Is this the one-box entertainment solution we've been
waiting for?
Depending on
how you measure it, ASRock's all-in-one CoreHT is smaller than a Mac Mini. Plus
it comes with a built-in Blu-ray drive and front-facing USB B.O ports for other
media. So is this the perfect living room companion for your telly?
It certainly
looks good, in its tiny tin enclosure lacquered in glossy black. Attach a USB
TV card and it's realistically a replacement for most set-top boxes in a
chassis smaller than most Freeview tuners.
The
ASRock CoreHT 252B, then, really is a media box par excellence. The Core
i5 2320M processor also features Intel's higher-end HD3000 graphics tech and
Creative's THX ProStudio audio is built into the slim box.
It seems
flawless: the ultimate NAS box, entertainment device and workstation all in
one. Have we finally found the one-box future of the digital home?
Silence is golden
The more you
prod and push the CoreHT, the more there is to like about it. For the most
part, it’s near silent. The only noisy component is the Blu-ray drive. The tiny
box is power efficient too. The whole system idles at just over 26 watts. At no
point did it consume more than 80 watts. That's a lot of power-hungry technology
you can recycle to make you feel good about your carbon footprint.
Sadly, its
strengths are also its weaknesses. The no-compromise components are right on
the edge of what it's possible to put in a box this size, and they run hot. The
CPU never dropped below 60°C in our tests, and once the Blu-ray fires up or a
CPU-intensive task starts, it’s a furnace in there and the fans kick in.
There's room for an extra hard drive, but you’d think twice before fitting one.
It's noticeably loud, even if it is Red October compared to an older Xbox 360.
More critical,
however, is the price. You'd struggle to build a system like this, but only
because getting hold of a Socket 1155 mini-ITX motherboard and case this small
would take a lot of diligently hunting down.
Doing so
probably wouldn't save you much - all things considered - but at this price,
there are certain things we would expect included. Like an IR receiver, without
which the included remote is so much wasted plastic, or Blu-ray playback
software so you can watch films on your new drive. Critical, you might argue,
but missing from the CoreHT.
More
importantly, you need to supply your own copy of Windows, which takes the total
price to almost $1120. That's a lot of money considering the alternatives out
there.
There are many
good streaming devices for less than $160: an Atom-based media centre is $400,
a Mac Mini is $976 and Core i5 laptops start at $800. Plus internet-enabled
Blu-ray players, TVs and PVR boxes make media centres slightly irrelevant
anyway.
The CoreHT
appeals to almost every one of our senses because it’s a good looking,
do-everything box. But that's not essential enough to justify the price.
Price $1004.8
Manufacturer ASRock
Web www.asrock.com
Product code CoreHT
252B-4G50/B
CPU Intel Core 15 2520M
RAM 4GBDDR3
Storage 500GB HDD
Optical drive Blu-ray
Dimensions 195 x 180 x 70mm
