Similar in nature to the Zinwell ProV (June 2002, page 46) but with better execution, the X-Media DreamBox is a small set-top box for your desktop that lets you watch TV, video, console games and DVDs on your monitor without the need to power on your PC.You can use it as an alternative to installing a TV-tuner card in your system, or you can dust off your spare 15in monitor and use the DreamBox to turn it into a TV.

The DreamBox is designed to sit between your PC and your monitor think of it as a switching box for the video. Its RGB D-Sub in and out connections funnel PC graphics through to the monitor when your PC is on, but you can simply toggle to other video input types by pressing the switches on the front of the box. Depending on your speaker setup, you can also use the DreamBox to switch audio between your soundcard and other audio sources such as video or DVD.

The back of the box has 3.5mm audio in and out connections, S-Video, composite video and an RF aerial connection, as well as the aforementioned VGA connectors for graphics pass-through.There is even a second set of composite inputs on the front of the box for hooking up a camcorder.

The DreamBox also comes with a fully-featured remote control and can hold 125 station presets.

The boxs solid metal construction inspires confidence, and delivers on that promise.We tested the DreamBox by using it to view television, a PC and DVDs.We found no noticeable difference running the VGA through the box and the television quality was fine. DVD playback worked extremely well; although at times there was a slight flaring in highcontrast areas, this was tolerable.