Elonex Exentia...A computer virgin's guide... (Other Elonex...)

Member Name: clairmay

Product:	Other Elonex...
Date:	02/12/05 (669 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Everything in one place.

Disadvantages: No instructions!

I am taking baby steps into the world of computers. So when I saw the Elonex eXentia I thought this should be easy, after all there is only a screen, a keyboard, and a mouse, How difficult can that be?. As it happens not very,

I am going to try to tell everyone, in simple english, the good and the bad points of this computer, but please forgive me for not knowing the technical jargon,

This computer is very stylish it has a silver case housing a TFT screen which measures 22cms depth and 37cms width, or for oldies like me 8 3/4" by 14 3/4" The entire screen including the case measures 54cms or 21 1/4" Wide and 31cms or 12 1/4" deep, This includes twin speakers housed alongside the screen measuring 82mm 3 1/4" in width, The keyboard also silver is a conventional size, and it has a remote mouse (no wire) also in silver. There is no tower, everything is housed at the back of the screen, which is very heavy, and extends 23cms or 9" back. from the screen, The whole thing stands on a silver oval shaped plinth which measures 36cms or 14" wide by 19cms or 7 1/2" deep. 3.0GHz
On the right of the screen is the CD drawer, On the left of the screen is a place where you can put your memory cards, I seem to have acquired numerous of these, My Camcorder, My Digital camera, My Mobile phone, Etc... There is a slot for most cards, Handy if, like me, you dont really know what you are doing!

I bought this computer from QVC for £1200.00 this included a nice man called John, who came and set everything up for me.I have been onto the net for other prices, and there is quite a variety, The most expensive at £2113.82 to the most reasonable £1100.98 @ Digi uk, but I cant find out if there is a nice man called John who sets it up for you. maybe that was just a QVC package.

This is the bit I have been dreading, The technical stuff.......
Pentium 4 processor (HyperThreading)
512Mb DDR RAM
200Gb Hard Drive
DVD±R/RW and CDRW Optical Drive
128Mb ATi Radeon 9600 3D Graphics
17" Widescreen Display with 1280 x 768 Resolution
Windows Media Centre Operating System with Remote Control
Built-in Memory Card Reader (all types)
2.1 Stereo Sound (including subwoofer)
5 x USB 2.0 / Firewire / InfraRed
Intel 10/100 Networking and & 802.11b Wireless LAN (Wifi)
3 Years Warranty On-Site
The above could be KLINGON (startrek fans take note) because I dont understand any of it! I only know I LOVE this computer...

This computer has been my constant companion (Does that make me a nerd?) since it was delivered, and I havent had any problems, well not really, The big selling point for me was I could watch TV on it and record my beloved soaps, as many as I want onto a hard drive (No tapes Whahooooo) and play them back when I want, so holidays are not a problem, no more trying to decide what to tape, and what to miss, because my video recorder only does 8 progs, now I record everything, although I did have a small problem, We have quite bad reception in our area, and through the computer it was even worse, but the problem was solved by 'John', who sent his young assistant (Brad) off to buy a signal booster £12.99, from a TV spares shop. I presume you could get one of these from any local DIY store, B&Q? and hey presto, it worked beautifully, (TV Heaven)....I have been told that I can record movies to DVD, but as I dont have a DVD player its not really much use, But I can watch DVDs because its plays them, I can also listen to my fav CDs whilst Im smurffing the net, This computer also comes with radio stations, and now my son has put in my favs (all Digital), I can also listen to the radio, Crystal clear reception. apparently I can download music to 'Burn?' to CD, dont know how to do that yet, but Im going to learn....

The only thing I can find wrong with this computer is the instruction book, there isnt one, You are supposed to log on and download it, so you can print it out, except I dont have a printer and when the screen goes blank, how do I log on, to find out how to put it right, that brings me to the support team who are brill, I had heard how bad it was to get advice from telephone support teams, So, with trepidation I made my way to the phone , it took me about 2 mins to get through to a HUMAN!, who asked me my phone number told me to put the phone down, and rang me back immediately, How Good is that?, the problem was solved in seconds, apparently my computer had gone into sleep mode? and a simple click of the mouse woke it up, (DUH). That is the only time I have had to ring for help, (She says, crossing her fingers)

As this is my first computer, I dont have anything to compare it to, so I have asked my son to give a Critique, When asked what he thought, his answer was 'AWESOME', I explained that wasent really helpful to someone who was going to buy one, So he went on to say, ' Shedloads of storage space, Supersonic speed, Instant upgrades, and record TV while working on something else', When I asked him what the drawbacks were, He said,
' If something goes wrong with my computer, I can remove the offending part and send it in to be repaired, if something goes wrong with yours all of it has to go, because everything is housed at the back of the screen, instead of in a tower'. I never thought about that, (howerver Im almost possitive 'John' would come to me to fix it).

So to sum up, Would I still buy this computer, In a heartbeat. its the best thing I have ever bought

Summary: Easy to use. All housed in a beautiful sleek box...

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