We had to laugh when this system arrived into the PC Plus office lacking its Viiv sticker branding. Is Mesh trying to disguise the fact? With all the fuss being made about Core 2 Duo processors, it’s easy to forget that the jury’s still out on Intel’s other recent initiative, which has gathered a reputation of marketing over substance.

After all, the platform technology hasn’t yet delivered quite what we were promised. For instant-on, read never off; for stylish form factors, read toppled tower cases and rebadging aplenty. HP and Packard Bell couldn’t even be bothered to source different cases for their machines. And there’s the rub: Media Center PCs are still light years away from the consumer electronics brilliance of a Sky+ box – surely the long-term target to which manufacturers should aspire. Some machines have impressed – the Hi- Grade mDMS P60 reviewed in issue 243, for example – but this is one.

Platform idiosyncrasies aside, Mesh has produced a system with enough fl air to at least paper over Viiv’s cracks. Based on the AOpen EPC945 barebone system, the halfheight chassis features the doomed Intel 945G Express chipset, here coupled with the equally doomed 3.2GHz Pentium D 940. Obviously, Core 2 Duo is striking the killer blow on the Pentium D in the mainstream desktop market – but that shouldn’t detract potential buyers of Media Center PCs, where hyper processing isn’t a primary need.

Likewise, 1GB of DDR2 and a 300GB hard drive are no longer the stuff of the top echelons, but they suit the purpose here. Any less space on that hard drive, though, and some would call it frugal.

We’re impressed with the acoustics of this system: Viiv PCs need to be quiet, and the 940 CA certainly lives up to the billing, with a barely audible hum. The Intel GMA 950 graphics subsystem might be limited, but should prove enough for most Media Center purposes. If you’re thinking to buy the 940 CA as a general PC for more demanding tasks, though, forget it.

Entertainment king

It’s when you start looking at the ViVa’s entertainment potential that you realise that it’s a serious Media Center PC contender. Dual Freeview tuners (half-height, obviously) from Black Gold mean that you can record the repeats on ITV1 while watching the repeats on ITV3. Providing you can get Freeview, that is. Windows XP’s 2005 Media Center Edition is expected and provided, but it doesn’t look half as good now that we’ve seen the Media Center component of Vista Beta 2.

This Viiv unit’s other bonus is the superb connectivity. There’s even a place for SCART, the best thing to come from France since baguettes. It’s a welcome inclusion in these pre- HDMI times. HDMI is already integrated into some graphics cards, but until it’s teamed up with Vista and both reach Media Centers, it’s of little use. Both D-Sub and DVI outputs are provided, although the barebones doesn’t have DVI by default, so Mesh has added a riser.

The quantity of other outputs is also commendable, with S/PDIF and an array of 3.5mm 7.1-channel surround sockets, adjacent to the multiformat card reader under a door beside the DVD drive. There’s no Wi-Fi present on this machine, but this will only be useful for media centres once 802.11n slides into view. If you want to add wireless, USB is your only route. Two USB ports represent a meagre allocation for the back, but there are additional ports – as well as others for audio and FireWire – underneath a front-panel fl ap that’s a little plasticky.

Indeed, the front of the chassis isn’t to everyone’s taste: aesthetics aren’t this system’s strong point by any means. The lack of style spreads to the provided peripherals. The remote is fine, but the Logitech wireless keyboard is a cheap variant. These won’t stop would-be buyers, but it’s a shame to be disappointed when you’re spending this kind of money: a not unreasonable £750, although there’s no screen factored into the system price.

There’s progress in the ViVa 940 CA. Yes, the form factor still isn’t there, and the finish and overall experience still aren’t what you should expect. But Mesh has made inroads, even if most Viiv units are still miles away from consumer electronics friendliness. For that, the company deserves some applause.