Tek Panel 300

Review:
It's products like these that make me wish I had done something during the Internet boom to make me become a multi-millionaire.

The Tek Panel 300 defines the word convergence -- it merges a 30-inch flat panel LCD monitor with a computer and DVD player (and TV) all into one base unit.

The unit packs a powerful Intel Pentium 4 processor into its 5-inch thick base unit, which can be mounted on a wall or attached to two metal 'legs' for viewing on a desk or table or stereo cabinet. The Tek Panel 300 has plenty of inputs, including a cable TV feed, Ethernet port, RCA jacks (perfect for connecting your Xbox or PS2), and digital video inputs. In fact, the device came already connected by a DV-I cable, which made the screen incredibly sharp, bright and colorful.

A graphics card from ATI Radeon gives the computer a leg up on graphics-related applications. For installing applications or watching DVDs, a combination DVD-ROM/CD-RW drive opens and closes to the side of the panel. If you connect the device to your cable TV feed (you can also connect a satellite hookup to it), the device has a digital video recorder (like a TiVo), and a TV tuner that can store up to 125 channels. A third-party wireless mouse and keyboard means that you can eliminate some of the cables from the system. Finally, there's a Bose Multimedia System which includes two speakers (we just took our 5.1 speaker system and attached it to the audio ports).

Setting up some of the connections can become difficult, the instructions were a little on the light side regarding setting up some of the audio/video connections. In addition, several editors questioned where a person would put this in their house. If mainly used as a computer, they felt the large size of the 30-inch monitor prevented one from sitting really close to the screen, which you would have to do in order to Web surf or type a letter. For watching movies or TV, it seems that you would want to be sitting farther away from the screen.

Still, if you can afford to spend the $6,500 plus to get one of these devices, then figuring out the best place to put it in your house will probably be a minor concern.

Reviewed by Keith Shaw