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Touchscreen computing at a reasonable price
One of the most talked-about features of the new Windows 7 operating system is its touch-sensitive screen feature. And, incidentally, Medion’s latest Aldi deal, available in shops from 19 November, is a touchscreen computer.
It has a single main section that houses the touch-screen and all the processing components, and there is a separate wireless keyboard, mouse and remote control. The power supply is housed in a separate ‘brick’ so there is less need for cooling inside the main computer case, making it fairly quiet.
The computer uses an Intel’s T4400 processor, which is a dual-core model designed for notebook computers. While this means it’s efficient, it’s less powerful than the equivalent desktop processor.
There is 4GB of memory, though, along with a 1TB (1000GB) hard disk and a CD/DVD burner (there is also a memory card reader, seven USB ports, sound and network sockets). And it can connect to both wired and wireless networks.
The 21.5in screen has a proper widescreen aspect ratio, so if you are watching widescreen television programmes using the built-in TV tuner they will show without black bars at either side of the screen, unlike on some computer monitors.
Its resolution allows it to display high-definition video at the highest 1080p resolution – and the computer’s processor was easily powerful enough for this in our tests.
It’s not much of a gaming PC, though – while we got some recent titles up and running we had to turn the quality levels down to make the more demanding ones work at a useable speed. For more general uses, though, such as photo editing, there were no problems.
Disappointingly, the touch-screen does not support the multi-touch feature, which means it can only be controlled using a single finger – other computers such as the HP IQ522 can be controlled using more than one finger, which makes it much more versatile.
That means that some of the more interesting touch features of Windows 7, with which the computer is supplied, are not available.
Still, the P4010D is a decent home computer for those who want to try out touch computing.
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Our verdict
cheap touch-screen PC, but it lacks the features of the more expensive models Good points Useful touch features; includes TV tuner; powerful and lots of storage Bad points Doesn’t support multi-touch; keyboard and mouse unimpressive; Aldi deals tend to sell out quickly
£600
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DOH!
My poor old Dad; since retiring he found a new lease of life with his computers. There have been ups and downs of course, but nothing as significantly bad as the Medion Akoya P4010D. Bought for him as a christmas gift 2009, it has spent more time in Germany being repaired than it has on his computer desk. The problem always begins with a black screen and little white dot in the top right corner. To date the PC has received; a new mother board, new hard drive, new 'dvd player unit' and the machine is less than 5 months old! The PC's little holiday to Germany was over a month long! Sadly, last night, having been home for just three weeks, it has curled up its toes again and we are off to Aldi for a refund. In our experience, this PC has not been fit for purpose.
Posted by K Alderson-Rees, 29 Apr 2010
Doh! UPDATE No:One!
As above, my Father toddled off to Aldi and explained the situation to the Assistant Manager and asked a refund as the goods were not fit for purpose. He said he needed to pass this upline as he did not have the authority and anyway he couldn't help whilst sat on a checkout. Fair enough. The Area Manager, when he deigned to contact us over a week later told us that Aldi were unable to accept the goods back for refund. We had taken advice on the subject and reminded him of our rights under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 as the item is not and was not fit for purpose. The Area Manager refused to budge and the best he could offer was that we take this up with the manufacturer or go to small claims court! Nice one Aldi! Medion has collected the machine again and it begins another little holiday in Germany. >X-( In my humble opinion, this Medion Computer has been worse than useless and I suspect the manufacturers realised this too as they brought out the new model extremely quickly after the launch of this one. Best Regards Kazzi
Posted by Kazzi Alderson-Rees, 14 May 2010
inherent fault maybe?
My father also had a problem with his medion AIO pc and its been back to germany to be fixed twice and still its broke down the 3rd time....what was happening was that it kept freezing on the windows 7 logo and wont budge even after several hours...and the 1st time it went back it was over a month before we got it back and 2nd time was just over 2 weeks. We have finally got aldi to refund the pc..we are just waiting for the cheque to be sent through. Medion pc's use to be very good and their service was excellent too...i've still got a desktop pc i bought several yrs ago and its still working, but I think they are slipping with this one, and its made me think twice on buying another medion now which is a shame.
Posted by M, 21 May 2010
Medion P4010D All-in-One Problems
I also bought mine in December 2009 from Aldi - Problems started in April but I was reluctant to send it back to Germany for a factory reset. I have always thought the problem was software related but I could be wrong. Now, the DVD/CD drive is inaccessible (sometimes Windows Explorer doesn't even recognise that it exists - other times it is supposed to be working fine but cannot even recognise anything in the drive). Sleep-mode results in a locked blank screen and only terminating the power supply and re-booting (itself problematic). It looks as if Aldi should arrange a recall of these faulty machines.
Posted by Alan Rhodes, 27 Jul 2010