2003 may well become known as the year in which the small form factor (SFF) became mainstream.  Following Shuttle’s innovative launch of the SV24 SFF machine back in October 2001 we have seen a rapid growth of the number of manufacturers offering their own version of this popular new PC format.  This month, it’s the turn of the Taiwanese manufacturer BIOSTAR to join the party, with the launch of their new iDEQ series of SFF machines.  Initially released in four versions, with SiS, VIA, NVIDIA and Intel chipsets, this range is launched with the slogan “Play Hard!  Work Smart!”. 

BIOSTAR is a rising star amongst the second-tier of motherboard manufacturers in Taiwan, sitting in fifth place behind USI, AOpen, Abit and Shuttle in the rankings by revenue.  So far this year, BIOSTAR has seen a growth of 24% over its revenue of last year.  Although BIOSTAR has previously released a novel all-in-one PC with integrated LCD screen, the eDEQ, the new iDEQ series is its first foray into the SFF market.  Given its relatively late arrival into this market it will be interesting to see whether BIOSTAR are simply playing catch-up with rivals Shuttle, or whether they can bring something new and innovative to the market.  Read on to find out.

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• First Impressions (0 of 7)
• The Models (0 of 7)
• Is It As Cool As It Looks? (0 of 7)
• Internal Design (0 of 7)
• BIOS and Overclocking (0 of 7)
• StudioFun! (0 of 7)
• Conclusions (0 of 7)