IBuyPower Media-XP System

The IBuypower Media-XP is very similar to the January 2005 roundup's CyberPower Media Center PC, with a few minor differences. Both are big, attractive black boxes with concave fronts. Though a bit chunky, either would look good in a wall unit, provided that you can spare a shelf at least 6.75 inches tall, 16.75 inches wide, and 16.25 inches deep, plus breathing room. The Media-XP we tested, however, lacked the second optical drive, the floppy drive, and the superior radio tuner of the CyberPower model.

Nonetheless, the Media-XP offers a few advantages. For one thing, it's a quieter machine, an important consideration for the living room. In our speed tests, the Media-XP enjoyed a slight performance edge, too, turning in a WorldBench 5 score of 92, compared with the CyberPower PC's score of 88. The system is nicely designed, with two spring-loaded front panels concealing a seven-in-one memory card reader, a multiformat DVD burner, and two of the PC's six USB ports. The case's rear provides in and out connections for video and audio equipment.

Our $2247 test PC came with a 19-inch ViewSonic Q190mb flat-panel monitor, plus a ViewSonic multimedia keyboard and optical mouse--all fine peripherals. We enjoyed the Creative Inspire P7800 7.1 surround-sound speakers and subwoofer, as well.

Upshot: Quiet and great-looking, this black-aluminum PC could pass for a stereo component, but it lacks the extras that would propel it to the top of our chart.

Carla Thornton