Appearance

After removing the P2-M2A690G from the Styrofoam casing, I was greeted by one of the sleekest cases I may have ever laid eyes on. True to the name, the P2-M2A690G is very much a book-sized PC. The addition of a leather texture on part of the front panel adds to this feel.

The optical drive is hidden behind the leather texture, as are the LEDs for power and hard drive activity. Upon closer examination, there's a silver ASUS logo on the leather area, and the power and eject buttons reside in the middle of the front panel.

The unit's front panel is hidden behind the leather texture. Once exposed, I found a multi-format card reader, dual USB ports, mini FireWire, microphone in, and audio out ports

The rear of the case is very unique to the case, as many barebones from Asus that I've seen utilize a more normal layout, as well as a motherboard shield. Here, the motherboard is very much integrated with the rear of the case.

The inside of the chassis appears very cramped, and yet empty. Near the rear of the case is a PCI riser, with a single PCI slot and a single PCI-Express x1 slot. Although these slots are here, I don't believe they'll be able to accomodate a full-size PCI card. The CPU Cooler is already mounted, so I'll have to remove it before installing the CPU. The dual RAM slots are next to the CPU, right next to the side of the case.

Let's start installation by removing the heatsink and selecting a CPU.