Hi-Grade DMS II 3000 review

Many media centre PCs come with only a single TV tuner so, unless you add another, you can't watch one channel while recording another.

Hi-Grade's DMS II 3000 PC has two tuners but both are analogue only, so they can't receive Freeview broadcasts. From 2008, the analogue TV signal will be switched off, so you may find you still need to replace the existing tuners, or add another via USB or the free PCI slot.

The computer's 250GB hard disk has enough space for a sizable library of shows, although there's no room inside the case for another internal disk if you outgrow it. You can easily connect an external disk using one of the four USB ports or three FireWire ports, though.

Browsing your catalogue of recorded shows, photos and music is easy thanks to the included remote and Windows XP Media Center Edition. The compact wireless keyboard is little bigger than a typical notebook's, and feels somewhat cramped. It has no numeric pad, and the built-in trackball is inaccurate, so it may need replacing with a more comfortable set if you do much more than surf the net.

The single-core Pentium 4 processor is quick enough for everyday tasks and had no trouble playing our high-definition video clips. However, the DMS II 3000 is hamstrung by only 512MB of RAM, and its performance in our tests barely matched our reference PC so you'll need to add more memory for tasks such as editing video or image files.

The Nvidia GeForce 6600 graphics card doesn't share system memory like an integrated graphics chip, but it's not particularly powerful and can play modern 3D games only at low detail settings. Older titles should be fine, though. The GeForce 6600 can be replaced with a faster PCI Express graphics card, but there isn't enough room for a long or double-width card. This will rule out a powerful choice with a bulky cooler.

There's no shortage of ports for hooking up your video and audio equipment. You can record video from sources such as VCRs using the S-video and composite inputs. You can connect an analogue surround-sound amplifier to the 7.1-channel RCA outputs, or use the optical or coaxial S/PDIF ports with a digital amp. DVI, D-sub and S-video ports let you connect monitors or a TV. There's also a front-mounted LCD, which displays information such as the song currently playing.

We were disappointed with this PC's slow Windows performance and its lack of a digital TV tuner. These shortcomings would be easier to live with if it were cheaper, but at this price it's outclassed by Mesh's Viva 940 Pro Media Center PC. Although it doesn't have as many connection options as the DMS II 3000, Mesh's PC is comprehensively quicker in Windows, has twin digital tuners and costs only £66 more, making it much better value.