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Review: Scan 3XS NVIDIA ION system: Atom in a £700 system?

by Tarinder Sandhu on 23 June 2009, 13:27 3.35

Tags: Scan 3XS ION, SCAN

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qasp5

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Final thoughts and rating

Scan has chosen to launch an HTPC-based system with NVIDIA's ION platform - Intel Atom chip and GeForce 9400M graphics - taking centre stage. Housed in a reasonable-looking chassis, the specification is strong, with ZOTAC's all-in-one, feature-rich motherboard, a 1TB hard drive, 4GB DDR2, TV tuner, and Blu-ray drive. The system seeks to be all things to all people and gets most things right.


Our performance numbers show that the dual-core Atom N330's performance is still some way off a Core 2 CULV's and there's no getting around that, especially as some tasks cannot yet be palmed off to the GPU, including accelerating Flash. This is the kind of system would benefit from a little more poke in the form of a CULV SU9400 chip, or similar.

When the GeForce 9400M does come out to play it makes a good fist of general movie and Blu-ray decoding, as well as basic gaming, managing 20fps in Enemy Territory at 1,024x768. However, the choice of motherboard precludes the addition of a discrete card, meaning the specification is relatively fixed.

As good as Scan's integration and attention to detail is, we find it hard to justify an ION-based system that costs over £700. Sure, you can reduce the cost by £200 or so by removing the Blu-ray drive, TV tuner, and software, but that takes away much of the attractiveness. As a comparison, you can purchase a Core 2 Duo/Blu-ray/GeForce laptops for less money and use it for the same purpose, and the Acer Revo, albeit a far lower configuration, for £250.

Ultimately, we see the Scan 3XS ION as a case of Marmite: you will either love it or consider it pointlessly expensive. We like most things other than the price, and should it come down by at least £150 then it becomes a better bet. As it stands, a £700-plus mini-ITX base unit could do with a low-power Core 2 Duo chip instead of Atom, together with the possibiilty of augmenting graphics with a discrete card. Standalone ION doesn't cut it at this price.

HEXUS Rating

We consider any product score above '50%' as a safe buy. The higher the score, the higher the recommendation from HEXUS to buy. Simple, straightforward buying advice.

The rating is given in relation to the category the component competes in, therefore the ION platform is evaluated with respect to our  'high-end' criteria.

67%

Scan 3XS ION

 

HEXUS Awards

Expensive it certainly is, yet it fits in so well in the living room.



Recommended

Scan 3XS ION

HEXUS Where2Buy

The Scan 3XS ION system, as reviewed, is available for £722, including VAT and delivery.

HEXUS Right2Reply

At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.



HEXUS Forums :: 27 Comments

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As hinted at in the article, a low power LGA 775 chip with a Zotac-9300 Mini-Itx Wifi gives the same features at minimal price increase.
Errrr, what else can I buy with £700?
what would a 320GB/2GB/DVDRW/no-os specced one set you back? just for comparisons sake?
MadduckUK
what would a 320GB/2GB/DVDRW/no-os specced one set you back? just for comparisons sake?

Around £500, I believe. Scan is putting together a bunch of configurations right now, and I'll link to them once live.
£700 for an HTPC with Atom? No thanks.

I'm intending to build an HTPC soon, but for more like £300-400 - and I still wouldn't want an Atom over a Core 2.