Are you an avid TV watcher? Are you frustrated with the sad state of VCR usability or tired of changing your own life schedule just to watch a TV show you enjoy? If so, Ion has the perfect product for you. The DEC-180 is fully contained PC running Windows Media Center 2005 in a package the size of an average hardcover book. This product will automatically record all your favorite TV shows, playback all your existing music, movies, and pictures, and also give you the ability to pause and rewind live TV. Pretty impressive in my book.
Table of Contents
- Initial Impressions
- Features and Specs
- Connectivity
- Setup
- Using the Ion DEC-180
- Pros and Cons
- Conclusion
Initial Impressions
I was pleased with the DEC-180 as soon as I took it out of the box. The first thing I noticed was the extremely small size. The DEC-180 is advertised as being only 8" tall and 9" long, but even knowing this it’s still quite a shock when you remove it from the packaging and discover that Ion has managed to pack a fully-functioning media PC in such a sleek form factor.
I have my own media center PC that I built myself, so after carefully shopping for a sleek case to use, I thought that nothing could impress me more than those $200 cases that look exactly like home audio components. The DEC-180 showed me the folly of those thoughts. To give you an idea of its size, here’s a picture of it next to my 2 regular PCs.
Ion DEC-180 next to 2 normal mid-tower cases.
Don’t let the size fool you though, Ion has packed an impressive set of features into this very attractive package.
Features and Specs
- MSRP $1199, street price around $1100
- 1.66 GHz Intel Core Duo Processor
- Intel VIIV ready (5 second instant-on, low energy consumption, silent/low heat operation)
- 100 GB SATA Hard Drive
- 1 GB DDR2 memory
- Built-in Bluetooth Capability
- Integrated WiFi
- 10/100/1000 integrated Ethernet
- Integrated Intel 945 GM Graphics
- Built-in 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
- HDTV support (480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p)
- Slot-loading Dual Layer DVD Burner
- Upgradeable Processor, Hard Drive, and Memory
Connectivity
Despite the svelte size of the DEC-180, it is no slouch when it comes to connectivity. On the front panel, we have one USB 2.0 port, one 4-pin FireWire 400 port, and a 3-in-1 Media Card Reader that supports SD and MMC flash memory cards.
The back panel is also full of connectivity options:
- Two USB 2.0 ports
- Coax/BNC Cable Input
- DVI Video Output
- S-Video Output
- 10/100/1000 Ethernet Port
- V.92 Modem port
- Mic Port
- Stereo Audio-out port
- Optical Digital Audio-out port
With all these ports, the included S-Video to Composite Video converter cable and DVI to VGA converter, you should be able to hook up the DEC-180 to almost any home theater setup. One thing I was a bit confused about was the optical digital audio port. It is integrated in the standard 1/8" mini-jack port, but Ion did not include an adaptor to be able to use an optical cable with the standard toslink connection, nor the optical cable itself for that matter. Nevertheless, a few minutes and a few dollars later on Amazon, and I was able to have a crisp digital connection between the DEC-180 and my home theater speakers.
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