Advent Eco PC review

If you're concerned about global warming, or just want to reduce your electricity bill, then the Eco PC will be of interest.

Advent claims that it uses 78 per cent less power than a standard desktop PC. In our tests the Eco PC consumed 26W of power while idle and 50W when running our benchmarks. These figures are a lot lower than a typical desktop PC, which uses around 95W and 160W. The 7W standby figure, however, is quite high, so you'll need to turn it off when not in use.

The Eco PC uses laptop components, which are designed to be energy-efficient. Though impressive for a desktop PC, its energy usage is pretty typical for a laptop, and similar to that of other PCs built using laptop components such as Dell's Studio Hybrid (What's New, Shopper 249).

The compact case is rather unusual looking; its fins provide passive cooling, so there's just one, very quiet, fan. This makes it practically silent, with only noise from the hard disk being audible. There's no room for upgrades inside, so you'll have to use the four USB ports on the rear if you want to add peripherals such as a TV tuner. Disappointingly, there are no front USB ports or a memory card reader.

The slot-loading DVD writer and 160GB hard disk will be fine for basic storage needs, but they're hardly impressive given the Eco PC's price. The 1.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 processor is fast enough for running Vista and day-to-day tasks, and just managed to play Blu-ray HD video smoothly. However, we'd have preferred an Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) design, like the 1.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo U7700, which would be far more power-efficient.

On the rear, a single DVI socket is provided for connecting a monitor. The graphics chipset is an old Intel laptop design, and is not up to playing modern 3D games. Also on the back is an aerial for the built-in 802.11b/g wireless networking adaptor.

The only input device is a small media-centre keyboard. This is an odd choice as the Eco PC isn't a media centre PC, although it's quiet enough to be used for that purpose. To use it as such, you'd need to buy a USB TV tuner and a Windows Media Center remote. A desktop keyboard and mouse would have been more appropriate.

The Eco PC is overpriced for its specification. You can buy a better-performing and equally power-efficient laptop for the same money. If you want to save on power and only need to browse the internet and undertake basic computing tasks, then Asus's Eee Box is a better choice.