Tranquil PC iXL takes you up to 2.93GHz sans fans, has equally lofty price
By Vlad Savov 
posted June 21st 2010 6:33AM
posted June 21st 2010 6:33AM
posted June 21st 2010 6:33AM
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If I was rich, I'd buy this in a heartbeat. Instead, I'm not, so I won't.
@montymintypie
This thing is better than the mac mini.
@uckApple It's also $400 more expensive.
@Techno1q
Not in the UK its not!
@uckApple
This is what I find unfair engadget. The Intel Z530 released at the nearly same date as the Intel P8600 in the Mac Mini, and yet the Z530 for the PC was described as "hopelessly out of date" while for the Mac there was no mention of it being antiquated.
Then if we price the Mac Mini heralded as the best thing since sliced bread, despite its far inferior hardware speced w/ a much older and lower clocked 2.66Ghz processor and no blu-ray with no mouse or keyboard is £929.00 or $1,381.
So a small custom boutique builder puts together a very attractive HTPC with WMC7 purpose integrated and purpose built for HTPC duty for hundreds less than a big-box manufacturer, and yet its price strikes one with grief?
Cmon guys, reduce the spin a bit, I'm getting DIZZY!!! xD
@Ducman69
Yeah that's all fine except...it doesn't 'match' my home theatre at all and is ugly as sin.
Anti sold
@montymintypie
Yeah, I think I'm sticking with the Zino.
@Ducman69 Actually the Intel Z530 is an Atom processor and it has no where near the same power as the P8600 which is a dual core.. For example the Intel Z530 has 512k of L2 Cache while the P8600 has 3MB not to mention the clock speeds. Also the Mac mini consumes only 10W of power compared to the 33W - 90W of the above system. Furthermore the mac mini comes with exellent warranty and customer support, A taylor made OS for the hardware. The Intel i3-530 is indeed better then the P8600 though BUT the Mac mini has one of the Latest Nvidia Video cards NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM and the above computer only has a crappy Integrated intel video card..
Both of these systems are great and exel in different areas, just buy what best fits you.
@MoonWalkerCTE
Don't forget to mention that above a certain threshold, raw CPU power is completely irrelevant for the typical Mac Mini use cases, and a 2.4 Ghz C2D crosses that threshold easily. For HTPC and desktop use I think you would have a really, really hard time actually noticing any difference in CPU speed between the C2D and the i3, you'd need some very CPU-bound tasks to see any meaningful difference in runtimes. I think people forget that the C2D already was a very, very good CPU design, the difference with the i3 is pretty marginal. The Mac Mini specs are just fine, if there's anything to complain about it would be the price point. But this machine has the exact same issue, so I don't get Ducman's point either, except if you really, really want to have a Blu-Ray drive.
Also, like you said, a Z530 is in a completely different class of performance compared to this box or the Mac Mini.
@MoonWalkerCTE Thank you captain obvious. The point is not that they are competing chips nor were they in similar devices, the point is that they are both old. The PC gets "old" described in the worst way imaginable, whereas "old" on a Mac is just described as well known and trusted like ol' faithful. Its spin.
Furthermore, the 320M is not a card, and it doesn't have 256mb of memory. It has 0mb of dedicated memory as its integrated graphics, the replacement for the 9400. It is good for integrated graphics, but remember it isn't assisting the CPU for HD flash, and you're clearly defending the choice w/o really knowing too much about it. =p:::
@drange "The Mac Mini specs are just fine, if there's anything to complain about it would be the price point. But this machine has the exact same issue."
Its nearly $300 cheaper despite having superior hardware.
This has a modern processor, ability to house a 2TB faster desktop drive, ports galore (and convenient facing), it runs completely fanless and silent, it has a low profile slot for dual TV tuner, it has a bluray, and the WMC7 ecosystem and purpose built HTPC peripherals market...
If you "really really didn't need" a bluray drive, the price difference is even greater.
@Ducman69 Your the one comparing things.. And even though it only doesn't have dedicated memory its still much better than Intels "HD" Graphics. And FYI Flash is now GPU based and they have and are still working hard to improve flash on GPUs but it is already here and it works..
@Ducman69 And I think your the one who needs to check your knowledge base again why did you compare a Intel Z530 with the P8600? It's completely irrelevant to the subject and I think you are the one hating on endgaget here with little to none valid information
@Ducman69
How is $1100 (with a Blu-Ray drive included) $300 cheaper than a Mac Mini, which starts at $699?
@Hobsie
> Yeah that's all fine except...it doesn't 'match' my home theatre at all
> and is ugly as sin.
>
> Anti sold
...yeah. Because just SO MANY home theatre components look like Apple designed them.
"Ugly as sin" kind of comes with the territory.
This thing will actually blend and be far less likely to be noticed.
@MoonWalkerCTE Ugh.... yes, flash is hardware accelerated now, in Windows. The Mac Mini isn't intended to be running Windows, so no, it doesn't have GPU acceleration.
@ drange double-ugh. these are UK devices in UK prices. http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/shop_mac/family/mac_mini
Its your money, but please don't spread misinformation to others in an attempt to invent arguments to support your conclusion.
@Ducman69 You can install windows on a mac just like you do with any other computer, the Mac OSX disc comes with windows drivers and you can Dual boot both of single partitions.. You are the one spreadying "Misinformation" It's okay though, your obiously going to defend and protect your investment.
@MoonWalkerCTE "Mac mini consumes only 10W"
ROLFMAO.
Yes, Mac Mini consumes only 10w.. when standby :-P
p8600 use 25w.
@magallanes The mac mini as a whole only consumes 10W including all the hardware..
@MoonWalkerCTE
http://www.apple.com/macmini/specs.html
Maximum continuous power: 85W
O_o
@magallanes Those are requirements o.0 It's called- Minimal power into the PSU from the power socket.
@MoonWalkerCTE
10W at IDLE. That is very impressive sure, but it doesn't mean it runs at 10W the whole time. Stop pretending to be knowledgeable about things you really dont know much about.
@plenaghan88 Obiously I know more about this subject then you
@uckApple But it's also way uglier.
@MoonWalkerCTE
how do you figure that?
you've been wrong about several things already (320M has discrete memory) but the biggest thing and the reason that makes you the WORST kind fanboy is that you're still arguing this 10W of power thing. go read the article, have a look around, people have done tests. its 10W AT IDLE. get it through you're head that it doesnt run at 10W ALL THE TIME
do you even read the articles or do you go straight to the comments to troll?
Going to have to say it...I'd prefer a mac mini O_O
@Hobsie
i think this would be a much better deal than a mac mini.. 100 bucks more and worth it's price..
@samisax
I'd quite happily pay 200bucks more just for the shiny looks and insane tiny size of the new mac mini alone...
@Hobsie
This is black brushed aluminum, far more likely to match your HTPC equipment and TV (few have silver components). Its completely fanless. It has BluRay and a plethora of ports. It has WMC7 integrated into the OS versus the sad state of front row. With the latest and greatest efficient processor versus left over old stock that Apple somehow managed to find in Intel's basement, and yet you'd still take the Mac Mini for hundreds more?
The only advantage I can see on the Mini is that it has a little smaller footprint, but this box doesn't look like its some huge monstrosity by any means, and the added size means it also happens to be able to fit a faster and more capacious 2TB desktop harddrive (great for video collections or when using the box as a DVR) and dual TV tuner cards instead of a goofy USB dongle sticking out of your Mac.
Heck, you can even get the thing custom laser etched in the order options.
My brain hurts so much right now. I hate it when the universe doesn't make sense.
@Ducman69
Here's the thing though..
Anyone with a home theater to speak of already has a high end Blu Ray player integrated in their system. If I want a HTPC all I'm looking for is something that can play and organize digital files, and give me the ability to surf the web. Using the Blue Ray in the Tranquil wouldn't give me HALF the features of the dedicated player already present.
The Mac Mini is hundreds cheaper, virtually silent, uses far less electricity, can load OSX AND Windows, giving you the ability to take advantage of any "home theater" software you want, and most importantly of all, has an IR receiver built in so it can be interfaced with a Crestron system. The color is meaningless because something like this would be hidden away, it's not like either one is rack mountable.
@anothernerd "The Mac Mini is hundreds cheaper, virtually silent, uses far less electricity, can load OSX AND Windows, giving you the ability to take advantage of any "home theater" software you want, and most importantly of all, has an IR receiver built in so it can be interfaced with a Crestron system."
Again, so much misinformation.
This is a UK device, and you have to compare UK prices, they are always higher than in the states.
Configured without the £149 bluray drive, the Mac Mini is over $400 more expensive in the UK than this device. And I hope you are comparing at least the 500gig 2.66Ghz model, considering this can house two harddrives and has a much higher clocked next generation Intel.
There is not a big difference in power use. The min-max for the Mac Mini is 10w-85w versus 30w-90w for the Tranquil. The i3 finishes calculations far more quickly, resulting in longer idle time, which is why the i3 is more efficient than the last generation Intels despite a higher max TDP, and at most we are talking pennies a year difference.
The Mac Mini may have a very quiet fan I'm not sure how you could know, but this is fanless.
This also has an IR receiver, check the specs.
So the only thing you are left with, is the fact that you can legally run both OSX and Windows on the Mac Mini, for many hundreds more in UK vs UK pricing, with far inferior hardware specifications. To play devil's advocate, its also physically smaller, but both are still small and the extra space on the Tranquil allows for a internal dual-tuner and dual drives for a great SSD + 2TB platter combo.
=)
doesn't an external hd kind of defeat much of the whole point of an htpc?
@mrqs
What exactly are you plugging this external HD into?
@Hobsie
how about one of the e-sata ports?
@mrqs
Do we really have to explain why it would be nice to be able to connect drives through lightning fast e-sata for transferring data on and off, data backup, or even just supplementing the internal storage at some point?
If having eSata ports on the back is the only thing you can find to complain about, I think they did a pretty good job. =p
@Ducman69
now that i read the article again, i see i jumped to the wrong conclusion - for some reason i got the idea from it that it didn't have an internal hd at all, what with the "throwing in a 500gig hd" and not mentioning the options / connectivity
@mrqs The Tranquil i3 can also handle a 3.5" HDD, meaning you can get 2TB of storage (vs. the mac mini, which is limited to one 2.5" HDD, giving you 500 MB, or 1TB if you get rid of the optical drive).
Engadget should try to compare apples to..uhm...apples. Pricing the Tranquil PC iXL with blu ray while implicitly comparing prices to a mac mini is not fair.
Macimini (2.4 GHz, 2 GB, 500 MB HDD) = $799
Tranquil (2.93 GHz, 2GB, 500 MB HDD) = $847
It would probably be better to bump the mac mini CPU up to the 2.66 GHz version... which puts its price at a whopping $949.
Kind of makes the Tranquil version look like a steal, doesn't it? I was seriously thinking about a mac mini, but this sort of comparison shows me I should steer clear of it.
Of course, we should probably throw the Asrock 100HT i3 SFF in here. Looks like it will sell for about $700 with 4GB + 320GB HDD. It is not fanless, and doesn't support 3.5" HDD, which makes the Tranquil a better value.
How much is that CNC'd aluminum enclosure worth?
@tmarks11 And don't forget to compare UK prices to UK prices.
Almost everything from cameras to televisions to Corvettes cost more in the UK than the US. The Mac Mini in particular costs $150 more in the UK.
Man I wish they had put one of these i3's in the 13 inch mac pro. I really want one but refuse to pay so much for 2008 hardware.
@fais
If you're getting a MacBook then you're obviously not planning on doing anything that would come remotely close to taking full advantage of a processor, even if it's a Dual Core.
If you REALLY want a noticeable increase in speed then upgrade to a fast SSD because if you're not using the machine primarily for video editing, the processor is the last thing you should be worried about.
i think this would be a much better deal than a mac mini.. 100 bucks more and worth it's price..
@samisax The funny thing is that I still think this is a bit overpriced. Yet somehow the Mac Mini makes it look like a serious bargain.
Its like putting a homely girl next to Sandra Bernhard. Suddenly, the girl becomes gorgeous by comparison.
@uckApple
EXCEPT for the:
1) operating system
2) the 10Watts at idle of the Mini
3) The build quality of the Mini
4) The size of the Mini
5) The lack of external Power Brick like on the Mini
6) The included software of the Mini.
@iGo
I agree with the above except I think the price of the Mac mini should reflect the fact that it uses an old core 2 duo. They could have at lease repackaged it and called it an A6 or something so that the Apple mark-up wasn't so disgustingly obvious.
@iGo
1. Subjective.
2. Not a deal breaker.
3. You haven't tried the Tranquil yet, don't judge before trying.
4. Not a deal breaker.
5. External power brick means more space for good hardware.
6. Like what? What can you get on a mac mini that you can't download for free on any android or windows device?
@iGo
You seem a little defensive of the mini. A lot of those points are moot or personal choice. I don't mind windows 7, iXL is bigger bit not 'big', no sign of brick on iXl etc etc.
However this thing comes with blu ray, which is pretty much mainstream now. The mini is pretty fail for having HDMI but little in the way of HD credentials (IMO).
still better value than mac mini! by far!!
What kind of case is that, i wouldnt mind building my own cheaper version of this PC.
@Sheppard
I don't recognize the case, it might be their own design. However, if you want to build one of these PCs, this is a good resource:
http://www.mini-itx.com/
If I was going to buy one of these, I'd buy the basic setup and purchase the rest locally, saving hundreds of dollars.
I also found it amusing that shipping to Australia is cheaper than tax within the UK lol.