Product Reviews

Like the Elonex Artisan VX, we've reviewed the ebox before - most recently in our Media Center PCs group test. But while many manufacturers are looking to Intel's Viiv platform as the future of the format, Evesham is hedging its bets by offering both a Viiv version (the ebox v), as well as this AMD alternative.

It's based around a 2GHz Athlon 64 X2 3800+ processor which, as its benchmark score of 0.97 shows, is a good deal quicker than the Intel-powered Artisan VX. Either will be more than capable of dealing with the demands of a media centre PC, and the dual-core processor is particularly well suited to multitasking; for example, if you're recording one channel and watching another. The extra speed is welcome if you're planning to use this PC as a server, but it's a shame that Evesham includes only 512MB of RAM as standard, particularly as there are two DIMM sockets free.

The chassis of the ebox a is similar to the original, although the front panel has been slightly redesigned. We still aren't fans of the exposed USB, FireWire and mini-jack audio ports, but its neutral looks will fit in just about anywhere. Nonetheless, it simply doesn't have the component-look desirability that we're still waiting to see from the average media centre.

One benefit of this chassis is its compact design. Unlike many of its contemporaries, it's only as deep as an average VCR or hi-fi component, and yet doesn't resort to too many scaled-down components.

The speed of the CPU fan is controlled via the BIOS and, in combination with AMD's Cool'n'Quiet, is preconfigured by Evesham to keep it on the right side of inaudible. There are also two extra fans in the PSU, which are again temperature controlled to keep their speed to a minimum. These help to draw air from left to right through the case and generate airflow across the components.

The motherboard's backplane offers a single FireWire and four USB 2 ports, providing reasonable scope for peripherals. There's also an increasingly rare parallel port to take care of any legacy devices you may still have lying around.

Internally, as well as an empty PCI Express 16x slot, there's a spare PCI

ADVERTISEMENT

Express 1x slot for expansion. We'd have concerns about filling both of these with hot-running cards, though, as there's very little space between them. A pair of low-profile Hauppauge WinTV HVR-1100 L.P. TV tuners are fitted in the left-most slots. As hybrid versions, they can handle analog signals if there's no digital TV reception available. The standard Microsoft Remote Control and IR receiver are also bundled.

10/100 Ethernet and 802.11b/g WLAN make up the networking options, with the latter having an external aerial for finding the strongest signal.

The full-size wireless Microsoft keyboard and mouse are certainly easier to use than those of the Artisan, but they don't share the same portability - even the latter's poor joystick is preferable to using a mouse on your lap. However, they do make more sense if you intend to use the system for anything other than entertainment, and there are also PS/2 ports going spare should you wish to add some wired alternatives.

The ebox a relies on its integrated Radeon Xpress 200 graphics chipset, which is fine for anything but gaming. That isn't a problem for a general-use media centre PC, but the Elonex's forthcoming inclusion of a graphics card able to hardware-decode H.264 gives it the High-Definition edge. Both DVI and VGA connectors are included. Also on the rear are component video outputs for optimum quality, composite video and S-Video ports.

The audio output options can't compete with the Artisan, though: there's no S/PDIF output, and only support for up to 5.1 audio on mini-jacks.

There's an extra 50GB of hard disk space over the Artisan, courtesy of a 250GB Western Digital hard disk, as well as dual-layer DVD writer for archiving or backing up. Arguably, Evesham also has the edge for warranty: both companies include three years of cover, but the first two years of Evesham's warranty are on-site. Plus, Evesham has a proven track record of customer service, as shown by our most recent reader survey.

We like the ebox a: it's got bundles of power, so if you plan to use it as a working PC, too, it will cope with anything that you throw at it. It's also £100 cheaper than the Artisan, though this reduces to £60 once you factor in delivery. And it's also worth bearing in mind that the more tangible benefits of Intel's Viiv certification, as boasted by the Artisan, won't kick in until the latter half of this year.

However, the Artisan remains our number one choice. Viiv may be unproven but it's certainly a push in the right direction, and the ebox can't match Elonex's offering for style. The ebox a only makes a convincing case as an alternative if every penny counts and you're after the extra power an Athlon 64 X2 provides over the Pentium D.