Belinea o.max 5 XS review

Belinea may not be a brand you'd associate with PCs or laptops, but the large German company wants to make its name in the UK in this market.

The o.max 5 is a remarkably small computer, thinner than a Mac mini and not much deeper. The size is thanks to the use of laptop parts: a Core Duo T2450, 2GB of laptop RAM (which is a lot smaller than desktop PC RAM), a slot-loading DVD writer and a 160GB laptop hard disk. These are all connected to a laptop-style motherboard that has integrated Intel graphics.

At the front, things are kept neat with a power button, an eject button, a USB2 port and a media card reader that supports SD, MMC and Memory Stick Pro cards. Rear ports include three more USB2 ports and a DVI output. If the latter isn't what you need, there are two converters in the box for HDMI and VGA. For audio, you get 3.5mm jacks for microphone and stereo line-out, but the latter doubles as an S/PDIF socket. It's a shame not to see 5.1 analogue outputs, especially for Media Center use.

If you do want to use the o.max 5 as a Media Center PC, it's quiet enough. During testing it was barely audible from 1m, so you shouldn't notice it when watching a DVD or TV shows. Windows Vista Home Premium and a Media Center remote control are bundled, as is a single hybrid TV tuner, so you can opt for analogue or digital broadcasts. Again, it's a shame not to see a second tuner, which would allow you to record two channels at once, or record one and watch another. If you're hooking the o.max up to an LCD TV, this won't be such an issue, though. Belinea also thoughtfully provides an aerial splitter in the box so you can feed a signal into the o.max 5 and then out to your TV. A mini aerial is also included.

We were particularly pleased that the remote could be used to put the PC to sleep and then wake it up again, rather than having to press the power button on the PC itself - a flaw of other Media Center PCs we've seen. It's also good to see that Belinea has integrated the infrared receiver into the front panel, so there's no need for an unsightly external box.

To connect the o.max to the internet, there's Gigabit Ethernet and WiFi, as well as Bluetooth. The integrated graphics aren't powerful enough for games, or playing high-definition video. This is one of the few notable limitations of the o.max 5. It's worth noting that no keyboard, mouse or monitor are included in the price either.

Whether you're after a small Media Center PC for the living room or an office computer that you can hide away discreetly (Belinea sells a handy bracket that lets you mount it on the back of most LCD monitors), the o.max 5 XS deserves your attention.

Author: Jim Martin