24 OCTOBER 2019|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE 380
WE’RESTILLINsearch of the ultimate
budget all-in-one PC; the Acer Aspire S24
(Shopper371) and Medion Akoya E23401
(Shopper376) were both decent attempts, but
low displayquality and sluggish storage held
them back from must-have status.
It would therefore be fair to look at the
new Aspire C24with scepticism, as it’s almost
acombination of the two.Obviously,itshares
abrand with the Aspire S24, but it looks
almost suspiciously similar to the Akoya
E23401, especially with the rectangular USB
webcam being magnetically perched on top.
This also has the same screen size,resolution
and CPU as both AIOs –24in, 1,920x1,080 and
the Intel Core i5-8250U, respectively –but this
Aspire C24spec is the cheapest of the lot, at
afull £100 less than the Akoya E23401.
EYE CARE
That point alone means it bears investigation,
which starts with the C24’s slimline design.
While not as eye-catching as the even thinner,
gold-coloured S24, this looks good for
something so cheap.Tiny screen bezels, a
faux brushed aluminium finish and angular
stand all contributetoaclean and modern
aesthetic, even if it is largely made of plastic.
Both 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.1are
integrated, while all the physical connectors
are positioned on the rear.These amount to
one HDMI output, one Ethernet socket, a
3.5mm audio jack and two USB2 ports, with
an SD card reader and two USB3 ports
sitting higher up,one of these being
intended forthe USB webcam.
This camera is, as was the Akoya E23401’s
near-identical counterpart, anice touch.
Video quality is fine,with some noticeable
light bloom but smooth movement, and
instead of having asliding privacy cover you
can simply unplug it entirely.
If anything, it’s wiser to leave the camera
disconnected until you need it, as four total
ACERAspireC24
★★★★★
£699•From http://www.currys.co.uk
VERDICT
Ifyoucancopewithmechanicalstorage,the
C24isthebest-valueAIOsystemaround
ALL-IN-ONE PC
USB ports isn’t very many at all. Both the S24
and Akoya E23401 have more full-size ports,
and while being able to connect the bundled
mouse and keyboard to asingle USB wireless
receiver effectively saves you aport, this still
only leaves amere three forother uses, or
two if you use the webcam as well.
This isn’t the only wayinwhich the C24
scrimps, either.The speakers are awful,
completely devoid of low-end and incapable
of making music sound like anything other
than ascratchy mess. They’re not particularly
loud, either,although considering their lack of
fidelity,perhaps that’s agood thing.
VISUAL IMPROVEMENTS
Displayquality is much better.What’s even
more surprising about this is that the C24’s
screen performs better than that of the more
expensive S24, with aslightly higher sRGB
gamut coverage of 87.3% and amuch higher
contrast ratio of 1,008:1. Peak brightness is
also improved, up to 272.2cd/m^2 ,and even a
lower average delta-E of 2.8 means colours
are reproduced alittle more accurately.It’s
also broadly better than the Akoya E23401’s
screen, with the exception of contrast.
Of course,these are hardly professional-
grade figures, and the C24isn’t ideal for
editing photos or videos, but this is the best
displayofthe three.
Since theyall have the same processor and
8GB of RAM, there’s not nearly as much
difference in processing power.Inour 4K
benchmarks, the C24scored 98 in the image
test, 80 in the video test, 57 formultitasking
and 71 overall, so it ends up with the exact
same final score as the Akoya E23401, which
is just six points less than that of the S24.
Integrated graphics mean that smooth
gaming isn’t feasible foranything but the
most basic titles. The best we could get out
of Dirt Showdown was 32fps, and that was
just on High settings (down from Ultra) with
the resolution reduced to 1,280x720. Still, as
ageneral home PC, the C24iscomfortable
with browsing and simple office tasks. Forthe
price,that’s perfectly acceptable.
The lone 1TB hard disk, however,can be
responsible forsome frustrating slowdown.
With no SSD or solid-statecache,Windows is
entirely reliant on creaking old mechanical
technology,which is bad news forbooting
and transfer times. At one point the C24
took more than six minutes to perform a
simple restart, and that was without
Windows Updatebutting its head in.
VALUEADDED
The S24suffered from the same problem,
at least on more affordable specs, while the
Akoya E23401 escaped it by pairing its hard
disk with amaster SSD.This time,however,
it’s easier to forgive: the C24isnot only
significantly cheaper than the S24, making its
lack of an SSD much more understandable,it
also makes up forthis shortcoming with a
better displayand more flexible webcam.
As forthe Akoya E23401, we’d put the
C24onroughly equal footing. Medion’s
decision to include an SSD at astill
attractive price helps balance out its poor
display, while the slower C24saves even
more moneywhile having the better panel.
JamesArcher
SPECIFICATIONS
Windowsoverall
Multitasking
DirtShowdown
Metro:LastLight
0% -50 Reference + 50 + 100
Seepage90forperformancedetails
PROCESSORQuad-core1.6GHzIntelCorei5-8250U•RAM
8GBDDR4SDRAM•FRONTUSBPORTSNone•REAR
USBPORTS2xUSB2,2xUSB3•GRAPHICSADAPTORIntel
UHDGraphics620•STORAGE1TBharddisk•DISPLAY
24in,1,920x1,080•OPERATINGSYSTEMWindows10Home
- WARRANTYOneyearcarry-in•DETAILSwww.acer.com
- PARTCODEC24-865
71
57
FAIL
FAIL
