By Lars-Göran Nilsson
12th May 2006 15:01 GMT
Page: 1 2 3 4 Next > Review Elonex might not be the first brand
you think of when you're going to buy a computer and even less so
as a supplier for your next PVR/DVD recorder. But Elonex has been
making some excellent Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) PCs for
quite some time. Its latest mode, the Artisan VX, is one of the
first Intel Viiv-branded PCs that you can actually buy..
The Viiv branding means the Artisan VX has an Intel CPU, although
you might be disappointed to know that it's a standard, 90nm
dual-core entium D 820 clocked at 2.8GHz rather than a more modern,
low-power, 65nm Core Duo CPU. The desktop chip is still part of the
Viiv spec and the low clock speed ought to make for a quieter
machine. The motherboard is based on Intel's decent i945G
chipset.
The chipset's own graphics have been replaced by a Nvidia GeForce
7300 LE graphics card - not the most powerful around, but it adds
DVI and component video ports, which the integrated graphics
chipset doesn't offer. The current version of the Artisan VX
doesn't support HDCP, but this will be on offer as soon as suitable
graphics cards are available, Elonex said.
MCE PCs require at least 1GB of DDR 2 memory, and that's just what
Elonex has fitted. Storage is provided by a 200GB Samsung SATA hard
drive - an ample capacity for recording TV shows and transferring
content from cameras and the like, but not perhaps enough if the
Artisan VX is going to be your main PC.