ViewSonic VPC100 AIO PC review

PCs with small form factors have become quite popular,
possibly due to the fact that people don't really have space for those huge
desktop PCs at home. The AIO from Viewsonic is the perfect fit because it fits
in all the necessary components in a form factor that is akin to an LCD
television. The 19” viewing real estate offers excellent viewing angles and good
color reproduction. This has an Intel Atom N270 processor clocking at 1.6GHz
along with 1GB RAM. Since it comes with Windows XP pre-installed and has a power
configuration similar to that of a netbook, the 1GB is not really a problem.
However, multitasking will definitely need another gig of RAM. A PCMark score of
1516 means that you can use this PC to do your regular PC usage stuff without
the risk of it slowing down or freezing.

Data storage is done on a 2.5 inch 160GB hard drive and
there are the usual connectivity options like Ethernet and wireless LAN. Also it
has a slot load DVD drive, 4 USB ports, a 4-in-1 card reader as well as a
webcam. In terms of ergonomics, just consider this as a 19” LCD TV and place it
like that at home. There are no separate boxes of hardware to attach to this.

The only niggle I have with this is the underpowered
configuration. Even though the PCMark score indicates that the VPC100 will
perform well under standard PC use -web browsing, document editing, movies and
music etc, but start working on Photoshop and you may not have a great time.
This is because of the integrated graphics.

Bottomline: For multimedia and normal PC use, this
is the perfect fit. However, if you want to play 3D games or do other graphics
intensive work, it  may not be the best deal.

Vishal Mathur