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ASUS Eee Box

By Rich Brown, ZDNet UK on 06 August 2008 02:34 PM

Tags: asus, desktop, eee pc, eee box

Adobe Photoshop CS3 image-processing test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Gateway GT5692
153 
ZT Affinity 7221Xa
190 
eMachines T5274
206 
Dell Studio Hybrid
221 
Asus Eee Box
943 

Apple iTunes encoding test (in second)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Dell Studio Hybrid
169 
Gateway GT5692
189 
ZT Affinity 7221Xa
189 
eMachines T5274
212 
Asus Eee Box
843 

Multimedia multitasking test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
ZT Affinity 7221Xa
762 
Gateway GT5692
774 
Dell Studio Hybrid
908 
eMachines T5274
1,169 
Asus Eee Box
4,080 

Cinebench
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Rendering multiple CPUs  
Rendering a single CPU  
ZT Affinity 7221Xa
5,110 
1,812 
Gateway GT5692
4,934 
1,772 
Dell Studio Hybrid
4,329 
2,270 
eMachines T5274
3,563 
1,916 
Asus Eee Box
441 
432 


System configurations:

Asus Eee Box
Windows XP Home SP3; 1.6Ghz Intel Atom N270; 1GB DDR2 SDRAM; 32MB (shared) Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics chip; 80GB, 5,400rpm Seagate hard drive.

Dell Studio Hybrid
Windows Vista Home Premium SP1; 2.1GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T8100; 2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 128MB (shared) Intel GMA X3100 integrated graphics chip; 250GB 5,400rpm Samsung hard drive.

eMachines T5274
Windows Vista Home Premium; 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E2180; 2GB 800MHz DDR2 SDRAM; 64MB shared Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics chip; 320GB 7,200rpm Western Digital hard drive.

Gateway GT5692
Windows Vista Home Premium; 2.1GHz AMD Phenom X3 8450; 4GB DDR2 SDRAM; 256MB (shared) ATI Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics chip; 500GB 7,200rpm Western Digital hard drive.

ZT Affinity 7221Xa
Windows Vista Home Premium; 2.1GHz AMD Phenom X4 8450; 4GB DDR2 SDRAM; 256MB (shared) ATI Radeon HD 3200 graphics chip; 500GB 7,200rpm Seagate hard drive.

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Talkback 5 comments

    This is clearly in a very nich ...Paul Szilard -- 11/08/08

    This is clearly in a very niche market segment, which is not oriented towards performance. I would expect to see this mounted to the back of an LCD monitor, where it would provide a good screen size "alternative" to the eeePC in the home or office.

    For this reason, I would like to see the comparison charts include an eeePC as well.

    The good: Tiny size, great for space restricted locations, office or home.

    The bad: Low power means choose carefully soo that you won't be disappointed.

    I haven't seen this machine bu ...Reporter -- 20/08/08

    I haven't seen this machine but your reviewer is puzzled as to why these tiny PCs are attractive. Could I suggest a possible solution, and that's portability.

    As a second machine they appear to provide an excellent product to bridge that gap between desktop work environment and out on the road.
    Lugging a standard laptop is not always possible, and is getting harder on flights where cabin baggage limits are being tightened.

    As a journalist the ability to pack something the size of a novel and take it on the road to me seems great. Basic text, audio and video processing, internet browsing and some connectivity, is all that I need.

    Too often the standard laptop packs more than is ever required.

    Maybe the tiny PC makers are finally realising there's a demand for computers that fit people's needs and small, simple and easily portable works for me.

    I can't wait for the tini PC that also works on standard shop-bought rechargable/disposable batteries so I can stray farther than a power-point to do anything more than coupld of hours work.

    This is a silly review, the au ...Jamie -- 17/09/08

    This is a silly review, the author completely misses the point of these small PCs, comparing it to a full desktop and a laptop, instead of against its' peers. It's like reviewing a small car against a station wagon, and bashing it for not having enough room.

    Also, there are several inaccuracies. 1Gb Atom processor? Perhaps you mean the 1.6GHz Atom processor.

    And ExpressGate is not a "pre-Windows" operating system. It's a Linux desktop environment, in development long after bloated old Windows XP has been around, which includes network connectivity and a web browser, and which boots in seconds.

    These are appearing on all Asus motherboards as a feature called "SplashTop".

    Traditionally, small low-power systems such as this have been difficult to purchase, and have had underpowered CPUs and limited to zero upgrade options. As a tiny PC, the Eee Box is an excellent example, which solves many issues evident in its' predecessors. It's powerful, upgradeable, well-supported, and available at a very reasonable price from many retailers.

    The good: Small enough to mount on the back of a monitor, or stash in an unobtrusive place. Almost silent. Powerful enough to run Linux and Windows desktop environments. Upgradeable RAM and hard drive.

    The bad: Lack of optical drive. Unable to do 720p video.

    Reviewer lacks foresight, I am ...Anonymous -- 17/09/08

    Reviewer lacks foresight, I am running a home server on one of these and the silence is golden. Just upgrade to 2Gb Ram and this thing flies.

    The good: Green PC, does everything that I wanted it to, also I am enjoying my reclaimed real estate without a huge server that wastes power.

    The bad: None

    Maybe the reviewer has not con ...Matt Coulson -- 13/11/08

    Maybe the reviewer has not considered the possibilities here for a in-car PC?? Mount this in the boot and hook up GPS, blutooth etc through the USB, load mp3's, movies etc via wireless in your garage and watch via touchscreen monitor in the dash with slaves in headrests etc. Why spend $500 on a GPS unit when you can have a PC that does all that and more. You can even hook up a 3G card and browse the net, get Google maps etc in the car using a small wireless keyboard.

    The good: Brings the PC to car

    The bad: I'll let you know when I've finished doing the above.

Add your opinion

Overview

» Enlarge

The good:
  • Small design may have some aesthetic appeal Integrated Draft-N Wi-Fi Pre-Windows ExpressGate OS lets you browse and do other basics seconds after turning on the power
The bad:
  • Terrible performance and features compared with standard budget desktops
  • A cheap notebook will offer similar capability, space savings and portability
The bottomline:

It seems the appeal of the Eee PC doesn't carry over to the Eee Box.

Editors’ rating:

5.8/10

RRP: AU$429.00

Related topics:

asus, desktop, eee pc, eee box

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