Product Reviews

Zoostorm have a knack for building the latest components into powerful yet affordable systems. This time, though, they've done something a bit different, and used, well, not the latest components to build a PC that isn't just affordable, it costs less than a family shop at Sainsburys.

Remember the old saying, 'if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is?' We do too, but when Zoostorm offered us a PC with Windows Vista for under £200, we just had to take a look.

Now, when we say a PC, that's exactly what you get. The price doesn't include a monitor, keyboard or mouse, let alone speakers, a memory card reader or a webcam. But if you were looking to replace a clapped-out system, moving your existing accessories to a new base unit would be a cost-effective way to upgrade to Vista.

Trouble is, when most people think of Windows Vista, they think of its pretty Aero Glass visual effects. This system comes with Vista Home Basic, which doesn't have those. Nor does it include the add-ons we've got used to seeing in Vista Home Premium, including Movie Maker, DVD Maker and Media Center. Basically, if Windows Vista is Kylie Minogue, this is Dannii. It's not useless, but it really isn't in the same league.

Half a loaf

Never mind, you might think: it's still a brand new PC, which always means a nice performance boost from the one you've been hanging on to a couple of years too long. The 3.2GHz Celeron D processor doesn't invite the description 'state of the art', but it's nippy enough for everyday tasks. Sadly, though,

You be the judge. Windows works, but, aside from the lack of features in Vista Basic, it's constantly having to grind the hard disk because it can't hold enough in RAM. Programs load slowly, and whenever you try to switch between running apps you have to wait for Vista to catch up.

Despite its decent processor, the Zoostorm, thus crippled, scored just 74% in our general (2D) benchmark. 100% is what we consider just OK.

And that's not the end of the corner-cutting. An 80GB hard disk? Can you still buy drives that small? It's enough to install and run a few applications, but precious few photos, songs or movies.

Nor will it accommodate many games, but then there's no reason why it would need to. The integrated graphics simply won't run most 3D games. Still, there's an empty PCI-Express 16x slot, so you could add a proper graphics card if you liked.

Except that it would be pointless, because games come on DVDs. The Zoostorm has only a CD drive. We didn't know you could still buy those, either. Not only will you not be able to watch DVD movies, you won't be able to install any serious software. You can't even re-install Vista from the original disc, since it comes on DVD.

It seems almost churlish to criticise a system that's been put together to offer the lowest-cost option. But even if that's what you want, why have Vista Basic, when you could just use XP, or a CD drive that doesn't do DVDs, when you could just do without? You could boost performance by adding another RAM module and perhaps a graphics card. But then there's the tiny hard disk...

No, we can't deny this machine is cheap, but it's ultimately pointless. Better to pay a little more and get something a lot more worthwhile.