NetVista X40i: For those with an overcrowded desktop

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): Still remember several years ago when Big Blue made black PCs with a CPU box that could be hidden out of sight? It was possible to put the box several meters away from your desk because the CD-ROM and the floppy drives were attached to the CRT monitor instead. So, even with the CPU box out of sight, we were still able to swap CDs or save files onto a floppy disk.

IBM has improved on the idea. The CD-ROM and floppy drives on the latest NetVista X40i Series are tucked just underneath the display monitor, which now uses a gorgeous 15" TFT LCD instead of the CRT. We just press one of the buttons underneath the monitor, and the console holding the DVD-ROM and floppy drives drops from its cradle. To return it to the cradle, just push the console up.

Another big difference is that the CPU is now attached to the back of the LCD monitor, so you no longer have to hide the CPU box somewhere behind the bookshelf. The CPU will be there right in front of you each time you want to connect it to your LAN, add a low-profile PCI card or disconnect the telephone line from the built-in modem port.

Courtesy of IBM Indonesia, I was able to play around with the PC that recently won a Silver Design Award from BusinessWeek. The PC was designed by IBM Italy and Richard Sapper, Italy.

The X40i model that I tested had been around since last year, but the specs are still pretty up to date. The unit was powered by a Pentium III with 800 MHz clock speed. It came with 64 MB of RAM, 8 MB of which was used by the video subsystem. The hard disk was a fast 30 GB, which has now become the standard specification. Windows Me was already installed, complete with Lotus SmartSuite, Norton AntiVirus and several other utilities.

There are no serial or parallel ports on this PC, which is intended for the home, home office and enterprise users. Instead, there are five USB ports, two of which are placed right behind the monitor's edge. Both the keyboard and the mouse use the USB connection, although two PS/2 ports for standard a PS/2 keyboard and mouse are also available. It is not easy to find these ports, though, as it is hidden underneath the CPU, just next to the Ethernet port.

The power button also turns the screen on and off. The display monitor itself only has two control buttons, one for increasing and the other for decreasing brightness. All the buttons, including the one for dropping the CD-ROM and floppy drive bay, are lined up on the bottom right corner of the screen.

The system had two slots for low-profile PCI cards, and one of them was already filled by the modem. This means that we cannot expand the capabilities of this PC too much. Adding an internal TV tuner, for example, is completely out of the question.

The keyboard has IBM Rapid Access III buttons that can be used to quickly launch an e-mail program, access the Internet, access IBM Web, go to the standby mode, etc. A set of buttons on the right hand corner of the keyboard let us adjust the audio volume and control the playback of Audio CD, VCD or DVD.

If you really want to reclaim the entire space on your desktop, IBM provides an optional radial arm that you can clamp to the desk or mount on the wall. The screen itself can be tilted 25 degrees to give you the perfect vertical viewing angle.

The good and the bad

The performance of the system itself leaves hardly anything to desire. I had no problem installing and testing Microsoft Office XP on this machine. The TFT screen with the 1024 x 768 resolution produces very pleasing display and very good contrast. It was even good enough to display video. Medimatics' DVDExpress, which was included in the system, enabled me to play the S$8 Gone with the Wind DVD that I had bought at Singapore's famous Sim Lim Square. By the way, the built-in speakers are placed at the base of the system and they produce fairly good sound.

The black IBM mouse has a scrolling button in addition to a third button, which we can program. I usually use the third button on the mouse to simulate double-clicking. The keyboard, which feels more like an ordinary notebook keyboard, unfortunately does not really reflect IBM's great design capabilities. The keys feel a little bit mushy and are not so thoughtfully designed. First, on the top row of keys there is no bordering space between F4 and F5 or between F8 and F9. This makes it difficult for me to find the right function keys without looking down at the keyboard.

The navigation keys are poorly placed, too. The Home and End keys are placed on the top row. Not only are they more difficult to reach, my fingers usually confuse them with Print Screen, which is right next to them. The four arrow keys are placed lower than the space bar, and I often inadvertently pressed the left arrow key with my palm. I do think this keyboard needs some revision. On the other hand, IBM also has an optional wireless keyboard and mouse for this fashionable PC.

Except for the keyboard and its limited expandability, there is so much to like about this small footprint PC. One of my biggest favorites is the built-in handle on top of the monitor. This allows us to carry the PC around. If you do not have a notebook, you will have no difficulty toting this fast PC to the conference room. And certainly people will appreciate the 15" display screen.

If you want a computer that does not take up too much space, and you do not mind its limited expandability, you should take a serious look at NetVista X40i Series. With users giving this machine a score of almost 9.7 in their reviews at ZDNet, it must be a really good product. (zatni@cbn.net.id)

Oversight

The above article should have been published last Monday, June 25, 2001. We apologize for the oversight.

-- Editor