Video details include an MSI Microstar fx5600 128MB with a TV-out video card, and a Samsung 173v LCD with silver and black case (you can opt for the cheaper Samsung 17" flat CRT). The case is a "Boka" unit, with chassis ventilation of up to five fans, an internal blue neon light and a green front panel. Sound comes from a Logitech Z-340 3-speaker system with subwoofer.

The whole package is currently more or less P60,000. Most aficionados would trade their wives for those monster specs, but PC Express calls the target market for these as not necessarily professionals. Rather, they're looking at users who "don't necessarily want the latest but prefer a competent machine to perform acceptable digital video, photo, and audio editing in one package."

Does it deliver? First the high points: the Samsung LCD is to die for. I normally prefer CRTs, but this totally changed my whole mindset. Images come at you bright, clear and crisp. Games such as Max Payne 2, Unreal or any 3D game that maximizes the 128MB MSI video card actually bring more excitement into the game simply because it looks great.

Not to mention the Samsung is possibly the sexiest monitor alive, guaranteed to make your mouth water even without turning it on, although you'll probably be quickly brought back to reality by its P26,000 market price as of press time. Fortunately there is a cheaper flat screen - but no less excellent - CRT model available.

Most other details like the Hyperthreading processor, the fast, enormous hard disk, even the color-coordinated casing and keyboard and booming Logitech speakers perform as expected. The DVD writer is a thoughtful add-on. But everything really takes a backseat to the visual experience brought about by the monitor and video card.

Of course, there are low points. The unit occasionally hanged. It straight dead-froze right in the middle of even simple games like Battle Realms and the simple- to-render WarCraft. Grand Theft Auto - Vice City plays well in PCs with graphic cards several models lower than this one, but after five minutes of playing the graphics merge into each other and it will be unplayable. The DVD burner's Sonic Pro software also never burned successfully, claiming to find errors on every DVD I tried to copy. I gave up after around 15 tries.

I would say these could have been avoided if the PC was tested more thoroughly, and there may have been improvements if XP Professional was installed instead of the XP Home it came with. (In fairness, the unit we tested was a prototype set hastily assembled to meet our deadlines and should not be representative of one you can buy over the counter. - Ed.) Other than that, minor gripes include the fact that there was no included LAN card. These days, it's an essential not just for gaming but for any type of Media Center as it would likely be connected to DSL or cable. This can be quickly added as an option, however. While doing so, opt for a better mouse with scrolling functions, or even go for optical or wireless if your budget provides instead of the cheap generic model it came with.

PC Express has some possibilities with this otherwise good machine. As possibly the market leader and biggest dealer in the country, they certainly have the pull to successfully market and promote the "Digital Home/Media Center" concept. I consider the glitches unfortunate, but certainly avoidable had there been more time spent ironing them out. All the bits and pieces of hardware are some of the top names in their fields, and if properly put together, the X-Station 2 will certainly be a knockout of a machine. I want one.

GRINS

GRIMACES

THE LOWDOWN
A viable home and media center with almost all the performance and features you'd want for the price.