When we sent out the call for multimedia systems we were expecting notebooks and PCs capable of DVD playback and some basic gaming. Pioneer not only cleared this bar with their submission - they raised it. Whilst the competition was tough, we fired up and benchmarked the Power PC and it blew holes in everything we could throw at it. SATO Satellite XPC narrowly pushed ahead in PCMark04 with the SSE3 optimisations found in its Pentium 4 3.2GHz Prescott processor. This system took our first place in each of the synthetic benchmark tests and returned the highest average number of frames in Doom3, clocking in at 37.8, over 15 frames faster than its nearest competition.
Pioneer's offering, whilst coming with a rather hefty price tag, does offer plenty of value for anyone looking to get both a large screen display, PC and media centre going at the one time. Good cabling generally dictates good build quality and allows for maximum airflow and this PC is a great example of this, with neat cable tying providing plenty of throughput for cooling. To help with the issue of heat, Pioneer has also installed three 80mm extractor fans and Gigabyte's 3D cooler with a variable resistor for manual selection of fan speed and volume levels from outside of the case.
Although the side panel and cold cathode are attractive enough, they're not going to be to everyone's tastes. One thing we're sure of though is the appeal of the 26-inch LCD monitor come television. Boasting more ports than you could find a use for they include scores of composite and component inputs, SCART, D-Sub, DVI and coaxial making it more than a monitor, it's the perfect plug-in point for consoles, VCRs and other AV equipment.
Narrowly pipped for an award, the SATO ^^ just nudged ahead and took the gold, although if you're after more than just a PC, this system's biggest problem may be finding a large enough space to house the new monitor.
This article appeared in the December 2004 issue of PC Authority.
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