Mesiro Merium media PC has sleek, sexy down pat

Those on the hunt for a pre-fabricated HTPC can't complain about a lack of choices these days, but if you've yet to be taken aback by anything out there, why not give Mesiro's Merium a glance? The standout feature here isn't the 1.66GHz Core 2 Duo T5500 processor, 250GB internal HDD, dual-layer DVD burner, GMA950 graphics accelerator, WiFi, 5-in-1 multicard reader or the bundled MCE remote -- oh no, it's the interchangeable chassis covers (weird, right?). Yep, you can swap out the covers on this rig whenever you feel the urge, ensuring that there's a case for every occasion. Unfortunately, those in America who'd like to get in on this won't appreciate the €999 ($1,578) price tag, and those €55 ($87) faceplates aren't any easier to swallow.

[Via MoCo Loco]

[Blaine Oliver @ Mar 29th 2008 9:27AM]

The maturity of the people who comment on here is of a high class...

[Blaine Oliver @ Mar 29th 2008 10:29AM]

Edit: previous comments were deleted before someone comments me for being an idiot... As for the price of seperate designs, why not make a printable one so some real art can go on the side?

[TubeTop100.com @ Mar 29th 2008 10:30AM]

I love all those random Photoshop brush designs(made using an internet tutorial by a twelve year old) they put on everything these days.

[Michael LaFramboise @ Mar 29th 2008 10:27AM]

Yeah, pretty aren't they :)

If not, hell - I hear this 'choice' is all the rage these days... you know the thing where no-one is forcing you to buy anything?

[TubeTop100.com @ Mar 29th 2008 10:30AM]

Are you serious?

Nobody's forcing me to buy anything? Wow. Didn't know that. Now I already ordered three of those.

[ethana2 @ Mar 30th 2008 2:40AM]

So how many OS options does this thing have again?

[engadget @ Mar 29th 2008 10:40AM]

So, let's see ... in upright vertical position, all device slots are on the top of the unit -- nice dust collectors. Hmm, they didn't think that one through too well.

[UKNigel @ Mar 29th 2008 1:35PM]

Just blow into the cartridge to clean it, that should fix all your problems.

[ethana2 @ Mar 30th 2008 2:41AM]

You mean the folder with all the .smc files?

[thelittleleaguecoach.com @ Mar 29th 2008 11:07AM]

This does seem a bit expensive doesn't it?

[ScareyJ @ Mar 29th 2008 1:17PM]

It seems expensive to me ... for less than $1500, you can buy a Dell Vista Media Center with dual cablecard tuners and a quad core processor. It's not as compact and pretty like this, but thats a lot of function lost in exchange for it.

[Pepsilover69 @ Mar 29th 2008 11:18AM]

These design look very good other than just a clear side PC with LED lighting..

[SimonRichards @ Mar 29th 2008 11:40AM]

The design that was once unique is now generic and boring. Im talking about that black squiggle thing on the side, its everywhere in one form or another.

And thats a hell of a lot of money for what is essentially a laptop without an attached screen or the same portability.

[Aendy @ Mar 29th 2008 11:45AM]

looks more like furniture than a computer..

[ethana2 @ Mar 30th 2008 2:42AM]

...putting them in direct competition with Apple.

[mymaclife @ Mar 29th 2008 12:00PM]

Nice table lamp - where does the bulb go?

[ethana2 @ Mar 30th 2008 2:42AM]

Uses LED's only, sorry.

[Barbaric @ Mar 29th 2008 12:00PM]

At least no one is calling it an Apple rip off because its white! Cause you know, depending on who comments here, Apple invented white.

I'm just shocked I read five posts and none said "can it: play doom; blend; be welcomed as an overlord... blah blah blah"

guess those guys take Saturdays off!

[mymaclife @ Mar 29th 2008 1:10PM]

What a fucking Apple rip-off it is. It's white, has some silver parts and you plug it in. As soon as Apple come up with a great idea this things appear. It looks just like a Mini, IMac G5, or a Pink Ipod Shuffle (if you squint), come on other manufacturers stop copying Apple!

PS: Put a touch screen on it and a silver rim and it would also be an Iphone rip-off! Bastards!

[Reader @ Mar 29th 2008 4:00PM]

If anything, it's a Zune ripoff. Look at that art, same thing they put on the back of Zunes for 10 bucks extra...


Really feel like I should mention this is sarcasm.

[ethana2 @ Mar 30th 2008 2:48AM]

Apple did some things right from technical standpoints. They ripped of BSD. They transformed KHTML. They advanced PPC. (Death to x86!) They realized that black against white happened to be good contrast. They knew people liked shiny compositing and simplicity...

...and then they went all control freak evil on us. OSX still hasn't been released from its apple branded cage into the real world. The iPhone only works on selected networks, iTunes DRM only works with their products.. So they had their place in history, certainly. But they do not, have not, and never will have a place on my machine nor in my home.

[KADKING @ Mar 29th 2008 12:59PM]

Want variety and low cost...visit your local home store and shop the Contact Paper aisle. Works on any box new or old, and even laptops, for just a few $ a time. You can go from butcher-block to marble or any graphic pattern you want in just minutes.

[retro77 @ Mar 29th 2008 1:03PM]

Very slick!

[Harrison66 @ Mar 29th 2008 1:46PM]

Does it play Crysis?

[ethana2 @ Mar 30th 2008 2:51AM]

Watch them ship WINE with the next OSX and make all like it was their own new innovation.

[ethana2 @ Mar 30th 2008 2:53AM]

Oh, oh my gosh I'm so sorry, I got off track with my reply to the one guy..
I was in an anti-Apple mood and forgot that this wasn't a mac.

Engadget! *shakes fist* Look what you've made me do!
...*sigh* Post edits please?

[polvadis @ Mar 29th 2008 2:21PM]

I'm just happy to see more and more companies doing small footprint PC's. More choices will hopefully translate into a significant price drop. I have this huge Antec tower that seems like a relic of a "do it yourself" computer. After 14 years of home made PC's I'm fairly sure my next one will be a "store bought" ready to go PC.

[Nathan @ Mar 29th 2008 2:58PM]

Don't do it! It's a trap! Or at the very least get a retail system with an ATX form factor so you can replace the power supply in the even you get a killer video card. (DAMN YOU DELL!!!!)

I will never buy another pre-built retail solution ever again, with the ironic exception of the new Dell XPS that has an ATX form factor.

[ethana2 @ Mar 30th 2008 2:57AM]

...I went to work on a Dell recently.. The ATA socket was two rows of solder dots on the mainboard. One cent worth of plastic. One cent.

....there I was with the ATA drive from the guy's old machine....
But I've long forgiven them for that. ...You know, in the spirit of.. oh, what's that xhosa word...

[coolbee8 @ Mar 29th 2008 3:41PM]

GMA950 is not sexy.

[the other steve jobs @ Mar 29th 2008 5:43PM]

test

[ethana2 @ Mar 30th 2008 2:54AM]

fail

[tojfs7931 @ Mar 29th 2008 6:01PM]

Looks surprisingly like an xbox 360.... hmmmm

[ethana2 @ Mar 30th 2008 2:50AM]

You can run your own code on it. That makes it worth it's weight in plastic.

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Mar 29th 2008 7:49PM]

Wait, I can only see a butterfly flapping its wings on a sunny spring afternoon.

[Ubuntu 7.10 WindowsXP @ Mar 29th 2008 7:49PM]

Looks surprisingly NOTHING like an Xbox. Looks a lot like a mix between the Eee Desktop PC, blended with some Shuttle KPC in there.

Overall, cool product, but the price tag is crippling. For $1500+ I would expect dedicated GPU or at least a better chipset GPU, and a monitor (which is not mention but may come with).

[Corellium @ Mar 30th 2008 1:37PM]

Well, remember, the pricetag was in euros, it is 999 Euros. It was meant for the european markets, with european pricing. If it comes to the US, the price will probably be $999 or something. Just look at the prices for game consoles and other similar equipment in Europe and USA, and you will notice the similarities in pricing.

Then again, in these times, when the dollar is at an all time low, maybe pricetags and policies on goods will change, to coup for the production costs.

[Ubuntu 7.10 WindowsXP @ Mar 30th 2008 3:39PM]

You make a fair point as America does tend to pay less for technology than Europe, but is not always the case. Game consoles are over priced in Europe because that is not the game console primary market, so they pay more. If this company, being it was released in Europe first, is based in Europe that is their primary market and we are not. That means you either order direct from them now ($1500), wait til they release it here (shipping taxes...still $1500), or it will simple not be sold here (buy Eee PC desktop $400).

And then there is always Chinese knock-offs. lol

[BoardkilL @ Mar 31st 2008 4:44AM]

The Merium is designed by a norwegian company, Mesiro, and aimed at the nordic markets (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Iceland), which explains the pretty hefty price.

The price in Norway is just shy of 10 000 kroners (about 2 000 USD, with the dollar being all weak and such).

I had one of these in for review over easter, first review ever as far as I know, and it's a pretty hot little number. Unfortunately it's not that great when it comes to specs. It plays HD, but only just, and the DVD playback is not as good as I would like either. Mesiro should have put in a decent graphics chip.

Then again, it's not for the hard core nerds out there, but more for people that pay a premium to get fancy stuff to put in their living rooms. After all, people still buy expensive LCDs and Plasmas, even though they could get pretty much the same quality with a cheaper brand. Or what about buying expensive cars, that are pretty much only expensive because of the name.

I ended up giving it a 4 out of 6, mainly because it's not meant to be a monster, but a decent media center pc that doubles as a nice design piece in your fancy living room. ;)

There's a review right here

[BoardkilL @ Mar 31st 2008 4:58AM]

no link... huh. I'll try again.

http://www.idg.no/pcworld/article92178.ece (In Norwegian, but with a bunch of pics - bilder) :)

[Simon @ Mar 31st 2008 3:51AM]

First home PC ever that you don't actually have to hide. How long it took to make ... 20 years?