Pros & Cons
Polywell Poly Qbox-NF2-3200 Specs
| Graphics Card: | Nvidia GeForce4 MX440 |
| Monitor Type: | LCD |
| Native Resolution: | 1280 x 1024 |
| Operating System: | Microsoft Windows XP Professional |
| Primary Optical Drive: | DVD+/-RW (Plus Minus) |
| Processor Family: | AMD Athlon XP |
| RAM: | 512 MB |
| Screen Size: | 17 inches |
| Secondary Optical Drive: | None |
| Storage Capacity (as Tested): | 80 GB |
| Type: | Business |
Company:
Polywell Computers Inc., www.polywell.com
Price:
$1,950 direct
Spec Data:
2.2-GHz AMD Athlon XP 3200+; 512MB DDR-400 SDRAM; 80GB hard drive; nVidia GeForce 4 MX graphics; DVD +/- RW drive; integrated nVidia sound card; dual 17-inch LCD panels; Windows XP Home Edition.
Pros:
Compact chassis. Multiple input/output ports and a dual KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) setup mean that two employees can share one system.
Cons:
With one possible point of failure for two users, watch out for twice the support headaches. One user can temporarily hog all the resources.
Bottom Line:
An interesting take for businesses short on space, the QBox lets two users share a PC simultaneously.
Review
The new Polywell QBox-NF2-3200 is an interesting challenge to the status quo: Two people can share a computer without using software-based...
Polywell QBox-NF2-3200
The new Polywell QBox-NF2-3200 is an interesting challenge to the status quo: Two people can share a computer without using software-based solutions like Windows Terminal Server or Citrix. The compact system comes with two LCD monitors that swivel 360 degrees, two keyboards, and two mice. This dual KVM combination saves space, which is a boon for those working in tight quarters.
The QBox uses the MagicTwin system, which uses a "time-slicing" system to share the single CPU, hard drive, and optical drive. Twin-headed graphics are nothing new, but in the QBox's case, one person can use both monitors, or each user can have his or her own virtual computer. Unlike other solutions, the QBox works with a single Windows XP license and a single Ethernet/IP connection. All this can save money: You don't have to buy two computers for two workers, and if you and a partner are the only office employees, you can eschew networking products like routers and access points. Just plug the QBox into your cable modem and start working.
We tested the QBox in single-user mode; its Business Winstone 2004 score of 19.4 and Multimedia Content Creation Winstone 2004 score of 23.8 mean that the QBox user will be happy using this for everyday tasks like word processing and basic graphics. When we installed and ran programs in dual-user mode, we found that the MagicTwin system worked well: Even when the CPU usage meter hits 100 percent, both users have usable, though not optimal, computer power at their fingertips.
During regular usage in our two-user scenario, we didn't experience too many slowdown moments. One exception was when the system stressed the hard drive (when saving a video file after an encoding session, for instance, or during a program installation). This made the screen on one station freeze, and the other screen also froze for a second or two. Of course, those high-use scenarios won't be the norm for a system like this. You will likely want to keep the system relatively clean: Crashes that require reboots will definitely affect the other user.
The QBox's price might seem high at first glance, but our tested configuration included two 17-inch LCD monitors of decent quality. So in a work environment where space is tight, the QBox-NF2-3200 makes a strong case for sharing a computer between two people for day-to-day tasks.
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Final Thoughts
