Final thoughts and rating
The PowerGlide Extreme's ability to impress in certain areas and fall short in others provides more question marks than answers.
There's an incredible amount of power on offer from a £1,249 all-in-one machine, and PC Specialist can rightly proclaim that it has high-end gaming capabilities, but this attractive performance does introduce a few inevitable drawbacks from a first-gen design.
For an all-in-one machine, the PowerGlide Extreme isn't going to be everybody's idea of sleek - it's fat around the middle and competing in an increasingly-thin marketplace - and in having to use three external power bricks, it's a bit messy on the cable front, too.
Using a thick chassis that's geared toward performance rather than Apple-like polish has enabled the implementation of some impressive hardware, which can be configured to your heart's content, but those very components can make this an all-in-one system that's somewhat noisy.
These provisos detract from the overall package, but the idea of a powerful all-in-one PC remains full of promise. With a little work, and perhaps a single-slot GeForce GTX 670, if possible, we see no reason for there not to be a follow-up model that's thinner, quieter and more attractively designed.
Bottom line: With Microsoft's touchy-feely Windows 8 operating system now just around the corner, the time's right for a high-end all-in-one PC. PC Specialist's PowerGlide Extreme may be a harbinger of things to come. All in all, a good stab at a truly gamer-orientated AIO PC.
The Good
Perhaps the fastest all-in-one PC around
Uses hybrid NVIDIA Optimus graphics
Plays all the latest games
Easily upgradeable
The Bad
Gets noisy under load
Not the best-looking all-in-one solution
Requires three external power bricks
HEXUS Rating
PC Specialist PowerGlide Extreme
HEXUS Awards
PC Specialist PowerGlide Extreme
HEXUS Where2Buy
The PowerGlide Extreme all-in-one PC is available to purchase from PC Specialist.
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