Packard Bell relaunches ixtreme desktop

"Born again" product range, with 10 USB ports!

View more images

9 July 2009 16:35 GMT / By Duncan Geere

Packard Bell has announced that it's revamping its "ixtreme" product range, adding better specs and new features.

Targeted at families the new design has a "sleek glossy black chassis with matt accents". All the media ports are front mounted, so you don't have to scrabble around the wires at the back, and there's a "backup" key, so you can backup your data with just a button press.

There's a storage deck on the top of the case, so you can plug in your MP3 player or camera and connect it via the USB ports in the bay. A dedicated "photo frame" button on the chassis also starts software that displays images from a hard disk or memory card.

Specs-wise, you've got the option of an Intel Core i7, Core 2 Quad, or an AMD Phenom II X4. You can pack it with a slightly ridiculous 12GB of RAM, and upto 3TB of hard disk space. There are ten (ten!) USB connectors, two e-sata ports, three firewire ports (who owns that many firewire devices?) and HDMI output, along with a multi-card reader.

On the graphics side, you've got the option of various Nvidia cards, upto the latest GeForce GTS250. If you're not feeling the Geforce love, though, then you can also install an Intel integrated graphics card that won't do much, but is reassuringly cheap.

Lastly, there's HD 7.1 surround sound, a SPDIF connector, an optional DVBT tuner with remote control, and Wi-Fi. No Bluetooth mentioned, surprisingly.

As there are so many options, there isn't a price set in stone, but the cheapest you'll be able to get it for is £600. It'll be available in July.