Labs

Evesham's ebox is another Media Center that's been updated since we last rounded them up. Evesham has made some bigger changes than Elonex, the most notable being the use of a Pentium M processor. Although an AMD version is also available for less money, the quieter Intel route is much more suited to the Media Center environment.

Despite this, the ebox isn't as quiet as we'd hoped. When idle, it produced 31.4dBA, which is a noticeable hum in a quiet room. However, slot a DVD into the drive and you'll notice a much more annoying hum throughout your film, as it registered 39dBA. If you have a small living room, it's a solid reason to avoid the ebox.

If you sit 10ft away from the box it's less of an issue, and with its brushed-metal finish the ebox will blend in nicely under the TV. However, the front panel has visible ports, detracting from its appeal. A pair

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of USB ports sits alongside a FireWire socket and headphone and microphone mini-jacks. Other than that, there's just the neat slot for DVDs.

Inside, processing muscle is provided by a 2GHz Pentium M 760 and 512MB of DDR2 memory. Performance doesn't vary much between any of the machines here, and the Evesham's 0.82 is perfectly good. The integrated Intel graphics wouldn't run Far Cry at any resolution with our high-quality settings, but this machine isn't intended for gamers.

With two digital TV tuners and a 250GB hard disk, you'll have no problems recording your favourite programmes, although only aerial cables are included: you'll have to spend more to hook up audio systems and a display. Connectivity is excellent, though, with DVI, VGA and S-Video complemented by component output. On the audio front, the eight discrete channels can be connected by coaxial S/PDIF or mini-jack, and there are two network ports for communications. Wireless capability is provided by a separate USB adaptor; Evesham is planning to integrate it in the near future, but for now this is the workaround solution.

We appreciate the cordless Microsoft keyboard and optical mouse combo, while the warranty is the best on offer with three years' on-site maintenance. Customisation is also a highlight, with plenty of options. Sadly for Evesham, the noise levels are too high for an award, especially when Elonex charges a very similar price but also includes a GeForce 6600.