Asus have introduced its latest barebones PC, the DiGi Matrix, but looks like Hi-Fi separate rather than a PC. It is designed to combine various Hi-Fi and Video separates in one box including a CD player, TiVo style Personal video recorder, MP3 player, DVD player in a box, but while not looking 'out of place' under the living room TV!
Its main features include support for up to 2GB of 266/333MHz DDR-RAM in two slots and room for a ATA133 hard drive and optical drive. It features 8 USB 2.0 ports, 2 firewire ports, 3.5mm headphone and microphone sockets, 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet port, 802.11b wireless LAN, S/PD IF digital audio out, 7-in-1 built-in card reader, S-video, composite, DVI-D, VGA and HDTV video outputs and two PS/2 ports for the keyboard and mouse. It has an onboard 64MB SiS 651 3D graphics chipset.
To use it, the user will need to get a hard drive, DDR-RAM, DVD drive and the peripherals and away you go!
The DiGiMatrix measures 29 x 28.5 x 5.3cm (11.6 x 11.4 x 2.1in) and packs a lot of home entertainment functionality into its small shell. In addition to being a PC, it also operates as a standalone MP3 and CD player, FM stereo radio and TiVo-style personal digital video recorder. The machine uses a custom motherboard based on an SiS 651 chipset with integrated 3D graphics. Up to 2GB of 266MHz or 333MHz DDR SDRAM can be installed in two DIMM slots, 64MB of which is grabbed by the graphics engine, which feeds S-video, TV and HDTV outputs, plus TV in, as well as standard DVI-D and VGA ports. The DiGiMatrix crams in eight USB 2.0 ports, two 1394 ports, 3.5mm headphone and mic. sockets, S/P DIF digital audio out and a pair of PS/2 ports for mouse and keyboard. Asus also offers a wireless keyboard and mouse to go with the product, and the box ships with an IR remote control. Speaking of wireless, 802.11b is built in, in addition to separate 10/100MBps and Gigabit Ethernet ports. As a barebones system, the DiGiMatrix ships without a hard driver or optical storage unit, but there is room for both, connected across separate ATA-133 buses. There's a seven-in-one memory card (SD, MMC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, SmartMedia, Compact Flash and Microdrive) reader built in, too. Most of the ports are rear-mounted, but some are on the front, neatly hidden behind a fold-down flap that when shut preserves the hi-fi styling - as does the large, front-mounted volume control. Again, prices were not available at publication time. |
I've seen many all-in-one remote controls for operating all those boxes that pile up under the TV, but it is nice to see someone come up with an all-in-one box that replaces all those other boxes under the TV 😉 Up until know, while PCs aim to put all the multimedia components in one box, the PC itself would still look ugly under the living room TV! At least now, one can replace their existing DVD player, Hi-Fi separates, video/DVD recorder and so on with just a single box. The only thing that would worry me is the Windows XP OS as I would hate to see a good movie be spoiled with a BSOD. Although Windows XP is generally very stable, it has crashed on me with a BSOD once already while watching a DVD on my system.
Source: The Register
