Packard Bell ixtreme duo MC 6142

If you're a regular reader of Computeractive, you may recognise the ixtreme duo MC 6142. We featured the 6080, a very similar model, in issue 144 and while the two look identical, the 6142 is a Windows XP Media Center Edition PC but comes with an extra piece of hardware and costs £600 more.

Because of the way Media Center handles multimedia, it requires a very fast PC to support it and the 6142 is the fastest Media Center PC we've seen, coming with a 3.06GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor and a monstrous 1,024Mb of memory. This allows Media Center to operate smoothly and means other Windows tasks such as photo, video and music editing can also run without a stutter.

The gargantuan 200Gb hard disk also means Media Center will be able to record loads of TV and store thousands of documents and media files such as MP3s, DivX and digital photos. For a detailed rundown on Microsoft's latest operating system read our Media Center feature in issue 150.

The 256Mb ATi Radeon 9200 graphics card is good enough to play 3D games at high resolutions. There are also composite and S-Video ports for connecting to a television if, like us, you feel the 15in TFT is too small. A TV tuner card is also included to support the TV feature in Media Center and it comes with phono-out sockets for connection to an amplifier.

For £1,500, you would expect decent hardware all round, so the multi-format DVD recorder is an expected, yet welcome, feature and the 6142 comes with DVD Movie Factory and Power DVD software for watching and creating your own DVDs. You would also expect to get something extra and in this case, that something is Packard Bell's latest creation - the duo.

This breakout box connects to the 6142 via USB 2 and provides access to a DVD player, two USB 2 ports and a six-in-one memory card reader.

This means you can leave your PC tucked away under the desk and still be able to plug in your peripherals, extract data from memory cards and play DVDs. Packard Bell gets our thumbs up for creating a novel and practical piece of hardware.

The PC houses six USB 2 slots, FireWire, S-PDIF and the usual collection of ports. There's not much scope for internal upgrades - only one PCI slot is free - but with a specification of this calibre it's unlikely you'll need to for a while.

If you want to put it in the living room, there is a Media Center remote control so you don't have to use the keyboard and mouse. However, the 6142 is a PC first and foremost, with Media Center features as a bonus.

Packard Bell has released another Media Center PC - the ixtreme MC 6112 - that doesn't come with a duo box but still has a reasonable specification and is £300 cheaper.

Contact: Packard Bell 01628 512400
www.packardbell.co.uk