- Lots of Hard Drive Space for Recording
- Powerful Core 2 Duo Processor
- Includes 22" LCD Monitor
- Case is Glorified Desktop Design
- Limited Connectivity For External Home Theater Devices
- Productivity Software Is Extra
- Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Dual Core Processor
- 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 Memory
- Three 500GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drives
- Lite-On 20x DVD+/-RW DL Burner with LightScribe
- Fanless NVIDIA GeForce 7600GS 256MB Graphics and Samsung 22" 225BW LCD
- AVerTV Dual ATSC Digital and Analog Tuner
- Intel HDA Audio with Creative P7800 7.1 Speakers
- Gigabit Ethernet
- Eight USB 2.0 Ports and Two FireWire Ports
- Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
6/26/07 – The Poly 965Gx is really a desktop PC in the guise of a home theater system. This is evident by the case design that they use. Sure, the front panel has the look and feel of a home theater receiver, but the sides and especially the back show it to really be a desktop PC case modified into a home theater case. This isn't particularly bad although the fans in the power supply, case and processor may disrupt the home theater environment.
In terms of processing power, the Poly 965Gx is one of the fastest home theater specific products on the market. Most manufacturers choose to use either lower power or mobile products in order to reduce the amount of heat generated. This makes it easier to cool the system without the use of fans. Polywell has chosen to use the Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 which is quite fast but also produces a bit more heat than typically seen in a home theater unit. The 2GB of memory allows it to run applications smoothly.
Storage is one of the great aspects of the Poly 965Gx. The spacious case design allows for a large number of hard drives to be installed inside of it. In this case, they use a total of three 500GB hard drives to give it one and a half terabytes of storage space for applications, music or videos. This is much higher than many HTPC units. A high speed dual layer DVD burner with LightScribe is standard, but users can also include a BluRay writer if they wish to have the new high definition video format.
Overall, the Poly 965Gx is a very powerful computer system. As a home theater computer system, it is really a mixed bag. It can store lots of recorded video and supports over the air high definition TV, but the design and features put it a bit behind what is now possible with a HTPC.
