4GB DDR2
320GB
DVD±RW
Integrated 25.5-inch LCD
Integrated Intel GMA X4500
Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit)
Traditionally, the trade-off for buying an all-in-one desktop like the Apple iMac or our recent favorite, the Lenovo ThinkCentre A600, is that it typically costs hundreds of dollars more than comparable hardware in a typical tower with a separate LCD. For many, that added cost is well worth the convenience and aesthetic, space-saving pleasure of having your whole computer neatly boxed up behind your LCD. But with the Averatec D1200 25.5-Inch All-In-One PC, we're pleased to report the price is very reasonable.
In fact, we priced the parts from our favorite online outlet, and found it almost impossible to build a desktop system with the D1200's specs (including a 25.5-inch, 1,920x1,200 monitor, 2.5GHz Pentium Dual Core E5200 processor, 4GB of RAM, a digital TV tuner with remote, and a 320GB, 7,200rpm hard drive) for under $900. There's definitely room for improvement with the D1200, and we lament the fact that there's no Blu-ray-drive option to show off the large 1080p-capable screen to its best advantage. But if you're looking for an all-in-one PC for around $1,000 that also does double duty as an HDTV, this is the best choice on the market today.
We prefer the design of Lenovo's ThinkCentre A600 to the Averatec D1200's comparatively boring piano-black look. But the ThinkCentre A600 has a smaller 21.5-inch screen, and the $999 configuration ships with a slower processor, no TV tuner or remote, and a wired keyboard and mouse set, while the D1200 ships with all-wireless peripherals, though the keyboard's a bit of a clunker.
The other all-in-one PC to get a fair amount of press lately is the Dell Studio One 19. That system has a touch screen (which we didn't find all that useful), but it doesn't have an integrated TV tuner. And while you can configure a Studio One 19 with a wireless keyboard and mouse (and a faster Core 2 Duo processor) for about $1,000, its screen is much smaller at just 18.5 inches, and its resolution is too low to support 1080p content.
Then again, because there's no Blu-ray drive (or even an upgrade option), it isn't exactly easy to get 1080p content onto this machine (legally, anyway), as over-the-air HD content is broadcast in lower-quality 720p or 1080i. We did view a few 1080 trailers on the D1200; the system had no problems playing the files, and the screen looked great displaying them. Annoyingly, although there is a DVI connector on the back of the back of the D1200, it's an "out" port for connecting an external monitor, not an "in" port for hooking up an external video device. We really wish makers of all-in-ones with HD screens would add an HDMI port so the screen could be connected to an HD gaming console or an external Blu-ray player. That would make something like the D1200 the ultimate dorm-room or bedroom PC, but sadly we haven't seen a single all-in-one with an HD input.
There are a fair amount of other ports on the Averatec D1200, though. Along the right side, below the standard slot-loading DVD-recordable drive, reside headphone and microphone jacks, an MMC/SD/Memory Stick card reader, a standard USB port, and a nifty USB/eSATA port that we don't often see on anything other than laptops. Around the back, you'll find additional headphone and mic jacks (along with line-in), S/PDIF (digital audio out), a Gigabit Ethernet port (802.11n Wi-Fi is also included), a DVI port (in case 25.5 inches of screen real estate isn't enough), four more USB ports, the coaxial connection for the integrated ATSC digital TV tuner, and a pinhole button to pair up the wireless mouse and keyboard. There are also three fans at the back, which seemed to keep the system from getting too hot during testing, though that might change if you position the D1200 into a cramped entertainment center.