The Eee Box specifications:

1.6 GHZ Intel Atom Processor N270
Windows XP Home Operating System
Intel Chipset Motherboard
WLAN WiFi 802.11b/g/n and 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
1GB DDR2 RAM
WLAN: 802.11 b/g/n
80GB or 160GB HDD (Hard Drive)
SD/SDHC/MS/MS Pro Storage Slots
DVI-Out/USB×4 (2 in front, 2 in rear) (Input/Output)
223×178×26 mm (Dimensions without stand)
Comes complete with ASUS wired mouse and keyboard
N.B. This system does not come with an optical drive (CD or DVD reader/writer) and an external one must be bought separately if needed.

The Eee Box will retail at around £200. BitColumns best price offer has so far been found at http://www.ebuyer.com/product/148886 for the Black Eee Box, and http://www.ebuyer.com/product/149899 for the White Eee Box.

The Eee Box is an innovative little desktop system. It’s mostly been created for the light PC user, someone who won’t intensively use their desktop system or doesn’t need to do anything intensive with their desktop. It itself is very small, about the size of 2 DVD cases stacked next to each other. This for a desktop PC is astonishing. It is also whisper quiet in operation. You would struggle to hear it even while using it to its maximum potential, despite this fact it doesn’t get very warm either.

The looks: It’s visually very appealing. Our particular test model was the black version which looked very nice and would fit well into any room in the house while looking stylish. The stand that attaches to the bottom of the Eee Box also has a designer look to it, and perhaps even makes the Eee Box look a little bit like a piece of art, but that’s a matter of opinion. Other than this the Eee Box is very minimalistic in looks. It’s just the box, a stylish stand and the WLAN aerial at the back. On the front is the on button, illuminated blue, and a front panel. This panel folds out to reveal the on button, the reset button, the HDD activity light, 2 USB ports and the card reader. The card reader takes a range of formats including SD/SDHC/MS/MS Pro so can be useful for permanent or temporary storage. And another last nifty little feature is that if you don’t want the Eee Box to be seen (and I don’t know why you wouldn’t, it looks quite cool) is that it comes complete with an attachment so that it can be attached to the back of a TV or monitor thus turning your TV or monitor into an all-in-one PC. And with the Eee Box being so small and light it becomes essentially invisible and can easily be taken with the TV wherever it goes.

What’s inside: Inside the processor is the same as the processor from the Eee PC 901, saying that it is a very good processor, it handles running programs, games, and the OS very well. The 1GB of RAM is also plenty of memory to keep the system running smoothly and efficiently. The Hard Drive at 80GB or 160GB is plenty of room for a home PC, for a light user. In any case the 160 GB hard drive is sufficient enough for any user. In any case 16GB SD cards are becoming very cheap nowadays and to buy and insert one into your machine as extra permanent data wouldn’t be very expensive. The wireless aerial isn’t too noticeable and is very good. It provides very good wireless connection, found in our testing, and finds connections, connects to them and stays connected very well. Some of the best wireless connections I’ve seen in a while. 4 USB ports is sufficient enough, 1 for a keyboard, 1 for a mouse and 2 others left for other USB devices, such as a printer or a USB flash drive etc. By now everyone should know what Windows XP is like, and it runs very nicely on this machine, having no problems at all. Having said that though any distribution of Linux would have run very much better and would’ve used the resources much more efficiently, which is why I favour the Eee PC with the Linux on. Also if it had Linux on instead the price would probably be less as ASUS would not have to pay for the Software License for Microsoft’s Windows XP (compare the prices of the Eee PC with Windows XP to those with Linux on). Having said that…

The Express Gate: The Eee Box features a feature called the Express Gate. This is where the Eee Box boots in 7 seconds (that’s right 7 seconds!) to a splash screen where the user can then access a few basic features very quickly, such as web browser, instant messenger client and some others. This will then load the user into a VERY basic Linux operating system which has the basic features such as web browser, messaging client, system options etc. available, if the suer just wants to use these basic features. However if the suer wants a word processor or any other features they must then go to boot to OS in the options menu. This Linux operating system is very basic keep in mind. Very basic options are available. It is quite easy to use, because it is so basic, however we did have problems with the wireless configuration to begin with, though these were eventually solved. It works quite well, but as we said it’s very simple so very hard to flaw. Windows can then be booted from here without having to restart the PC and can be found under the options menu.

Performance: We ran a few tests on the Eee Box to test the performance of it and we can say it performs quite well. The hardware inside isn’t top specced hardware, as can be seen from the price, however it is sufficient and works very well for what it is. It runs the word processor included with the OS (OpenOffice) very well and loads it up quite quickly. This goes for all the OpenOffice software. All other applications such as web browsers, file manager and media players all ran very well on the hardware and the system didn’t struggle with any of it. It even handled running multiple applications quite well for the hardware it was using. We then tested out a well know MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) called Guild Wars. We installed this on the system and ran it with minimum graphics. The game worked perfectly. SO we decided to up-step the graphics, it ran fine. Eventually we ran the game at top graphical mode, with the shadows and shaders turned down as they take up a lot of system resources and the game was working very well at high graphics mode (with the shadows and shaders turned down) with minimal (if any) lag. So the graphics and performance of this system are very adequate for playing mid-level PC games. We at bitcolumns were very impressed by these results.

So in conclusion we thought the Eee Box is a bargain! A very good catch for the money you pay for it. Only £200 for a very small, stylish, whisper-quiet and all-rounder PC that can be used for any day to day task and, as we found out from our tests, can play some mid-range games very competently. This would be recommended to: those of you who don’t use a desktop very much, for example you use a laptop mostly, and just need one as a base unit, to those of you who are very casual PC users and so don’t want to dish our £500+ for a PC, this is perfect and to parents for a child’s first computer, or for a teenagers computer as they are cheap, good build, small and have a decent specification. Overall another satisfying product from ASUS, cheap, stylish and small but best of all simplistic!

Score: 4.5/5

Well there’s the list of bitcolumns’ 10 most essential gadgets for students. If you own/purchase any of the items on this list why not leave a comment and share your views? We’re always happy to see what you think.

Thanks for reading

The reason I originally chose to buy one of these multimedia players was after seeing a friend’s first generation version. Once I got my own I realised just how many features this product includes.
First of all obviously it plays MP3′s, WMA’s, Ogg’s, the usual. It can also, however, play videos and it supports MPEG-4 video playback, WMV, DivX and XviD AVI. The 2G can also display pictures of the JPG format. First the music: The music player itself is very simple and nice, easy to use, easy to learn, and works great. Plain and simple. Though you can expand upon this by choosing the obvious play options – repeat, shuffle etc. The video player is also quite good, and although the screen is of a decent high quality it is only 2.2” big and is only really pleasurable to watch for short periods of time, perhaps to catch up on some Family Guy during class…

The operating system software that comes on the 2G is very easy and nice to use and can be learnt very quickly by anyone. It’s controls are simple and well known to most people who’ve used an MP3/multimedia player before, right is OK/go into the menu, left is go back, up is go up the menu and down is go down. The original theme that comes with the 2G is also rather pleasant and a small but nice detail is the background colour changes depending on the day. The 2G has the basic menu setup of music, pictures, video, now playing and settings, which are all customizable. The 2G also features a digital clock which can be changed to analogue in the settings or using a customized theme.

The obvious new feature of the screen is also the revolutionary D*Click button/screen combination. This is where the screen is more of a faceplate, suspended slightly above the device, and the user clicks on the edges to press the buttons. So for instance, if in the menu I wished to go left I would push down on the left side of the screen/panel and it would then click like a button (also hence the name D*Click, and the name of the device ‘iriver clix’). So, effectively, the buttons themselves are below the panel which is also the screen. And to navigate the user clicks the edges of the screen (It may sound confusing but when you play with it it makes a lot more sense – and in my opinion is really good fun). The screen itself is a new direction for portable multimedia players with it being an AMOLED backlit screen with a resolution of 320×240 (QVGA) and 18-bit colour depth. This means that it uses less power but is often brighter than most usual LCD screens used in portable multimedia devices. However, AMOLED is said to have a lesser lifespan than LCD screens – but the difference is very minimal.

A great thing about the iriver clix 2G is the fact that you can customize literally everything! The theme’s of the 2G can be changed at the users will and, with some software and creativity, the user can even design their own theme for the device – changing fonts, background pictures and icons.

Another good thing about the 2G is that it supports flash games, and there are many websites – if you search about – dedicated to creating games specifically for the iriver clix 2G. There are some great games out there including some card game adaptations, versions of Frogger and some side scrollers as well. If you’re into flash animation as well you can store short flash films within the games section of the player, although one unexplained fault with the system is that if the films are above a certain size they refuse to play.

The 2G has an extra programmable button on the side of it which can be set to do many things including turning off the screen, shuffling all the music and pausing/playing the track etc. The 2G also has a built in radio, which is uses relatively decent radio software, with the option to store radio stations or just scan the airwaves. It has a built in microphone, and usually on small devices the microphones are poor quality but I was quite amazed by how good the recording quality was on this particular device. It then saves the recording straight to the device in MP3 format ready for playback.

The 2G features MTP/UMS transfer, MTP used by Microsoft for transferring data such as photos or music between a computer and a portable device, such as a multimedia player, and UMS being the ability to explore the iriver clix 2G like it were just an external hard drive, enabling dragging and dropping of files in folders (something that cannot be done with an iPod).

The 2G, as most MP3/multimedia players have nowadays, has a built in lithium-ion battery that is charged via USB cable (though a lot of things use the mini USB connection, for example some Motorola phone chargers (such as the RAZR) and this can be used to charge the 2G from a wall socket). The battery life of the player is very good and has been boasted to reach 24 hours of continuous music playback and 5 hours of continuous video playback. Not bad for a portable multimedia player.

The good points about the iriver clix Second Generation:

• Fantastic battery life at 24 hours music playback and 5 hours video playback
• Totally customizable, the menus, fonts, icons and settings
• Doesn’t look half bad – is quite sleek and sexy for a multimedia player
• Drag and drop compatible
• Works very well with Linux (tested on Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron))

The few bad points I’d have to say about this multimedia player are:

So in conclusion I’d have to say that, although the 2G lacks memory in comparison to rival products, it makes up for it with good looks, great features and one hell of a battery life. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants a very decent, very customizable, very small and sleek multimedia player and doesn’t mind sacrificing memory for all those other advantages.

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my review of the iriver clix Second Generation and I hope it has been helpful to you in deciding whether this is a decent multimedia player, or whether you’d rather go with something with more memory, but perhaps isn’t so stylish, or has so many features. Or maybe you’ve found the ultimate multimedia player with all of these attributes…

If you have, we’d like to know!

Nintendo are a well known, well established video games company who’re well over 100 years old. They were at the forefront of video gaming, producing one of the first home entertainment systems, the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). Since their first console back in 1985 Nintendo have been one of the major leaders in video game development, stretching the boundaries of how video games are played and enjoyed over and over again.

This time, with their latest console, the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo have completely smashed the boundaries, allowing players to actually control video games through physical actions using the specially developed technology contained within the controller of the Wii.

Summary of the product

The Nintendo Wii was first released in UK on December 8^th 2006 (USA November 19^th 2006, Japan December 2^nd 2006) at the price of £179 ($249.99, JP¥25,000). So far the product is only available in pearly white, but hopefully multicoloured Wii’s will be available for future purchase.

The console itself is no bigger than a stack of 3 DVD cases and fitting sleekly among your other home entertainment devices or below your television set. It can operate horizontally or vertically, but includes a silver stand to suggest that it looks best vertical, though it’s orientation does not make any difference to the actual hardware. The console simply has a power cable which plugs directly into the wall socket and a multi AV connection (red, white and yellow cables) but also includes a SCART socket connection. Furthermore, the Wii is also backward compatible and is able to play Gamecube games and other Nintendo past console games via an online download shop.

Features

The Wii has a vast array of features, many of them new to most in the gaming world. First of all it features true backward compatibility. Now you may be wondering what true backward compatibility means; simply put, this simply means that the Nintendo Wii can play any Nintendo game ever released. This is thanks to the Nintendo online service, which features a downloads shop where, for a small sum, users can download a past Nintendo game and play it on the Wii using either a Wii or Gamecube controller. The disc drive of the Wii is also capable of playing Gamecube discs, so you can dig out your old Gamecube classics  and play them on the Wii using a Gamecube controller.

The disc tray is self loading, meaning there are no external moving parts and therefore less likely to break than a conventional disc drive. It also features a tasteful blue light glowing around the disc tray when a disc is inserted, when the console is turned on, and when you receive mail via the online service supplied by Nintendo.

The console also features an SD card slot on the front, so that the internal memory may be upgraded by SD card flash memory. In addition, there are two handy USB ports on the back so USB devices can be plugged into the console, for example a charger for the Wii controllers etc.

On the top of the console are two white, hardly visible flaps that hide the 4 Gamecube controller ports and the 2 Gamecube memory card slots enabling the user to play and save Gamecube games on the Wii.

The controller itself, also known as the ‘Wii Mote’ because of its resemblance to a TV remote rather than a conventional game controller, is by far the biggest selling point of the Wii and the main feature of the console. Contained inside this small hand-held device, which is slightly larger than most modern phones, is motion sensing technology, this means that the controller can understand where you move to in relation to a sensor plugged into the Wii. The ‘Wii Mote’ can sense when you move, either left, right, up or down and can also sense how far/close you are to the sensor. The Sensor Bar is a very small black bar that sits on top of or below your television so that the ‘Wii Mote’ can detect where you are in relation to your screen.

Another feature of the controller is a small speaker which produces sounds in relation to certain features within the game, for example if you fire an arrow in Zelda: Twilight Princess, you can hear the arrow leave your bow (‘Wii Mote’) and arrive at the television speakers.

Furthermore, its optimized for pointing and clicking, and shooting games as it features a trigger-style B button on the bottom of the controller.

The controller is lightweight and runs on 2 AA batteries. Nintendo have not yet released an official battery pack charger for the ‘Wii Mote’ yet but there are many unofficial versions available for purchase.

The ‘Wii Mote’ also features a Home button so the user can return to the main Wii menu any time they want to, even during a game, and an off button so the console can be turned off remotely.

The motion sensing capability of the ‘Wii Mote’ means that it’s a step closer to virtual reality; you control what happens within a game by physical movement – you can fish by casting a line with the ‘Wii Mote’ like you would in real life! Or you can fight an epic sword battle as if the ‘Wii Mote’ is your blade. The possibilities are endless!

There is also a Nunchuk attachment which can be plugged into the bottom of the ‘Wii Mote’ and features a joystick, meaning that the controller can be used for looking with a character while the Nunchuk can be used for moving the character.

The console also has an intuitive operating system, featuring online services, called Nintendo 24/7, which allows users to play Wii games online or to browse the web with the Opera web browser. Nintendo have also created mini applications, called channels, such as Weather and News so the user can check out whether it will be sunny…but then stay inside anyway to play the latest Wii titles!

There is also the feature of the loveable Miis, which are small simplified versions of yourself, the player, which can be used in main games as ID’s or used to interact with other Nintendo users. You can design these in the Mii channel to resemble the users’ own appearance.

Advantages

One of the best points of the system is the new and innovative design of controlling games. You are now actually able to draw out your sword and fight that evil baron in a sword fight to the death! Ok, a little exaggerated, but in the future who knows? Games such as Red Steel already feature the idea of using the ‘Wii Mote’ as a sword and a gun. Other games, such as Link’s Crossbow Training including the ‘Wii Zapper’ (a gun adaptation for the ‘Wii Mote’), take this idea further and the ‘Wii Mote’ can be made into an actual physical gun. This new technology is an amazing advantage that the Wii has over the other next generation consoles and makes gameplay that much more enjoyable.

Another advantage of the Wii is the backward compatibility which means you don’t have to dig that dusty old Nintendo 64 out of the loft every time you want to play classic older games. Instead you can easily go online, pay a small sum and download that Nintendo classic that you want to play and you get to keep that game forever after. It also means you don’t have to have a Gamecube and Wii set up at the same time and if like myself, you’ve got a rather nice collection of Gamecube games, you can play them without the hassle of setting up a Gamecube. Better yet, as Gamecube games are currently on the market relatively cheap, this could be your chance to start a classic collection of Gamecube games to play on the Wii.

A minor advantage is that the Wii is very quiet in operation, as well as being very cool and rarely heating up much – making for a cool, quiet game play session. The Wii also comes with a built in wireless connector (inclusive), which for some other consoles is quite expensive to buy.

As well as that there is the debatable attractiveness of the console. In many people’s opinions it is seen as the most visually appealing console and is, unarguably, the smallest of the three ‘Next Generation’ consoles and fits almost anywhere.

Disadvantages

The largest disadvantage of this console is that, technically speaking, it isn’t ‘Next Generation’ but it can be argued that it is in fact more ‘Next Generation’ than either of the other two. The ‘Next Generation’ of gaming is the best in a gaming experience for the user from the newest consoles out on the market. What I am trying to say is that it isn’t ‘Next Generation’ on the basis of hardware – it cannot compete graphically with the power of either the PS3 or the Xbox 360 (in fact it is only slightly more powerful than an Xbox), but readers, do not let this deter you from it! This leads to my other point: it is more ‘Next Generation’ than any of the other consoles because you physically control the game itself with real life physical movements, taking you that one step closer to actually being in the game in virtual reality.

Another disadvantage is the lack of an Official Nintendo Battery Pack Charger for the ‘Wii Mote’, but as mentioned before unofficial versions are available so this is only as minor fault.

There is also the limited amount of memory available. Although game saves don’t take up much space, memory is needed for game downloads, so if you are planning on heavily downloading games from the online Nintendo game store then you may wish to invest in a large SD flash memory card as the 512MB of internal memory will be sufficient enough to hold games saves and most other things, but if you want a lot of downloaded games from the online store you will need to expand memory. Though this will only be the case if you have a large quantity of downloaded games; the regular user probably shouldn’t see the need to buy an SD unless they’re downloading Nintendo 64 games which take up much more memory space than the older Nintendo consoles games.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would have to say that the Wii is a fine piece of technology, giving the user a taste of virtual reality. It makes for hours of fun, whether it be bowling your way to a perfect game, defeating your enemy in an epic sword battle, or watching as your friends and relatives flail about, enjoying themselves with the intuitive control system.

The Wii is a great product with very promising prospects for the future, and many useful features that can be developed and manipulated, giving this console fantastic potential versatility for the future.

This is a console which can be enjoyed by anyone of any age, as Nintendo has intended it to be, whether it’s your Grandma or your 10 year old nephew.

With this control system being so new and intuitive there are many developments just waiting out there in the minds of game creators, making the only limit their imagination! I would highly recommend this console, and only the future can tell what wonders it will produce!

Signing Off

Thanks very much for reading my review of the Nintendo Wii. I hope it has both informed and helped you on the subject of the Nintendo Wii, and in deciding whether it is a worthwhile product or something you’re going to pass by for now.