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Tranquil PC ships MMC-12: a 1.5-inch thick, fanless HTPC
We haven't heard from Britain's own Tranquil PC in a hot minute, but the company's storming into the new year with a machine that's easy to overlook. In a good way. The MMC-12 Media Center measures just 1.5-inches thick, enabling it to be slid into (or under) just about any A/V rack. £649 (right around $1,000) nets you a Core i3 processor, 4GB of DDR3 memory (plus another open RAM slot), an admittedly paltry 80GB mSATA hard drive, CD / DVD burner, Windows 7 Home Premium and an HDMI port. You'll also get a pair of USB 3.0 ports, two underwhelming (and bound to be unloved) USB 2.0 sockets, a gigabit Ethernet jack, DVI socket and an aluminum enclosure. The company recommends that you connect a couple of your favorite USB TV tuners for maximum enjoyment, and in case you're wondering, Blu-ray drives and international shipping is available.
Tranquil PC iXL takes you up to 2.93GHz sans fans, has equally lofty price
We told you Intel's 32nm Clarkdales were power efficient, right? Well, Tranquil PC's slapped one of those chips, a 2.93GHz Core i3-530 to be precise, into its all-new iXL Power PC and now boasts a total system juice consumption of a measly 30W at idle. That means this HTPC can get away with living the quiet, fanless life, while HDMI, a trio of eSATA ports, a multicard reader, and a Blu-ray option flesh out a comprehensive package. Naively, we thought we'd throw the Blu-ray drive in with a 500GB hard disk to see what this might cost us, and were stricken with grief at the sight of a £742 ($1,100) price tag. Should four-digit entry fees not scare you off, you'll want to know that the iXL is shipping now. For everyone else, hit the source link for a bunch of glamor photos.
Tranquil PC serves up a pair of high-end but laid-back HTPCs
We haven't heard from the folks at Tranquil in some time, the UK-based firm's employees surely too busy watching all the As Time Goes By episodes they stuffed onto their last five-bay media server, but they've sent Gene and Lionel on their way and are back to announce two new HTPCs. First is the T7-MP2, a tiny, fanless Ion- and Atom-powered machine that offers HDMI output for direct connectivity to your HDTV and up to 1TB of storage, starting at a rather pricey £479 (about $700). The other is a more powerful beast, the ixVL, coming sometime next month with either an Intel Core i3 or i5 CPU inside and an optical drive (DVD or Blu-ray), but still no fans for quiet operation. No price on this one yet, but expect it to cost, you know, more than the other one.
Tranquil PC's SQA-5H home server: 5 bays, Atom 330, the works
No, this ain't a Craigslist ad, this is just a bomb-diggity home server set to officially be released by Tranquil PC tomorrow. The SQA-5H is a cube-shaped server with five hot-swappable drive bays, a 1.6GHz Intel Atom 330 processor and 1GB of RAM (2GB maximum). Additionally, it touts a Quick System Backup for piping your stored data onto an external HDD, a "Mode" button for quick capacity checks and an optional SQA-EX slave unit which provides five additional drive bays connected with a single cable. Expect to find pricing details within 24 hours on the November-bound device.[Via WeGotServed]
Tranquil PC introduces AVA RS3 music server
Hope you like the shiny, because Tranquil PC is bringing lots and lots of it with its latest home music server. The AVA RS3 comes in two flavors, one of which packs 2 x 500GB drives while the other includes a pair of 1TB HDDs. The unit also boasts a fanless design to keep things quiet, and just in case your music library isn't all converted to .wav files just yet, it possesses an internal optical drive to handle direct-to-HDD ripping. Expect these to ship out in around a fortnight for £549 ($1,092) / £699 ($1,390).[Thanks, WHSuser]
Atom-powered D945GCLF Mini-ITX motherboard now available
We've heard lots of racket about Intel's hot new Atom chip courtesy of all those subnote manufacturers who plan on using it, but Tranquil PC has noted that the first Mini-ITX motherboard to get powered by said processor is now available for ordering. The Intel D945GCLF comes loaded with a 1.6GHz Atom 230 CPU and support for high-definition audio, 10/100 LAN, PCI, SATA II, GMA 950 graphics and DDR 2 533 / 667 (just to name a few highlights). The board can be ordered up as we speak for £52.90 ($103), and shipments are expected to make their way out during the first week of June.[Via Tranquil PC's Weblog, thanks David]
Tranquil readying Windows Home Server-based M one media mecca
Tranquil PC, home to Manchester's own media server gurus, is reportedly gearing up to tempt your wallet once more with the M one. Said media server will look quite similar to the A3, and will boast 2TB of internal storage space, four DVB-T digital terrestrial tuners and an Ethernet jack. Regrettably, that's all the details that have been deemed worthy of being loosed thus far -- aside from the fact that it'll rely on Windows Home Server, of course -- but keep an eye on the read link for more tidbits throughout the weekend.
Tranquil readying T7-HDX to expand storage of T7-HSA server
Apparently, Tranquil's Windows Home Server-equipped T7-HSA wasn't a half bad device -- save for its single internal HDD and complete lack of expansion options outside of external USB storage, that is. Thankfully, the company is reportedly on the way to remedying said niggle with the T7-HDX, which "slides on to the T7-HSA's chassis to form one integral unit, and can be configured at purchase with a range of storage options which are managed via an internal port multiplier." We're hearing that the T7-HDX accessory will be available in a 2 x 500GB model and a 2 x 1TB edition for £249 ($485) and £449 ($874), respectively, and while we've no idea exactly how "discounted" they'll be for existing T7-HSA owners, you folks should certainly keep an eye out when the HDXs land in March.
Windows Home Server launches hardware blitz for holidays
Microsoft's Windows Home Server is saying balls to its dicey launch year and rallying the troops for a holiday hardware blitz. Its original hardware launch partner HP's on-sale-again-off-sale-again MediaSmart Home Server is officially back and on sale (huzzah!), and multiple hardware partners are (re)announcing their own boxes.Up to bat with new and "new" WHS hardware: Fujitsu-Siemens, Gateway, Iomega, LaCie, Leo Computers, LifeWare, Maxdata, Medion, and Tranquil. Sure, some have already announced, but those named today will either be introducing new WHS gear in short order, or at least intend to in the next quarter. Also getting official and on sale today: Velocity Micro's NetMagix (previously VMHS). Expect it with a Core 2 Duo, 1GB of RAM, eSATA, gigabit Ethernet, front / rear USB, and up to 4TB of storage (starting at $1000 for 1TB).P.S. -We're sure Microsoft would like us to remind you of the burgeoning WHS software add-on scene, with the dozens of apps now written for the platform. That's all well and good, but we'll worry about getting that hardware first, then take a look at that software.%Gallery-9767%
Tranquil rolls out Windows Home Server-based T2-WHS-A2
Tranquil sure looks to be serious about its Windows Home Server devices, with it now following up its recently-released T7-HSA model with its new T2-WHS-A2 Harmony Home Server. As before, you'll get fanless and near-silent operation, but with a larger casing that allows for more storage and expansion options. That includes two 3.5-inch hard drives for up to 2TB of storage (500MB by default), and six USB 2.0 ports to accommodate some additional devices. You'll also get fairly low power consumption (24 watts), and a pair of PCI slots that you can load up with four-port eSATA cards for even further expansion. Look for this one to start shipping next week, with it running £399 (or $830) for the base configuration.
Tranquil's T7-HSA shipping with Windows Home Server
It's been quite some time since we've heard any noise from Tranquil, but apparently, the firm's T7-HSA server is finally shipping. Notably, these wee machines not only utilize an energy-efficient, fanless design, but it arrives at your door with Windows Home Server under the hood. Granted, you won't be encoding any movie clips or recording 16 tracks of simultaneous audio with the modest 1.5GHz CPU, but it should handle basic media serving / home automation tasks just fine. Nevertheless, those interested can get their orders in now starting at £338 ($686), and you shouldn't have to wait long before having it in your hands.
