The old cliché “good things come to those who wait” can certainly be applied to the computer industry.
The pace of change is continuous, and the Medion 6615 PC is just one example of that, having just been given a £100 price drop in the January sales compared with its price before Christmas.
That pitches it at £579, which is a low price for a desktop computer featuring Intel’s Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor running at 2.4GHz.
Intel’s rival AMD has recently started making similar, cheaper processors, but the Q6600 remains faster than any AMD chip we’ve tested. The ‘quad’ means it is effectively four processors in one, letting it do more things at once, while speeding up some individual programs and games.
The rest of this computer’s specification is also impressive. Vista Home Premium runs smoothly on the 2GB of included memory and there’s a whopping 1TB (that’s 1,000GB) of hard disk space.
It’s actually two 500GB hard disks, using Raid technology to makes them appear as a single one. Having two hard disks increases the amount of noise the PC makes, and the lack of vibration dampeners, as found in pricier PCs, added to the very loud, annoying hard disk clicks.
In reality there’s only 840GB of storage once you take into account Vista’s installation and other programs installed on the system.
The software is all Tesco [www.tesco.com] branded, since Medion is selling the 6615 exclusively through the grocer. The deal includes Tesco’s Complete Office (which is Ability Office rebranded), Tesco Easy Record, Internet Security (made by Panda) and Photo Restyle (again a rebranded Ability utility).
Part of the reason for the low price is that there is no monitor. The graphics card, an Nvidia Geforce 8600 GT, can connect to analogue monitors, using the VGA port, or high-definition TVs using the HDMI port.
Once plugged in, casual gamers will find it can produce smooth game play on medium detail settings, but newer DirectX 10-branded games will require an upgrade.
On the front of the case there’s a single DVD writer and a panel that, once it’s uncovered, offers easy access to USB ports, a memory card reader, headphone and microphone jacks and two Firewire ports for connecting camcorders.
There are also sockets – for capturing sound from a hi-fi, for example – and composite and s-video inputs for connecting a video recorder. This gives the option of digitising an old VHS tape collection, for instance, although this may require extra software.
Although capturing video takes a little bit of know-how to get set up, the 6615 is versatile enough to handle them.
Extras come in the form a cheap wired keyboard and mouse and a remote control (with a disappointingly bulky USB receiver) giving the 6615 some Media Center credentials, which are strengthened by the TV tuner.
This accepts digital (Freeview) television transmissions, and it can also be configured to accept free satellite channels if you connect a compatible satellite dish to it.
The software is high quality stuff and, on the whole, it adds up a powerful system for the price. It’s not perfect, though, since most PCs don’t make this much noise and the one-year warranty is often bettered by other manufacturers.
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