Foxconn Netbox-NT330i

The Foxconn NT330i, available from Maplin, is designed to be a cut-price home-entertainment device for sitting under the TV and playing movies and video files.

It's small enough to attach to the back of a flat-panel TV. To help keep the price down, the PC doesn't include Windows: instead it comes with a custom operating system called FoxOS, based on the open-source Linux software.

The Netbox comes with an external DVD drive and a wireless keyboard that has a built-in trackball (no mouse is supplied). There's no monitor nor is there an HDMI cable, should you wish to use the HDMI socket to display video in high-definition (HD). The DVD drive is the same shape as the main unit and attaches magnetically to it. Both can be stood upright using the supplied stand.

The installed operating system was reasonable: it wasn't the most attractive desktop we've used but it certainly had a lot of features. Among other things, it includes desktop publishing, video and music software, games and an internet browser.

It did look and feel dated, and the menus were complicated and confusing. Windows XP or Windows 7 would both be far better for ease of use.

The Netbox-NT330i has an HDMI socket for connecting it up to a HD television, six USB ports and a network socket. It can also connect to wireless networks. The brain of the computer is a dual-core Intel Atom processor, there's 2GB of memory, and it has Ion graphics technology from manufacturer Nvidia, which should be ideal for playing video and DVDs.

This was where the Netbox fell down, though.

We tried playing HD video from the BBC iPlayer and the result was a lot of juddering and slow-downs, making it unwatchable. It was similar when playing standard iPlayer videos and Youtube clips. We also tried some HD video played straight from the 250GB hard disk – while this worked better it also stuttered. Standard (non-HD) video played from the hard disk or DVDs worked with no problems but, all things considered, video playback was a major letdown.

We spoke to Foxconn's technical department, which told us to update the Nvidia software – however, when we tried to do this the computer repeatedly crashed or told us we couldn't proceed. In our opinion the update process contained more hassle than any user should have to go through.

The supplied wireless keyboard was fair, though it was a bit of an eyesore: the glittery built-in trackball felt cheap and hard to use. We would recommend buying another keyboard and a standard mouse.

Given that the Foxconn Netbox-NT330i is sold as a media PC, its failure to play video properly makes it impossible to recommend. On our experience it failed to deliver anything close to justifying its price.

For more information contact Maplin on 0844 557 6000 or click here