Asus DigiMatrix - The Pizza Box Form Factor
by Andrew Ku on February 11, 2004 1:41 PM EST- Posted in
- Systems
The Test
Remember, the DigiMatrix is not intended to function as your garden variety PC: no word processing, internet browsing, instant messaging, email, etc. After all, once this PC is setup, it is intended to be placed in your TV stand/multimedia hub. Because of this, we would actually be interested to see a DigiMatrix based on something like an Efficeon or Pentium M processor. This is mainly because a Pentium 4 processor is a tall order for a system that is supposed to function in the context of no more than a TiVo combination DVD player, both in price and performance.Due to the system's small profile, it cannot take on the full thermal brunt of the high-end 533FSB Pentium 4 processors. Originally, Asus was being conservative by mandating a Pentium 4 processor at 2.4GHz or less. With the newest BIOS revision, the DigiMatrix raises the bar to 2.66GHz, but this is obviously short of 3.06GHz and therefore, unable to take advantage of HyperThreading. HT is not really necessary for this type of system, considering that multitasking won't be the norm.
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trikster2 - Saturday, February 14, 2004 - link
If you are getting it from ewiz use this link and save a few bucks:
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=MB-DIGIMAX&c=...
rigelinoia - Friday, February 13, 2004 - link
I can only say:http://mini-itx.com/store/hush-atx.asp
Shalmanese - Friday, February 13, 2004 - link
"Keep in mind that a multimedia PC is like 10 times the cost of a DVD/MP3 player and TV tuner combination."Whats with the Valley girl speak?
3Suns - Thursday, February 12, 2004 - link
Yes, you have to turn it on to play DVDs. I believe only the CD/mp3 player is available in the alternate OS.Which is one reason I want to try getting all this working in linux... I can optimize the boot time!
bobbronco - Thursday, February 12, 2004 - link
I agree with araczynski in that the design of this box is somewhat lacking. The pizza box form factor is nothing new. Apple did it back in '91 with the MacLC. Granted, the current state of PC technology was then not at the same level it is today, but the overall idea for a small PC of these approximate dimensions has been done before. The Taiwanese may be able to build a cheap MB, but their industrial design is still and will continue to be very weak.bobbronco - Thursday, February 12, 2004 - link
WileCoyote - Thursday, February 12, 2004 - link
Good review, I like to read up on these types of machines. I think the major fault with this box is just how specialized it is. Sometimes this can be advantage - a system that does one thing very well. But it doesn't even seem like this one is up to par.araczynski - Thursday, February 12, 2004 - link
WHY IN THE WORLD DOES EVERYTHING THESE DAYS HAVE TO LOOK SO DAMN RETRO 70'S? DOESN'T ANYBODY HAVE ANY ORIGINAL IDEAS ANYMORE? just because the current "x-generation" is clueless and unoriginal doesn't mean all technology has to reflect that in appearance.this stuff looks like all the 8tracks at goodwill.
Wiseguy69 - Thursday, February 12, 2004 - link
... and the SPDIF is on the front! That may stop me from buying this. Who wants a big optical cable coming from the front of your DVD player?Wiseguy69 - Thursday, February 12, 2004 - link
I wish they would have gone into more detail about the actual operation of the multimedia features. I have a MSI Mega now and my g/f hates that you have to turn it on to play a DVD. Does DVD run from the alternate OS or do you have to start windows?