CONNECTIVITY OPTIONS
Taking a closer look at the back of the T7 reveals a whole host of connectivity options, including VGA, DVI and of course HDMI for the best viewing experience possible. There are also 4 USB ports and an eSATA port for additional expansion possibilities.
GETTING STARTED WITH THE T7
The T7 is quite small – as you can see below with it next to my iPhone for comparison. So it should easily fit into your current home entertainment setup.
There is also an optional Vesta TV Bracket you can buy so that you can fit the T7 to the back of your TV to keep it out of the way, however doing so would make it impossible to use the remote control and so you would need to look at buying a separate IR blaster and put it somewhere in line of the TV, but that isn’t difficult. Although I would say that the T7 is a little heavy and so you may want to check that your TV could handle the weight. The bracket can also be purchased from Tranquil for £26.00 plus VAT.
Connecting the T7 to power, the TV and screwing in the wireless aerial took only a few seconds, then pressing the power button on the front started it up.
The first thing I noticed was just how quiet it actually was. I often read “near silent” or “very quiet” on different websites and am often disappointed that they are not actually that quiet, but that certainly isn’t the case here. And for the purposes of testing the noise output I sat right next to the T7 and it was quiet – now imagine sitting the other side of the room and having sound coming from the TV – you will not hear it. In fact, as an aside, I forgot to switch it off the other night and only realised it was still running when I noticed the blue light on the front the following morning – certainly not the case with my existing Sony Media Center!
When Windows finished loading, which was pretty quick, I was very happy to see that all the configuring has been done by Tranquil, including all the Windows updates up to a few days before it was sent – this was a nice touch as it meant I didn’t have to spend ages downloading updates and patches before being able to use the computer. Also, the initial configuration of Media Center had been taken care of. All I had to do was join my wireless network which only took a few seconds.
The only thing missing from the whole setup and pre-configuration from Tranquil was anti-virus software. If this had been there then a user wouldn’t have any worries at all. All I did was download and install Microsoft Security Essentials, which didn’t take very long.
I have also discussed this point with Tranquil and I believe for future shipments they will be looking at including SE with it – obviously you are free to remove it and use whatever you want, but it’s one less thing to have to do.
USING THE T7
So with all that done I thought I would run a few tests on the T7.
The first thing I did was to check out the Windows Experience Index – I got a score of 3.3 – the lowest figure being that of the processor.
I also wanted to see more about the hardware:
And I ran some tests using PassMark.
So all in all, not bad!
I have been waiting for more info on this unit, thank you!
I'm a bit surprised it's shipped with Windows 7 Home Premium, which is not able to host Remote Desktop sessions. I imagine configuration is easier via RD once the unit is fitted on the wall or on the tv. Do you know if it's possible to have it shipped with Windows 7 Pro?
Thanks
Paul
Paul
No, it only ships with Home Premium.
However you could perform an anytime upgrade to Pro, or there are "hacks" to get RD to work (just do a search on google)
Andrew
Perhaps an easier solution, as I use, is the free logmein.com rdc – simple, and runs through the internet 🙂
Allright, thanks for the quick answers guys. I will have a look at the logmein.com solution.
Cool – if not the "hack" is very simple and works great.
Andrew
Thanks for the review. Good to see how responsive Tranquil are to your suggestions.
Do you have any view on whether it would be worth the upgrade to 4GB Ram for
Hi Rowan
Re the memory, to be honest if you just going to watch stuff and record stuff, then you can probably get away with 2GB – thats what I have in my main Sony MC right now.
As for the SSD, I'm not really sure it's needed. I have an SSD in my main computer running the OS drive and its certainly faster, but Im not sure you would get a great deal of benefit of using one on a MC box.
Andrew
Whilst its a great bit of kit It surly cannot be a media centre as there is no tuners or DVD/Blueray. Plus its way to expensive
I bought a stock Acer 1300 mid size pc
Fitted a Sat DVB-s2 Card, Twin Usb DVB-t Stick added the windows remote
All for
Hi Ern
I agree that the T7 is expensive without those items, but it is still a media center. Media Center after all is the software as well, and it all depends on what you want to use it for.
Obviously if you do want to watch BR discs and live tv, then you would need to spend more money, which makes it even more expensive.
Personally I would wait for one of the new ixL machines as they look fantastic. I should be getting my hands on one in the next week.
Andrew