it's mid range brethren.

Shuttle XP17 Details Stylish but a bit too glossy perhaps?

The kit that came with our XP17 sample unit, includes both analog VGA and digital DVI cabling, a power supply, a manual and a soft micro-fiber cleaning cloth.  The other very nice addition to this XP17 bundle is it's included nylon carrying case.  Shuttle designed this LCD as an accompaniment to their very portable line of small form factor XPCs. Fashioned along the lines of a thin portfolio case, this padded transport bag is a nice addition to the overall product offering.

Glassy, classy and a tad too glossy -
The panel itself is a nice combination of elegance and function.  The screen is covered with a glass face plate and bezel that provides an extra measure of uniformity and color consistency to the display in any mode.  It really softens and dampens things nicely without adding any blur to the image.  On the flip side, glare can be a real issue with this glass covered LCD, depending on your lighting conditions.  If there is a bright light source directly behind the end user, like a window or lamp, glare can hamper and wash out its otherwise bright crisp image quality.

Look Ma, no base! -
The extremely low profile stand on the back side of the LCD, allow for a nice small over all footprint.  Those working with tight spaces should appreciate the very shallow depth of this panel.  The pivot on the back up the monitor, does allow users to rotate the LCD 90 degrees, into portrait mode.  However, there are probably only a handful of folks out there that could make use of that capability.  While the XP17's stand does provide for a very neat and clean setup, it doesn't have the ability to raise the panel height or pivot the panel either way, without manually propping it up or turning the display entirely.  These are small caveats for some users but all told, we felt this design was easy enough to live with, considering it's overall real estate saving benefits.

Buttons, a bit punchy -
The XP17s control buttons are on the bottom edge of the bezel, as you can see in the above shot.  For us, although this design gives the panel a neater more minimalistic look, having the buttons in that position is also a bit of a nuisance that left us fumbling for the right button to push at the right time.  Regardless, through these buttons the user does have the ability to control any aspect of the screen image you want, when in analog VGA mode on the d-sub input, as well as anything you would need when in DVI mode.