Media Center PCs generally suffer one of two errors. They are hopelessly under-powered, rely on laptop parts, or too noisy, because of the fans need high-level processors.
Quiet PC tries to solve both of these issues, by passive cooling memory chips in specially designed mini cases. The ixL Power PC is available in silver, gold and Platinum versions and the silver version, here, is based on a Core i3-530, with 2 GB of memory and a 500 GB, 2.5-inch hard disk drive.
The black, brushed aluminum casing from only 240 x 250 x 106 mm and is formatted to fit with other meeting room A/V boxes. There is a neat, slot-fed DVD recorder set in the front, with Blu-ray as an option. Under these are twins who USB 2 ports and an SD/xD card reader and at the back, there are two USB 3 sockets, four more USB-2s and a number of external SATA connectors, as well as LAN and S/PDIF.
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The only PCI expansion slot has a twin-tuner Freeview TV card and this is pre-configured to work with Windows 7 Media Center on the home version that is installed as default. Graphics are provided by the motherboard Intel HD chipset and full 1080p HD output is supported via DVI and HDMI.
Perhaps the most impressive feature, though, near total silence of the machine.The only thing you're likely to hear is disk access from the internal hard drive, but you must be quite close to the machine.The power supply is out of the case and is fanless. The processor is cooled via a heatpipe, leaving only the temperature of the case and a bit above are integral heatsink environment, even when the machine is hard work.
The ixL Power PC does not come with keyboard or mouse and the third-party infrared remote control is less responsive than Microsoft, more directly targeted and have the buttons pressed for longer to register. The 7.1 audio output is good enough for most home cinema systems, and video output for TV and DVD is smooth, with no noticeable artifacts.
Perhaps the most surprising omission wireless networks. While we see the sense of connecting the machine via the cable gigabit Ethernet link for streaming HD video, if you just want to Internet video and TV info, an 802.11n Guide link is easy fast enough and a lot less effort than a cable. Tranquil says the only expansion slot is occupied by the tuner card, but his mother Mini-ITX boards available including wireless.
The main function of this machine the most Core i3 and Core i5 devices separates is the near-silent operation. it is a good PC in its own right, with a spec well above most who claim to be media PCs. it looks expensive, though, if you compare it with only marginally noisier PCs, and much more so than some Blu-ray PVR boxes.
£ 763 Inc. VAT
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