Elonex Exentia Gold 2005 review

Just over a year since the launch of Windows XP Media Center 2004, Microsoft has released the inevitable 2005 update. We've got an exclusive look at the first PC to run this operating system, Elonex's Exentia.

With a chassis just a little larger than a 17" LCD, the Exentia is as slick as it is technically impressive. Every effort has been made to keep the design as minimalist as possible. The IR, keyboard and mouse receivers are all built into the chassis and no external boxes have to be plugged in. The case also houses an 8-in-1 memory card reader, dual-format DVD writer and USB2 and FireWire ports.

The PC is similarly well stocked internally, with a 3GHz Pentium 4 processor, 512MB of RAM and a 200GB hard disk. A PCMark04 score of 4,125 shows that it's a powerful base specification and more than a match for traditional tower-based PCs.

Only the graphics performance is slightly disappointing, due to the 128MB ATI Radeon 9600 graphics card. Scoring just 2,408 in 3DMark03, the card will struggle to run the latest games at high detail settings, although older games should be fine.

Windows Media Center 2005 is a vast improvement over the old version and is available as a free upgrade for existing users (contact your original supplier). The first change is the setup, which used to be quite difficult. Now, Windows will automatically tune in your TV and configure the TV guide. It takes only around 15 minutes.

The interface was good before, but it's much better now. Each menu option has a sub-selection, giving you access to the most recent functions you accessed, such as a recorded TV show.

It ships as standard with Windows Media Player 9, which lets you play the new high-definition Windows Media Video (WMV) files. There are some impressive demo files on the hard disk.

Gone is the reliance on the Windows desktop. In the previous version, MP3 or picture files on a thumb drive would have to be copied manually to the PC. With 2005, Media Center can now synchronise the data. Microsoft also includes DVD recording as standard, so it's easy to back up recorded TV shows using the DVD rewriter. The sound, which uses two built-in speakers and a built-in subwoofer, is impressive. Unusually for an all-in-one system, you won't need to upgrade the speakers.

The Exentia Gold 2005 is a well-designed PC and one of the best Media Center computers you'll find. If you have a large TV in your living room, you're better off with a standard Media Center without the monitor, but for everyone else, the Exentia is an excellent choice and one that comes highly recommended.

Author: David Ludlow