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Evesham's new Axis PC is possessed of jaw-dropping specifications. It's packed with everything that makes PCs exciting these days, from a thunderously powerful processor to the clever connections that allow you to use other devices in tandem with it seamlessly.
Taking centre stage is AMD's most powerful new processor, the Athlon XP 1900. This is responsible for the impressive number crunching which took this PC through our tests like a hot knife through brandy butter.
It's not quite as hot as you might think, however, because like some other Athlon-based PCs, the 1900 refers not to its actual clock speed, but to its Pentium-equivalent performance. It may be devious, but Athlon's marketing chicanery should not distract you from the genuine power of the Axis' 1.6GHz processor. It's a beast.
Working capably alongside is 512Mb of memory and there's also a free memory slot if you want to add more to this formidable stack. The key benefit of this amount of memory is that it allows the PC to cope with several applications at once without any significant loss of speed.
Another major boon is the vast 100Gb of hard disk space, way over and above what's on offer with most other PCs on the market. It will take a while to fill 100Gb of space but this PC has a mouth-watering array of features to tempt you to do just that.
For a start, the PC is a gamer's dream with its awesome GeForce 3 Titanium 500 graphics card. This brings games to life superbly on the naturally flat 19in CRT monitor from LG, which has a viewable area of 18in.
The PC lends itself equally well to music-related fun. The hard drive will hold huge numbers of MP3 songs, and the Creative SoundBlaster Audigy card and DTT 2200 speakers will do a fine job of playing them all back.
There is also a CD-RW drive, so you can create your own music compilations, transfer files from PC to PC or back up data in case something catastrophic happens to your computer.
If films are more your thing, the DVD-ROM drive allows you to use the screen and sound system for immersive and atmospheric movie watching too.
The FireWire port allows you to connect a camcorder to the PC if you want to sample life on the other side of the camera.
Looking at bundled software, Pinnacle Studio 7 is a neat little video capture and editing programme and Microsoft WorksSuite 2001 is the most comprehensive office package imaginable. As befits a new, high-calibre PC, it comes equipped with Windows XP, which is a promising operating system, although it may cause problems with old software you transfer from your last PC.
In terms of specification, the Axis 1900+ is bombproof. We couldn't find a chink in the armour for even the most determined critic.
However, cash is where Evesham's grand design falls down. £1,643 is a lot of anybody's money and although the components are of a consistently high standard, you're bound to think twice.
The truth is that if you shop around you can get a PC that will do everything the Axis can do - though not with the same aplomb - and save yourself the guts of £500. That's a lot of spare cash.
Contact
Evesham: 0870 160 9500 www.evesham.com
ALSO CONSIDER
Mesh Matrix XP 1800-TI2
An excellent all-round PC at a nice price.
£1,174
*****
Computeractive, Issue 98
See also:
All Desktops
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