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Elonex Artisan VX Viiv media centre PC

Viiv arrives in the UK

The Viiv box's other features include a Samsung DVD writer that handles DVD±R media at 16x, DVD±RW media at 4x and DVD+R dual layer at 4x. Then there's an 802.11b/g wireless card, since at the end of the day, this computer will be close to your TV and you're not likely to have an Ethernet cable in your front room. That said, if you do want Gigabit Ethernet, it's on board ready for you.

Elonex_Artisan_VX_back

Elonex has made use of the integrated sound systyem, which offers mini jacks for analogue 7.1-channel output as well as optical and co-axial S/PDIF digital output. Speakers are an optional extra though.

The motherboard features four USB ports at the back, with a further two mounted behind a flap on the front of the machine. A rear-mounted six-pin FireWire port complements a front-mounted four-pin version, handy for digital camcorder owners. Along side is a multi-format memory card reader which accepts all major Flash formats except xD. Furthermore, you'll find S-video and composite-video inputs here, plus a set of stereo RCA connectors and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

When it comes to features, the Artisan VX competes very well with many combo PVR/DVD recorders on the market. Elonex has fitted two hybrid TV tuners so you can receive both the normal analogue TV channels - until they're switched off, that is - and all the FreeView channels, and watch one channel while recording another.

Each of the Hauppage HVR-1300 tuner cards has its own S-video and composite-video inputs, so you could attach other sources at the rear of the Artisan VX like your old VHS deck.

Thanks to MCE, setting the Artisan VX up is a doddle. The latest version of MCE lost most of the annoyances past versions suffered from. It even works fine on a normal, standard-definition TV, and you can read all the menus quite easily. That said, it's still hard to use the regular Windows UI this way, so an HDTV is recommended.

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