ARCTIC MC101-A10 Home Entertainment Centre Review
Packaging And Bundle
ARCTIC are certainly not hiding away the MC101-A10 in their packaging - the HTPC is front and centre, as it should be. Also prominent is the availability of a Remote Control App for iOS and Android devices; nice to see that they're not playing favourites with their Smartphones.
Listed on the front are the features of the product: Windows 7 Home Premium, AMD Vision and Radeon Graphics technology, TV Tuner and USB 3.0 to name a few. A curious addition is the advertising of 3D Capability; sadly not something we have the tools to test but likely accomplished through the use of 3D Blu-Ray video files.
The rear of the sleeve details the technical specifications of the MC101. Thankfully it appears to be specific to the SKU purchased - we have the specs for the MC101-A10 - and surprisingly detailed. It should be noted that although it lists a DVB-T (HD) tuner, you will not be able to pick up Freeview HD in the UK (which makes use of DVB-T2); other regions may be able to utilise this tuner for terrestrial HD content without difficulty.
The sleeve top replicates the Main Feature of the MC101 which were listed on the rear in 12 different languages, whereas the bottom describes pictorially the cooling mechanism, dimunitive height and wide connectivity options.
ARCTIC's bundled accessories for the MC101-A10 may seem sparse, but are in fact the minimum you need to get underway. As well as the Power Brick, region-specific plug and quick-start guide, ARCTIC have included a 'high speed HDMI cable', compact digital TV aerial and coax aerial cable adapter. Though a IR sensor is included on the MC101 itself, ARCTIC have chosen to not include a remote control. Perhaps due to the prevalence of Smartphones they instead provide a Apple iOS and Google Play App to turn your 'phone into a remote control without incurring the expense of additional hardware. Those without a smartphone can rest easy - the MC101 is also compatible with a wide range of Windows MCE remote controls.
ARCTIC are certainly not hiding away the MC101-A10 in their packaging - the HTPC is front and centre, as it should be. Also prominent is the availability of a Remote Control App for iOS and Android devices; nice to see that they're not playing favourites with their Smartphones.
Listed on the front are the features of the product: Windows 7 Home Premium, AMD Vision and Radeon Graphics technology, TV Tuner and USB 3.0 to name a few. A curious addition is the advertising of 3D Capability; sadly not something we have the tools to test but likely accomplished through the use of 3D Blu-Ray video files.
The rear of the sleeve details the technical specifications of the MC101. Thankfully it appears to be specific to the SKU purchased - we have the specs for the MC101-A10 - and surprisingly detailed. It should be noted that although it lists a DVB-T (HD) tuner, you will not be able to pick up Freeview HD in the UK (which makes use of DVB-T2); other regions may be able to utilise this tuner for terrestrial HD content without difficulty.
The sleeve top replicates the Main Feature of the MC101 which were listed on the rear in 12 different languages, whereas the bottom describes pictorially the cooling mechanism, dimunitive height and wide connectivity options.
ARCTIC's bundled accessories for the MC101-A10 may seem sparse, but are in fact the minimum you need to get underway. As well as the Power Brick, region-specific plug and quick-start guide, ARCTIC have included a 'high speed HDMI cable', compact digital TV aerial and coax aerial cable adapter. Though a IR sensor is included on the MC101 itself, ARCTIC have chosen to not include a remote control. Perhaps due to the prevalence of Smartphones they instead provide a Apple iOS and Google Play App to turn your 'phone into a remote control without incurring the expense of additional hardware. Those without a smartphone can rest easy - the MC101 is also compatible with a wide range of Windows MCE remote controls.
