Tek Panel 300 Quick Take March 25, 2004 Alexis Dang

Introduction

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One of our mottos here at FiringSquad is "if you can build it, why buy it?" Custom computers have been preferred by enthusiasts, not only do you have the ability to create the most powerful system possible, but also the nicest looking systems tend to be custom designs. This is why you won’t find too many system reviews at FiringSquad. Well, we found a system that might change all that.

The Tek Panel 300 is not just a repackaging of off-the-shelf parts behind a fancy faceplate. Even at first glance it reinforces that this isn’t just another computer system. Built around a 30 inch LCD panel, the Tek Panel 300 also includes the fastest motherboard, CPU, and video card on the market. This is all integrated into a streamlined, one-piece unit that can be wall mounted or self-standing -- we got all that just from the press materials.

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http://www.tekpanel.com/

Tek Panel 300

Base price: $6495.00

As tested: $7749.24

Weight: 42 pounds

High-end display

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The Screen

The stand-out feature of the Tek Panel is the 30 inch 1280x768 LCD panel. Sure, we’ve seen 30” screens before, but none like this one. Instead of just using any old 30 inch LCD, the Tek Panel includes the best one on the market. With a viewing angle of 176 degrees, it is unmatched. We have always been weary of marketing specifications, but this screen maintains its contrast and brightness even at extreme viewing angles. This is because it uses a LG/Philips LCD with S-IPS technology.

Super In-Plane Switching

S-IPS is a specific flavor of LCD technology that keeps the liquid crystal molecules in the plane of the display at all times. This is more expensive than competing LCD design methods, but ensures that light passing through the display at an angle and directly have the same effect.

At a contrast ratio of 400:1 the S-IPS screen is superior to Dell's 30" screen rated at 350:1 but is not as high as Sharp's 700:1 screen. The catch is that we don’t see too many LCDs being rated by their off-axis performance, although we should. The advantage of S-IPS is that the technology gives up a little on center contrast for much improved off axis response. Other LCD panels can begin to show changes in color, brightness, contrast, or even a negative-color image as the viewer goes off-center. The S-IPS technology maintains its color and contrast better than competing technologies. So, while the viewing angle increase of 6 degrees over a competitor's 170 degrees may not seem like much, in real-world use the difference is significant. Clearly, this LCD is designed to be enjoyed by a group of people, rather than an individual.

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Brightness

A brightness of 450cd/m2 might not seem like much, but we found it amazingly bright -- bright enough to be used in a sunny room and much brighter than a direct view CRT. In truth, the screen can induce some eye strain and fatigue if you are using it to surf the web in a dark room. The white background of most websites really lights up the room. One advantage of a fixed pixel display is that the image remains absolutely stable without any jitter that can be seen with CRTs when changing between high brightness or contrast scenes due to strain on the power supply. In simple terms, this means an even sharper picture.

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Overall Screen Impressions

The TekPanel is among the best 30" LCD displays on the market, but one disadvantage of this image quality is that DVDs can look unimpressive, especially if you have been surfing the web or watching HD sources. This screen resolves every pixel on the DVD source, including the compression artifacts. With a 1280x768 screen, it can show HD 720p sources with ease. Text is remarkable easy to read on this monitor, even from 10 feet away.

The pixel refresh is rated at 22 ms, but the gray-to-gray switching speed is as fast as 12ms. We never found smearing or blurring to be a significant problem whether we were watching movies or playing games.

Plasma versus LCD

The biggest competitor to large LCD screens are plasma screens. Plasma monitors have better color rendition, a very fast response time, and larger sizes, however there are burn-in issues as well as limited real-world contrast. Even a flagship 60" Plasma screen typically has a peak brightness of only 250cd/m2 and in a full white screen, plasma screens can drop to less than 50 cd/m2. Thus, the rated contrast ratio of several thousand to one of many Plasma screens is largely marketing.

From the integrated computer perspective, a Plasma screen would have been a poor option due to heat.


SIDEBAR: LG stands for Lucky Goldstar.

Chassis

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Chassis

Hy-tek created a custom powder coated aluminum case for this system. This isn’t your standard plastic bezel around the screen. The front, sides, and rear of the system are all thick aluminum sheets held together by hex screws. There is zero flex in the chassis. Instead of having a separate box for the computer, Hy-Tek integrated the system components into the same chassis as the display – capable of supporting a hot P4 EE and All-in-Wonder Radeon safely no less. There was evidently a lot of pre-planning that went into the design as the CPU heatsink fits flush against the back of the case. This allows the CPU to draw fresh air from outside the case to cool it. No fancy ducting needed.

One drawback to this chassis is the lack of extra drive bays or expansion slots. You just need to decide up front what you want in your system.

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Motherboard

Our system was equipped with the Asus P4C800-E Deluxe 875 motherboard. This is Asus’ top of the line Intel 875 motherboard. You might find other boards that may overclock better, but few that are more stable. It could use a few BIOS tweaks though, ours came with USB 2.0 full speed instead of high speed, so you would be getting 11Mb/s instead of 480Mb/s, that’s more than a little difference. It is possible that as a review unit, a previous reviewer accidentally changed that value.

CPU

Hy-Tek included an Intel 3.2Ghz Pentium 4 EE. Laugh as you may about how extreme this CPU may or may not be, but it is still one of the fastest Intel desktop chips on the market. If you think it is overkill, keep in mind that it's just barely above the minimum requirement to play Windows Media HD 1080p sources. You don't have a fast computer unless you can play 1080p WMV-HD. Before you send off that email saying that the monitor only supports 720p and that the CPU is overkill, Microsoft recommends that owners of 720p displays use 1080p WMV-HD sources when available due to the increased bitrate.

HDD

Seagate 160GB SATA HD. It isn’t the fastest, but it does the job and is quiet.

Graphics

Hy-Tek included the ATI Radeon 9800 XT, still one of the fastest cards on the market, pending any new announcements by nVidia in April. You can also order the Tek Panel with an All-in-Wonder card, which would add TV capability to this screen, something we would recommend. A HDTV option is also in the pipeline, as soon as ATI starts to ship its HDTV solution.

Optical Drive

Well, for such a sleek system, a slot loading drive like a Mac might have been just the icing on the cake. But a standard drive that is mounted on the left side of the system will have to do.

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Audio

Soundblaster Audigy 2ZS. The Audigy 2 is the fastest sound card we have ever tested, and Hytek's use of the Audigy2 was a no-brainer decision. It also adds an additional Firewire port to the system.

Hy-Tek bundles a set of Bose speakers with this unit. These speakers don’t belong on this system. What would have been nice is a set of integrated speakers on the side of the system, instead of a standalone pair. To their credit though, Hy-Tek offers Klipsch speakers as upgrades.

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Keyboard/Mouse

Hy-tek bundles a generic wireless keyboard and mouse. With such a high-end system, we would have expected the best technology such as a Logitech Bluetooth wireless system, but fortunately you can always add that on later.

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Performance

With looks like this, who cares what’s underneath the surface? If the Tek Panel were a sluggish performer we wouldn’t have minded, but Hy-Tek would have. This shows that they too share the same enthusiast spirit of not settling for a substandard system. There are cheaper components that could have been used, but they chose the best. With a 3D Mark 2003 score of 6616, this is at the top of the pack. You already know the performance of a P4 3.2 EE and Radeon 9800 XT, so there's not much to comment on.

The intangibles

A computer is much more than numbers though. The Tek Panel really is a system that can be a centerpiece to an office or living room. NBC’s show The Apprentice, features Tek Panels. If it’s good enough for the Trump, it should be good enough for you.

Even with a truly high performance computer under the hood, the Tek Panel ran silently without any heat problems. Hy-Tek has designed a clever cooling system with large slow spinning fans and many vent holes on the top of the system. We also need to mention again that the CPU fan draws cool air from outside the system.






SIDEBAR: The Tek Panel includes brackets for a wall mount. This may not seem like much, but even expensive plasma screens will ask for an additional $250 for a wall mount.

Weaknesses

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Our Design

Here’s what we would change with the system if we were on the design team:

First, we would include more expansion options. Separate rear panels for upgrading the memory, CPU, and adding peripheral cards would have been nice. While this may interrupt the smoothness of the rear panel, it could be similar to what we have seen on laptops. This way we could easily transition to the latest video card technology and expand the memory or upgrade the hard drive. Although the Tek Panel is built around standard AGP/PCI devices, you need to take apart the entire rear panel to gain access to the system internals.

Second, we would have used an electronic power switch like you’ll find on your regular TV instead of a flip switch. The reason for this is once you shutdown the system in windows, you need to turn the system off with the switch so you can later turn it back on. You could leave the system on 24/7 and rely on the automated monitor shut-off mode, but we'd still prefer an electronic switch.

Third, we would have integrated some flash memory reader slots to the system, to round out the connectivity of the system. The 37" Tek Panel will add this feature.

Fourth, I believe that a PC that may be used in the living room our anywhere outside the central office should have wireless capability. I would like to see an option for a wireless 802.11g PCI card, further freeing up the outside the box thinking that created the Tek Panel. Wireless networking is perfect for sharing music and an internet connection, and it is almost getting to the point for sharing video.

Hmm that’s about it. I will add, again, that the chassis is so well integrated that you won’t be able to find anything like it on the market. You could buy a 30 inch S-IPS LCD and then build an awesome HTPC, but you will still be left with two separate boxes instead of this integrated system. The longer I use the Tek Panel, the more I realize that Hy-Tek has some great engineers and design personnel as the unit has operated without any bugs and will serve a broad audience.


SIDEBAR: If you think this system is extreme, Hy-Tek will soon be releasing an ever higher end Tek Panel system.

Conclusion

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The competition

There really isn’t any competition to the Tek Panel. Nobody else makes a one-piece computer and 30 inch LCD with future HDTV capability.

But let’s see what you could buy with nearly 8 grand? You could get a top of the line Dell with their 30 inch LCD for a little less, but again you wouldn’t get the 30” S-IPS screen, and the Dell system would consist of two big boxes. You could get a similarly performing Voodoo PC with a nicer paint job than your car, and a 30 inch LCD for under 7 grand, but then you miss out on the wow factor that the Tek Panel has.

I think the slight price premium for the aluminum chassis, the well thought out design, and integration is well worth it. If you are already spending over 5 grand on your computer, then you want to get the most value from your money.

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Tek Panel: The ultimate high-end PC

Of all the products I’ve seen, the Tek Panel is the one product that really shouts quality. Hy-Tek has built a no compromise system that impresses both in looks and performance, showing that it is possible to combine beauty and brains, at least with computers. What stands out over and over with this system is the custom integration. Everything fits perfectly and where it should. The system includes the latest in performance hardware and the best LCD technology on the market.

The Tek Panel will appeal to the wealthy gamer because of its performance on a big screen. It will appeal to executives who need a system that looks as good as it performs in their applications. SGIs and Macs both look pretty good, but they don’t run the software that most executives use, for better or for worse. With the future HDTV tuner, the Tek Panel can really become the centerpiece for a small home entertainment center. If the 30 inch screen is too small, you can pre-order a 37 inch screen too.

That said, the Tek Panel doesn’t come cheap. You may really need to take that vacation to Tahiti or that Caribbean cruise but at least with this Tek Panel, everyday in front of it can be a vacation. The only reason the Tek Panel doesn’t get a perfect score is because it is difficult to afford. Fortunately, with technologic progress, we know that today’s technology for the real estate tycoon will be in the dorm rooms of tomorrow.

You can order it factory direct at www.tekpanel.com



SIDEBAR: What do you think of the Tek Panel 300? Is it truly the ultimate PC or is it too over-the-top for the PC market? Share your thoughts in the news comments!