ASUS Asteio D22 DAV is one of the newest systems intended for the Media Center market. DAV is short for ‘Digital Audio Video’ and pretty much says it all; it supplies users with digital audio and video of the highest quality. ASUS has relied on Intel’s Viiv platform which is a technical specification for what hardware and software needed for a computer to act as a multimedia hub. Another important aspect is the support for the HDMI interface which makes it possible to connect Asteio D22 DAV to the latest displays such as LCD, Plasma or perhaps even a projector.
The Viiv platform is no poor foundation when it comes to the hardware and in Asteio we find a Core 2 Duo E6300 processor which with its low heat dissipation and dual cores should work perfect inside a Media Center. The graphics card is based on GeForce 7600GS and this means you should be able to play games as well, which many would consider a big advantage. The remaining specifications reveal 1GB DDR2-SDRAM, 16X DVD multi unit, 13-i-1 card reader, Gigabit Ethernet and wireless network (802.11b/g). The storage is a SATA2 harddrive with 250GB capacity and that sounds a bit weak considering how much they push for the system’s TV recording functions. Something that takes up a lot of space, about 1GB per hour.
Speaking of TV functions, ASUS claims that its new system support both analog and digital broadcasts. Asteio comes with a dual-channel TV tuner but we’re not certain if it is able to handle digital broadcasts or just analog.
The noise is very important with a Media Center PC and ASUS’ Tranquiller technology will make sure to keep the noise down through advanced fan control and controlling the optical unit’s speed.
ASUS ships it Media Center system with a wireless keyboard which use radio technology with up to 9 meters range and has integrated a touch pad on the keyboard. But for the real Media Center feeling ASUS has also included an MCE remote. Overall it seems like a nice package solution for those who wants a ready done deal.
