Sotec Afina AS7180AV Review

It may look like a high heel but this is the latest design from Japan for an all-in-one multimedia desktop. How does it stack up against the likes of Sony and Apple? Read on to find out.

Summary

Lifestyle computers are certainly starting to make more headroom in this specialized niche, and as we see more convergence between the home theater and computer realms we expect this market to grow.

The Sotec Afina is smaller than both Sony’s VAIO PCV-W20 and Apple’s iMac lifestyle computers, yet performs very close to the aforementioned systems. However, there are some quirks about it that may be hard for some to overlook.

Although the Afina lacks the polish and attention to detail which have become accustomed to from the Japanese market, it is still a unique product that will turn heads. The Sotec Afina would be the perfect computer for any kitchen, office or bedroom and is certainly worth a look.

Introduction

 

As with every lifestyle computer system being introduced these days, the Sotec Afina system puts a lot of emphasis on design and size while featuring some high performance components on the inside. Powered by an AMD Mobile Athlon 1800+ processor the Afina is the first lifestyle system we have had a chance to test featuring an AMD processor, and a mobile one at that. Imported by iCube.us with a price of $1699, the Sotec Afina touts being designed in Japan although it is manufactured in China.

Features and Design

The first impression the Afina system gave us was that it looked like an old IBM terminal of some sort, like something you would see at a bank. The stainless steel case and plastic shielded LCD screen tell you this is no office computer – it looks like more of an appliance. The Afina should look at home in the kitchen or bedroom. It would even look great in a coffee shop as an internet terminal.

The front of the Sotec Afina

 iCube says the Afina looks like a “high heel” because of its rear mounted stand, and that it does. If you have a kitchen with stainless steel appliances the Afina system will definitely blend right in and keep the theme. The plastic screen shield will protect the display from smudges and other hazards which are more likely considering the Afina could be in a high-traffic area. Unfortunately there does not seem to be any sort of shield or membrane protecting the keyboard which means crumbs, liquids and other kitchen related material could get stuck inside the keyboard. Since the keyboard is attached to the system, you may have a hard time cleaning it.

The right hand side of the Sotec Afina

 

Performance

 

 

 

System Configurations:

Sotec Afina AS7180AV
Windows XP Home Edition; AMD Athlon Mobile 1800+, 256MB DDR SDRAM 266MHz, 8MB S3 graphics adapter, 80GB HDD

Gateway 200XL
Windows XP Professional; 1.6GHz Intel Pentium M; 512MB DDR SDRAM 266MHz; Intel Extreme Graphics; Toshiba MK6022GAX 60GB Hard Drive

Sony PCV-W20
Windows XP Home Edition; 1.8GHz Intel Pentium 4; 512MB DDR SDRAM; 32MB Intel Graphics; 60GB HDD

As mentioned above, the keyboard is not removable and is attached to the system directly as part of the overall design. Featuring both Japanese and American characters, the keyboard mapping is very close to the US standard, although there are some keys that seem to be strictly Japanese related with no other purpose. Since it is attached, if you adjust the angle of the display, this also slightly alters the angle of the keyboard. You can also not adjust the distance between the keyboard and display