Evesham emedia review

Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE) is one of 2003's big developments. We're already seeing many ways to shoehorn PC technology into the living room. Evesham's emedia takes a more conservative strategy to Sony (see p69), choosing a neat black Akasa desktop case with a brushed metal finish and a clear Perspex fascia. Presumably, Evesham hopes to take the middle ground with a PC that would be equally at home in your study or lounge.

The emedia is almost completely quiet, which you'd hope for in a living room. But it's still shaped like a PC, so isn't quite in keeping with existing hi-fi rack systems. However, the components are decent, although only PC2700 DDR SDRAM has been supplied, so the DDR memory isn't running at the full 800MHz FSB. At least Evesham has installed two 256MB modules, so the interleaving capabilities of the 865 chipset provide a 666MHz memory bus speed. Two DIMM slots are free, and an ATi Radeon 9600 AGP card gives it solid 3D performance. When it comes to benchmarks, the overall 2D score of 1.34 was on par for a 2.6GHz Pentium 4, while the 3DMark2001 SE result of 8,875 in 32-bit XGA will be sufficient for gaming.

A single 120GB Maxtor Calypso hard disk is supplied for storing your TV recordings. While 120GB may seem a lot, it won't go so far in a MCE PC, although there's space for over 108 hours of video at the lowest setting. Sony's dual-format DVD re-writer takes care of optical storage. It's a beige and black model, but is hidden by a brushed metal and Perspex door so doesn't ruin the look of the system.

Rounding off the removable storage spec is a memory card multireader, taking up the single front 3.5in bay. It offers slots for SD/MMC, CompactFlash, Smart Media, and Memory Stick. And with the Hayes PCI modem and TV tuner, there's just one PCI slot and no drive bays free, so there's not much room for peripheral upgrade.

Evesham has unusually opted for a digital TV tuner from Black Gold, so you can receive the 30 Freeview channels, and schedule recordings via the integrated EPG. Hooking up an analog cable or satellite signal will be impossible, however, except via composite or S-Video. As this is a fully specified PC, Evesham has supplied Creative Inspire 5300 5.1 surround speakers and a ViewSonic N1700w 17in widescreen LCD. The Creative speakers are a little meagre considering the price, but the ViewSonic is bright and clear at its native 1,280 x 768 resolution. Curiously, the N1700w also integrates an analog TV tuner, so you can watch TV without turning on the PC.

Evesham has managed to put together a very credible first Windows XP MCE system. It still looks like a PC, but it's quiet, has a high aesthetic quality, and none of the important features are missing. However, Sony's PCV-W1 offers a similar range of features for less, making the Evesham's biggest strength its MCE interface, which Sony can't quite beat. Also, the Evesham's ATi Radeon 9600 graphics and extra PCI slot make it the more flexible option.

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004

So there's a PC on your desk at work, there's one in your study at home, and maybe there's a system in the kids' room as well. But there are still a few places the ubiquity of Windows has failed to reach. We're not expecting a Windows Bathroom Edition anytime soon, but the lounge is clearly Redmond's next target. Leading the charge is Windows XP Media Center Edition (MCE), a special version of Windows XP aimed at couch potatoes. It's been on sale in the US for a year, but we're getting the second iteration, called 2004, which has a number of improvements over the original version.