Tranquil PC MMC-12 review

It might be just 40mm thick, but there’s more than enough connectivity for any self-respecting Media Center PC. High-speed transfers are no sweat thanks to two USB 3 ports and a single eSATA port, and there are a further two USB 2 ports alongside a Gigabit Ethernet connector. If you crave wireless connectivity, then Tranquil will add a micro-sized USB dongle from Edimax for an extra £23. There are also two 3.5mm audio jacks, one of which doubles as an optical S/PDIF out, and it has dual-link DVI and HDMI 1.4 outputs.

Benchmarks may seem irrelevant for such a living room PC, but the MMC-12’s Core i3-2100T processor and SSD make for a very responsive experience. An overall score of 0.62 in our Real World Benchmarks doesn’t set the world on fire, but for the playback demands of a Media Center PC it’s absolutely fine. Those who crave more power can always upgrade to a Core i5 for £45, and there’s a spare 2.5in bay for an additional hard disk and an SODIMM slot for more memory.

However, even all that won’t be enough to make the MMC-12 a viable gaming system: with an average of 23fps in our Low quality Crysis benchmark, and no room to add a dedicated graphics card, it’s good for a bit of casual gaming here and there but little more.

Software

The system is set to boot straight into Windows Media Centre – even from a cold boot it only takes 30 seconds – which means you don’t have to reach for a keyboard and mouse every time you start it up. Instead, the supplied Philips-branded Media Center remote makes selecting content for playback simple.

In addition to the usual Media Center menu items, Tranquil has added its own Internet TV button, which provides a range of handy shortcuts to the online services from BBC, ITV and Channel 4. With most of these just hot-linking to iPlayer or website content – in some cases expired content – you’re probably better off buying a wireless mouse and using a standard browser from your sofa. The ability to launch Arcsoft TotalMedia Theatre directly in Media Center is much more useful, however: with HD upscaling of DVD content, it provides far better picture quality than the standard Media Center player.

One decision that’s left entirely up to the user is which type of TV tuner to employ. As standard it comes without, but Tranquil recommends either a network DVB-T tuner such as Silicon Dust’s HDHomeRun, which ferries TV through a wired network; or a pair of USB Hauppauge nanoStick T2 PCTV 290e DVB-T tuners, which would provide access to Freeview HD and the ability to record one program while watching another. We Recommended the Hauppauge when we reviewed it, and although Tranquil won’t sell it directly it can be found elsewhere for around £55.

The verdict

Building a perfect living room PC is a tricky balancing act: there needs to be enough power to keep everything feeling slick and smooth; it needs to be quiet, ideally silent; and it needs to be small enough to fit on a TV stand or AV rack. Tranquil’s MMC-12 definitely ticks all of those boxes, and it’s a joy to see PC makers continuing to innovate with what remains a niche form-factor. There’s no question this design excellence is expensive given the performance and features on offer – and don’t forget you may have to budget for a TV tuner or two – but if you’re looking for a no-compromise PC that will fit into a living room entertainment setup, this is a very strong contender.