Lumina leaps to high-def

Media centres have used many a design trick to try and get in our lounges, but the Elonex Lumina’s ‘I’m just an LCD’ card is up there with the best. Well, now its sequel’s here with something equally alluring up its sleeve – full high definition-readiness.

Available in 32in or 40in (above) guises, the Lumina 2 has a seriously strong CV. Behind the screen lurks a much-improved PC with a 400GB hard drive and Pentium M Processor. The graphics card has also been upgraded to an nVidia 6600 for your Half Life 2 needs, and it’s home to a standard 1GB of RAM.

And then there are those high-def credentials. There are two component and RGB scart connections to keep the HDMI socket company, which all feed an impressive WXGA (1366×768) display. A dual-layer DVD recorder caters nicely for movie archiving, and the hybrid TV tuners  – one Freeview digital, one analogue – let you watch one channel and record another simultaneously.

Rather than writing more love poetry on the integrated Wi-Fi and Windows remote, we’ll just conclude that the Lumina has everything your entertainment whims could possibly need. And all in a sleek, if bloody heavy, iMac-esque unit.

The 32in 2320 will cost £2600 while the 40in 2400 will go for £3300 – both will be available in the next few weeks from Elonex’s site.