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The Elonex Lumina represents the future of home computing, it's that simple. Gone are the days when people were willing to accept a boring beige box in their home, and whether or not you liked the original Apple iMac, it proved that spicing up the look of a home computer made it more attractive to the style conscious home user. As media PCs started to become popular, the need for aesthetically pleasing computers increased, since no one wanted to spoil the decor in their living room.

It was just over a year ago that I first saw the Elonex eXentia - an all-in-one PC based on the Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition operating system. Not only did the eXentia look great, but it showed off Media Center to full effect, making people realise that a PC could be a convincing entertainment device. Although the eXentia was a fantastic Media Center solution, its relatively small 17in widescreen display, meant that it wasn't really suited to a living room environment, but now Elonex is ready to address the living room market.

Coinciding with the launch of Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, Elonex has produced the most impressive convergence product I’ve ever seen: the Lumina. I looked at a very early prototype of the Lumina back in April, and was impressed by the vision and ingenuity that Elonex was showing. I then saw a far more developed sample last month that showed how much R&D Elonex had poured into this machine – I got my hands on an early Lumina with a 30in LCD panel while at a Microsoft Media Center 2005 showcase, held at a swanky penthouse apartment overlooking the river Thames.

Looking at the Lumina you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s a good looking 32in LCD TV, which it is. However, the Lumina hides more than just a cracking LCD screen inside that brushed aluminium chassis. Just like the eXentia before it, the Lumina is an all-in-one Media Center solution, unlike other living room orientated Media Center machines.

But let’s start with the screen. The 32in LCD panel that Elonex has chosen as the display for the Lumina is definitely a good one. The 16:9 aspect ratio makes it ideal for watching DVD and broadcast video. It’s also fully HD compliant, so you’ll be able to enjoy distributed high definition video, and eventually broadcast HD content.

The screen sports a native resolution of 1,344 x 768, which means that it’s more than capable of general Windows work as well as outputting the Media Center environment. External Media Center systems that connect to your TV are limited by the low resolution that a standard television can offer, so although you’ve got a full PC in your living room, you’re unlikely to use it to its full potential. However, with the large physical dimensions and high resolution offered by the Lumina, make it easy to run standard Windows applications from the comfort of your sofa.

Although the review sample that I had in the lab is still a pre-production unit, the spec is still pretty impressive for a potentially wall hanging TV/PC. Taking care of central processing duties is a 3.0GHz Intel Pentium 4 CPU, backed up by 512MB of 333MHz DDR memory. Storage is vitally important on a Media Center system, because those TV programmes you’ll be recording will soon eat up your hard disk space. It’s therefore reassuring the see that Elonex has fitted a 200GB hard disk inside the Lumina, which should keep you going for a good while.

If you want to keep some of your recorded content, but don’t want it taking up space on the hard disk, you can burn it to DVD. Integrated into the right hand side of the Lumina is a DVD writer that will burn DVD+R/RW and DVD-R/RW media, as well as CD-R/RW discs. Also located on the right is an 8-in-1 memory card reader, so you’ll be able to transfer all your digital photos straight from your camera to the Lumina for viewing or even editing.

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