There are two speakers built in, positioned towards the rear of the machine either side of the monitor stalk. There's also a microphone front left and a 1.3Mp webcam situated above the display. There's 802.11b/g wireless networking built in too, but no Bluetooth.
The anglepoise mount could be more flexible
The base itself measures a compact 290 x 217 x 37mm, while the display is 447 x 281mm and a mere 13mm thick. It's mostly finished off in fingerprint attracting shiny black plastic with the odd dash of reflective silver here and there.
Supplying five USB ports seems generous at first but unlike a netbook, which has its peripherals hardwired in, you will need to use two of these to plug in the supplied keyboard and mouse - there's no daisy chaining one off the other as there is on other all-in-ones, such as the Apple iMac.
The keyboard itself is small. The actual keys are a decent size, but the numeric keypad is crammed right up against the main layout and it's been streamlined into a three-key wide block. It's reasonable to type on, but it does feel a little light and flimsy. On the plus side, you can slide it on top of the base unit when it's not in use. The laser mouse is also light and a little plasticy but does the job.
The power supply isn't built in, but the standalone brick is small: the size you'd expect to find accompanying a regular netbook.
Where've we seen that wallpaper before, Advent?
The AIO-1000 is pre-loaded with Windows XP Home edition, and Advent has even been kind enough to throw in a copy of CyberLink PowerDVD for movie playback, and Power2Go for DVD and CD authoring. There's also Microsoft Works included, but it's the SE version which includes adverts - delete it and install OpenOffice, that's our suggestion.
COMMENTS
@W
"Imagine that. Someone with needs and wants different to yours. Try not to be so short sighted and presumptuous next time."
you sir are correct
PERSONALLY I would never buy this for myself, but I can think of a couple of people I know that this setup would be ideal for. Even with the keyboard and mouse taking 2 USB ports up seeing to them all a computer does is load Ebay and Google and nothing else.
Saisho iMac
I can't help but look at it and think of cheap, tacky, unreliable old Saisho products. Having seen one of these 'things' in the flesh, I can't understand why anyone would want it. It's been designed by the blind, for the blind
Saisho, for those who can't remember: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saisho
Re: No Thanks
This (or something similar) is a candidate for replacing the old portable tv and dvd/cd player in my lounge. Using a laptop or big box desktop as a lounge tv & dvd/cd player replacement are not such appealing concepts, compared to a compact, capable and sleek(?) all-in-one such as this.
Imagine that. Someone with needs and wants different to yours. Try not to be so short sighted and presumptuous next time.
Re: No Thanks
The advantage of this over a desktop IS the lack of cables. Lots of families have a "Dinning Room" or "Kitchen Counter" PC for the kids to use where they can be properly supervised. Something that is damn-near cable free (I'd instantly replace the keyboard and mouse with a wireless combo that would also free up a USB port - leaving just the power cable) is a fantastic boon. At the moment, we have an old (as in 6.5 years) Dell laptop doing this job but the screen is very small and even lower than this would be. And Large-screened laptops cost a lot of money.
This is basically ideal for the school homework market.
One killer feature missing....
My ideal "net-top" would be pretty much what the article describes, but with a slave USB and audio and video in ports. With a host on the USB, the machine would become a hub, serving the other five port + webcam. Then I could use the machine as any of:
A) standalone PC
B) docking station
C) terminal
I mean, think of the benefits to businesses.
You can split the office workforce into several general types of users:
1) administrators, secretaries, PAs.
Minimal IT requirements -- general office/desktop apps. Net-tops would be sufficient powerwise for them. (A)
2) specialists: eg designers, architects, engineer
Specialist processor-intensive software (eg AutoCAD) required. Perfect candidate for Citrix deployment. (C)
3) mobile workforce
Need laptops (B)
One fixed unit would provide a single hotdesk solution for all three.
'Tis the future, I tell thee.
