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best buy
1 / 3
Our rating
Reviewed price £850 inc VAT
The remarkable thing about Packard Bell’s OneTwo all-in-one is its specification: it actually has one worth giving a second look to, with a Core i3-550 processor and 4GB RAM. This means that, unlike most all-in-one PCs, the I8524 achieved some respectable results in our benchmark tests, achieving an Overall score of 108. Naturally, a standard desktop PC is still much better value, but the I8524 has a few more things going for it.It looks great, with a glossy black case that wouldn’t look out of place in any living room. You can even use the I8524 as a TV thanks to a built-in Freeview tuner, although it’s a shame there isn’t a second for recording two channels at once. It also comes with a media centre remote control.
We don’t like glossy displays as a rule, as they’re prone to distracting reflections of the room in front of them, but we were impressed by the bright, evenly lit and vividly coloured 23in screen. It’s a touchscreen with a resolution of 1,920×1,080. We’d have liked a Blu-ray drive to go with it, but weren’t surprised not to find one at this price. An integrated Nvidia GeForce 315 with 512MB RAM isn’t up to serious gaming, although its Call of Duty 4 frame rate of 12.5fps indicates that you might be able to get some old titles to work at low quality settings.
The integrated speaker at the base of the unit is also surprisingly good for its size – it’s not the clearest sound we’ve ever heard, but it puts out a decent amount of volume and isn’t entirely lacking in bass. A plastic panel at the back of the computer can be removed to reveal three 3.5mm stereo ports, which can be used for true 5.1 analogue surround sound. There are another two 3.5mm connections – for mic and headphones – at the right-hand side of the screen. If you need to display your desktop on a projector or larger screen, there’s a VGA output on the back. There’s also a pair of PS/2 connectors, so you can free up one of the I8524’s USB ports if you replace the supplied wireless mouse and keyboard with a wired PS/2 set. The set is functional and reasonably attractive, but we found the keyboard uncomfortable to use in any position, so replacing them isn’t a bad idea. For once, USB ports aren’t too hard to come by. There are only two at the front right, but another six can be found on the back – we’ve seen full-sized desktop PCs with fewer.
The I8524 is a fine all-in-one PC. The problem is the price – it isn’t good value compared to a desktop PC, which will perform far better for £200 less. If price is no object, space is tight and you need one device to serve as your PC, TV and general entertainment and work centre, this isn’t a bad choice.
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