A black aluminum case with a concave front makes the CyberPower Media Center PC Limited Edition resemble an oversize CD player--not a bad impression for a system to convey when it has living-room ambitions. Measuring 6.75 inches tall, 16.75 inches wide, and 16.25 inches long, it shares this look with the IBuyPower Media-XP. On the front, a couple of inconspicuous spring-loaded panels conceal two of the unit's six USB ports, a multiformat DVD burner stacked atop a separate 16X DVD-ROM drive, and a seven-in-one memory card reader. The rear holds numerous standard PC and audio/video-in and -out connections.
Besides blending nicely with other components, the CyberPower handled Media Center applications with aplomb. Aided in our speed tests by a 3.4-GHz Pentium 4 550 processor and 1GB of RAM, the Limited Edition missed this roundup's median mark by only 2 percent, with a WorldBench 5 score of 88. We found that the TV and FM tuners worked well. This PC was one of the few in the group to provide quick FM tuning and a basic antenna, which you'll need to pick up radio signals. Only a couple of seconds elapsed between seeks, making the task of browsing stations a lot less painful than on most of the other entertainment PCs we tested.
The only major problem with placing the CyberPower in your living room: its noise level. Use it there, and others within earshot may find the loud fans annoying.
The system's reasonable $1769 price covers a 17-inch New Universe QL-711V LCD monitor, two optical drives, and a floppy drive.
The CyberPower's black aluminum case looks great in a living room, but its loud fans will make you think twice before installing this otherwise competent system there.
Carla Thornton
