Gaming, power, noise, and usage
| Laptop - ET:QW - medium quality - 1,024x768 | |
|---|---|
| Scan 3XS ION | Acer Timeline 5810 (mains) |
| 20.2 | 3.44 |
The GeForce 9400M graphics component of ION would be embarrassed by any discrete mid-range graphics card, but it can produce barely playable frame-rates at 1,024x768. Talking of embarrassment, the Intel X4500 MHD in the Timeline is just pitiful.
| Power consumption - idle | |
|---|---|
| Scan 3XS ION | Acer Timeline 5810 (mains) |
| 29 | 11 |
The entire ION system consumes around 30W when idling. Acer, on the other hand, has managed to reduce that to just 11W - including screen, obviously - on the Timeline, highlighting how it's been possible to have a purported eight-hour battery life.
| Power consumption - load (3D) | |
|---|---|
| Scan 3XS ION | Acer Timeline 5810 (mains) |
| 36 | 22 |
ION's power-draw doesn't rise much as we run the gaming benchmark, and 36W can be considered good for a mid-range system, yet it's still put in the shade by the notebook.
Noise
The system's pretty quiet at all times. The only real noise comes from the fan on top of the large heatsink on the motherboard. The hard drive is the other aural source and the seeking can be noticeable from a few feet away, but not any more so than the Sky+ HD box next to it. Lastly, the Blu-ray optical drive is fairly quiet when playing movies and the system's noise would only irk folks who crave silence.
Usage
A Windows Vista-based PC is easy to use but the software is such that it's never going to be a perfect HTPC base. Moving from remote to trusty keyboard and mouse is almost a must, so we'd advice Scan to throw in a couple of wireless HIDs into the package.
Blu-ray performance is good but, subjectively speaking, the colours and sharpness portrayed on the Sony 46W4500 1080p TV are not as good as from the standalone Sony BDPS-350 player (£140).
The TV tuner works well enough but it requires the use of a USB port, taking away the use of one from the rear. It also costs £50 and that money would go some way towards a cheap-ish standalone PVR.
