Looking for all the world like a go-faster DVD player from the Far East, Acer's elegant Aspire L200 is actually a multimedia PC running the latest (2005) variant of Windows XP MCE.

It may be low-profile, but it weighs the same as a high-end DVD player. It also carries a similar price tag, although as a PC it can do a helluva lot more! How many DVD players do you know that can surf the web, run games, 'stream' media to a network player, timeshift TV, play hi-def video, download music and act as a powerful jukebox?

Oh yes, and an 8x Panasonic DVD/CD burner means the L200 can make DVDs (and indeed CDs, which the average 'stand-alone' DVD recorder can't). As regards DVD media, the drive in question supports DVD-RAM (albeit not video), DVD-RW/ RW, DVD R/-R and even dual-layer DVD R. How about that for flexibility?

A peek inside this quiet-running machine reveals a neat but densely- packed array of hardware. The L200 is powered by a speedy Athlon 64 3200 processor (on a Microstar motherboard), 512MB of RAM and a 160GB Serial-ATA HDD. The slimline Hiper case means there's little room for expansion - that motherboard has three PCI expansion slots, of which only one is available.

It's occupied by a Hauppauge digital/analogue terrestrial TV tuner card with composite and S-video inputs for external analogue sources - so no PCI slots are free at all. Still, the L200 offers no fewer than eight USB sockets - four at the front, four at the rear) and two FireWire ports for your expansion needs. The processor ventilation grille is on top of the case, and shouldn't be blocked.

Inseparable from mother

Unfortunately, the machine's ATI Radeon Xpress 200 graphics card cannot be changed, because it's an integrated part of the motherboard. A shame, not least because it lacks the digital video output many DVD players now include.

In contrast, ATI's more expensive products tend to offer DVI connectivity - which means there's no need to go to analogue and back up again when feeding a projector or flat-panel display. The L200 sports a VGA socket - the next best thing for such displays, and essential for hi-def - plus composite and S-video outputs, for conventional TVs, that can't be used at the same time as VGA. In my opinion, these are pointless on a PC - give me that DVI jack any day!