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Artwork: Rick Rizner, John Goddard
Polywell MiniBox
| WorldBench 5: Performance word scores reflect comparisons of PCs in the same category (power or value) running the same operating system. See Your Guide to the Top 100 for more details. | Very Good: 93 (Windows XP Home) |
| Base configuration | Very Good |
| CPU | 2-GHz Athlon 64 3000+ |
| System memory | 512MB of DDR400 SDRAM |
| Hard drive (GB): Total capacity. May represent multiple hard drives. | 160GB (RAID) |
| Monitor size and model | 19-inch AOC 9Klr CRT |
| Graphics: Most integrated graphics systems use the PC's main RAM. | 128MB ChainTech SA5900X |
| Case type: Vertical cases are towers (over 20 inches), midsize towers (15.5 to 20 inches), or minitowers (under 15.5 inches). Horizontal cases are desktops (5 inches or taller) or compacts (under 5 inches). | Compact |
| Open bays, slots | 1 internal bay, 2 slots |
| Extra features | Good |
| Removable-media drives | 12X DVD±RW drive, media-card reader |
| Sound card | Integrated audio |
| Speakers | AOpen MS805-B |
| Communications | Network adapter, six USB 2.0 ports, two FireWire ports |
| Software | None |
| Other | N/A |
| Graphics quality: Based on new testing begun in the November 2002 issue. Insufficient data for systems tested in previous months. | Outstanding |
| Setup and ease of use | Good |
| Vendor's reliability/service: A vendor's score is based on surveys of PC World readers. Vendors receiving insufficient data scores did not generate enough responses to our most recent survey for us to make a determination. | Insufficient data |
| : Lifetime refers to the lifetime of the product. | Three-year parts, five-year labor warranty; lifetime 24-hour weekday, 4-hour Saturday toll-free support. Support hours reduced to 8 hours weekdays, 4 hours Saturday after one year. |
Polywell Mini-Box 900VX-3000
MiniBox Review, by Victor R. Garza August 23, 2004
The Polywell Mini-Box 900VX-3000 is a small PC, but it gets the job done, offering enough performance for casual gaming, e-mail, and Web browsing.
The Shuttle-style case is less than 8 inches high. Its front houses a single 12X multiformat rewritable DVD drive; a media-card reader that can read CompactFlash, Secure Digital, and SmartMedia cards; one FireWire port; two USB 2.0 ports; and headphone and microphone audio connectors. Despite the system's diminutive size, the back of the case offers a standard selection of legacy ports plus one FireWire port, four USB ports, and 10/100 ethernet.
The Mini-Box 900VX-3000 has a 2-GHz Athlon 64 3000+ CPU and 512MB of DDR400 RAM.Its score of 93 on our new WorldBench 5 tests placed it among the top-performing value systems we've tested. Its 80GB hard drive is smaller than some we've seen in value systems, but large enough for general-purpose computing needs.
Predictably, the Mini-Box's expansion options are limited. Though there are two open PCI slots and one open drive bay, the included ChainTech SA5900X graphics card partially obstructs access to one of the two free PCI slots, and filling the free drive bay blocks them both. Working inside the case is cramped and difficult, though the ability to take off both sides of the case makes matters somewhat easier.
The AOpen MS-805B 2.1 speakers produced adequate sound, but we did hear some hissing during music playback at low volume. The 19-inch AOC 9KLR CRT monitor handled our DVD movie and text tests well, but photo screens looked a tad dark. Though the Labtec wireless keyboard was comfortable to type with, it and the wired mouse contributed to our sense that the system felt thrown together. Polywell included manuals for the components, but no overall system manual.
Upshot: The Mini-Box 900VX-3000 assembles a lot of features in a package that would fit well in a small office space.
Victor R. Garza
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