Tiny Takami

Tiny's Takami, meaning 'good idea' in Japanese, aims to take on all the duties of your current home entertainment equipment, providing DVD playback, games and TV viewing. It has a sleek casing no bigger than a video recorder and is designed to take care of all your home entertainment requirements without taking over the entire room.

This case comes finished in an attractive shade of silver and is equipped with a trendy, wireless keyboard and ergonomic remote control in place of a mouse.

Our review model also included the optional 17in TFT monitor to add further grace to the machine's stylish looks. A 15in TFT is also an available, which lops £500 off the price, but if you're feeling particularly flush, you could consider upgrading to the 42in gas plasma screen. That takes the total cost to within a whisker of £7000.

The Takami looks to replace your video recorder, DVD player, PC and, if you get a screen with it, your television too. As it is based around a PC, it can also play games, so the family PlayStation could feasibly find itself being shown the door as well.

Tiny is at pains to point out that this is far more than a mere PC. The whole system is based around an 800Mhz AMD Duron processor which is plenty for watching films. A 40Gb hard drive gives you lots of storage for your games and music too.

As a games machine, the first model we had was a touch disappointing, as it came with basic S3 Savage Pro on-board graphics, but a specification update means that the new models come with a nVidia GeForce 2MX-based card, which is definitely good enough for games. Control through the wireless keyboard is ponderous so the optional USB joystick looks like a priority purchase for gamers.

As for its musical capabilities, the Takami allows you to record your own CDs onto the hard drive and download MP3s from the internet, enabling you to create a vast music library to delve into whenever you want. You can play CDs straight from the system or use the jukebox to compile an endless mix for dancing around the living room without continually having to change discs. However, the lack of a CD-RW drive means that you can't make your own CD compilations.

The Creative speakers comprise two satellites and a subwoofer and produce a great sound considering how little space they take up. Hooking them up to your hi-fi is simple thanks to the sockets on the back of the machine.

Watching DVD films is possible with the DVDRom drive but, although it works well, it isn't as easy to use as a set-top DVD player, despite having a remote control. A 17in monitor is also a far cry from a wide screen TV.

A built-in TV tuner means you can watch telly as soon as you plug in an aerial cable, either from the roof aerial or satellite/cable TV decoder box. If you are interrupted by an unexpected visitor during your favourite show, you can employ the 'T:break' feature.

This starts recording whatever you are watching from the point you paused it then, when you come back, you can start watching again from the exact point you left, having missed nothing while it continues recording the rest of the broadcast. You can also use the Takami as a video recorder but, with no removable storage, the amount you can record is dictated by how much hard disk space is available.

As we mentioned before, though, if this was just a PC it would be considered poorly specified for the price. Most PCs nowadays come with a built-in DVD drive and it is simple to put in a TV tuner card and get time-shift recording. Another unfortunate downside is the remote control, which is awkward to use and will have you crying out for a traditional mouse, at least until you grow accustomed to it.

All in all, Tiny has hit on a potentially great idea but, at the moment, a standalone DVD player and new video recorder could be a better bet.

Using Windows on a comparatively low-resolution television screen is a nightmare but nobody wants a PC with a monitor stood next to their TV set. So the Takami effectively becomes an expensive PC with reduced functionality and little to recommend it - other than looks - over a normal desktop PC.

Prices: £2000 with 17in TFT, £1500 with 15in TFT, £1000 for system unit for use with a TV.

Contact: Tiny
0800 731 4128
www.tiny.com

Also consider: Mustek DVD V300. A cheap way to get into the latest video and music formats. £175.