Iridium AVPC

Not content with the PC's dominance of the desktop computer industry, manufacturers are now making concerted efforts to push the PC as a complete entertainment system. We saw Hi-Grade's stab at this in issue 145 with its Xperian PC and now it is Iridium's turn.

Spookily similar to Hi-Grade's offering, the AVPC squeezes an entire PC into the footprint of a 15in TFT monitor. But like the Xperian before it, the AVPC comes with a remote control that lets you play DVDs, CDs and MP3s, and watch TV from the comfort of your chair.

The PC employs clever technology that means you don't need to start Windows to access an application. Instead, a quick jab at the remote control starts the relevant application so you can go from no power to watching a DVD in a matter of seconds. It's impressive to behold and preferable to having to deal with Windows.

Unfortuantely, the system has some annoying quirks. First, while the AVPC can be programmed to record TV programmes, you can't use the remote to select a recording to watch. Instead, you have to go into Windows and use the TV application.

When you get tired of entertainment, the AVPC switches back to being a standard PC running Windows XP, which we found to be a bit of a mixed bag. An Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz processor backed up by 512Mb of memory seems quite generous but the onboard S3 graphics really drag the system down.

This graphics chip can't cope with any of the latest batch of games and had a detrimental effect on our system tests. Overall, the AVPC just wasn't as nippy as it should have been, although it will still cope with word processing, emailing, web surfing and the like.

This is a shame, as the rest of the system is put together well. The 80Gb hard disk is fairly respectable and provides enough storage for most people's needs. Plus, when it gets full of files they can always be backed up to CD using the CD-RW/DVD combination drive.

There's also plenty of connectivity including a four-in-one memory card reader, which is great for anyone with a digital camera or MP3 player. More unusual in a desktop PC is the inclusion of a PC Card slot.

The design of the computer is also good and the space-saving keyboard, which is attached to the TFT, flips up in front when it's not in use. The line-up is completed by anti-virus software and Ability Office, which covers all of your productivity bases.

The AVPC carries a pretty attractive price tag but is ultimately unbalanced. The poor onboard graphics affects the overall system and means that this is not quite the all-round entertainment PC that Iridium perhaps wanted it to be.

Contact: Iridium 0870 0660 222
www.avpc.tv