Exclusive: Review of the Tranquil PC iMono PC

October 16, 2011 by 2 Comments

Yesterday we told you about Tranquil’s iMono PC and then we had an exclusive unboxing. Today we have our exclusive review, so read on….

UWHS - Tranquil PC iMono - 2

Product Description

The iMono is the finest computer system ever created by Tranquil PC. The result of months of R&D can now be enjoyed and experienced in the iMono

Designed by Tranquil

The design criteria for iMono was to design and create a super slim, small, 100% silent, 100% ventless, 100% fanless, 100% high performance system – that not only delivered a technically superior solution but that did it in style.

High Performance, in silence

By utilising the latest 2nd Generation Core processors from Intel combined with original Intel main boards it was possible to realise the design. This combined with major investment into our own internal high precision, high speed machining equipment, allowed the design to become a reality. Completely design and manufactured in Manchester, UK – the iMono system is now available.

The 35mm (not including feet) super slim chassis is created from a single billet of aerospace grade aluminum, this means a chassis with no seams, no joins, no unslightly screws – just smooth lines and a beauty never seen in a PC system before.

Housing a choice of 2nd Generation Core Processors from Intel, and Intel’s high performance H61 main board, the system performs like nothing else of this size. With modern connectivity to the rear, the uses of the iMono system are unlimited.

Background

For a background to our development of monocoque (single skin) products, including the iMono, please click on the links below:

Monocoque Systems

CNC machinery

Where to use

Optimised for long term reliability, silent operation, high performance and install anywhere – the iMono is already being ordered for industrial, marine, transportation, telecoms as well as consumer (PC / Media Centre) applications.

Who are Tranquil PC?

From their website:

Tranquil PC, a UK based family company, was formed in the early part of 2003, by Managing Director, David Thompson. David is a passionate designer and entrepreneur, who has always committed his time and invested his skills into developing innovative products and building business to supply new markets. He started his first business at 16 years of age and went on to win the prestigious Queens Award for Enterprise in 1982. Tranquil PC is now a world leader in the field of low energy IT systems. The move to brand new premises in 2007, and the appointment of new technical / sales staff has broadened the range of products and services offered.

Specifications

Dimensions : 250 (W) x 180 (D) x 33* (H) mm (*not incl feet)

CPU / Cooling : Intel 35W i3 or i5

RAM : Max 8GB

HDD Support : 1x mSATA

PCIex Support : None

Main board : Intel DH61AG

Front panel : Power SW, Power LED

Rear I/O : 19VDC, USB3 (2), USB2 (2), GBE LAN, HDMI, DVD-I, eSATA, Audio (in/out)

Internal : N/A

Environmental : Acoustics (0dBA)

Power consumption : Idle 17W, Fully loaded 42W

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About Andrew Edney

This post was written by who has written 6096 posts for Connected Digital World. I am the owner and editor of this site. I have been interested in gadgets and tech since I was a little kid. I have also written a number of books on various tech subjects. I also write for The Huffington Post. And I am honoured to be a Microsoft MVP for Windows Home Server since January 2008.
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  • Mario

    It’s a little beauty. If those external graphics card boxes for laptops ever take off, this could benefit from an expresscard slot too as gfx is the only weak point.

  • Dan

    Hello all, please find my personnal experience with this unit : (experience also posted on tranquilpc website as review) :

    I’ve preorderd this case by end of October 11, expecting to receive it for first week of Nov 11 as advertised on the website.

    1 week after the preorder I’m told the unit will only be shipped 3rd week of november because Intel haven’t ship the motherboard on time…

    I proposed them to send to me all the components but the motherboard (MB was available where I live so I could have ordered it and built the PC myself). I had indeed sold my old htpc and was unable to see any movies or listen to music …

    Answer was negative because I was told they were doing serious tests on units before shipping them… I wasn’t that happy but this was anyway a fine arugment for me.

    2 weeks later I receive another notification telling me that some additional delays will have to be expected because the SSD drive was out of stock !!!! Another week of delay was told to me to be expected : 3 days for getting the drive, 1 day for testing …

    1 week later I (finally) received my unit to discover that :
    - The feet provided with the unit were in plastic (whereas the ones on the picture on the website were in metal)
    - A corner of the case was damaged 1cm of steel was missing !
    - The unit was not powering on …..

    After 2 hours spent on testing and finally unscrewing the unit I realized that the reason the unit wasn’t powering on was that the RAM was not correctly fit in the Motherboard !!!
    Once I fitted the RAM , the unit could power on again !

    Following this I called them and explained them the situation and asking them how they could have done any tests on a unit that was simply not powering on ????
    I was proposed to have a summary of the tests that were done to this unit (which I accepted and which I never received …)

    Regarding the defect on the unit I was asked to send some pictures, which I did and I was send a new unit. (this reactivity contributed to the fact I put 2 stars on the review …)

    In the meantime I have also written a mail do the CEO directly to present the situation and ask for a compensation (commercial gesture) for all the time I have spent (nearly 8 hours for the whole issue), the inconveniences (I had no HTPC for 1 month !) and also the fact that I was completely misled about the tests they were doing !!! (How can a unit that cannot powered be tested ??? How can a unit that is externally defective be sent ?)

    This mail was sent 1 month ago :
    At that time I am still waiting for a direct answer from him to my mail and also waiting for the compensation I have asked for for the time I have spent on this issue (8 hours !)

    If they had offered me the compensation I was asking for, I would have ordered more items for them.
    As they didn’t this is actually the first and last time I put an order for one of their unit.

    So as a conclusion : cases are really nice looking (that the other reason I put 2 stars on this review) but service quality & customer relationship was (at least for me) one of the worst I have ever experienced when buying online.

    So buy at your own risk :-)