Hardware ReviewsApplica Multimedia While most of the content of homePCnetwork.com deals with connecting two or more computers into a home network, we were intrigued by the concept behind this Applica product from Concurrent Controls. In short, the Applica product line comprises ISA and PCI cards that allow you to run a second monitor, keyboard and mouse from a computer. The user of this second "computer" can run programs from the first computer using "unused" power in today's typical home computer. The "Multimedia" version we reviewed is a PCI card and adds a sound card onboard, allowing you to hook up a second set of speakers. It's truly like two computers in one. Surely, this won't be a viable solution for many home networkers, particularly with some of the performance constraints as we'll outline below. Nevertheless, for some people, they may simply want the absolute cheapest way to add a second "user" to their home PC to share Internet access or use a simple program while someone else is computing. For that, the Applica might fit the bill. At $249, though, it certainly isn't dirt cheap. In fact, you can probably put together an inexpensive computer (not counting the monitor, keyboard and mouse which you'll need for the Applica anyway) for under $400. So the decision comes down to how much more functionality you need for $150. To help you make that decision, read on. Overview The Applica Multimedia comes in a small box. Inside, you'll find the PCI card that contains the "all-in-one" circuitry. On that one board is a video card, sound card and other components needed to share the CPU, memory and hard drive of the main computer. The kit also includes the Applica software on CD and a fairly extensive 70-page manual. Our kit also came with a small flyer promoting a cable kit that would allow you to place the extra monitor, keyboard and mouse up to 25-feet away from the main computer.
Photo courtesy of Applica Installation Installation was relatively easy and closely matched, but was not identical to, the included instructions. We plugged the PCI card into an empty slot on our Celeron 400 test machine and restarted the computer. As per the instructions, the "New Hardware Wizard" started and asked to install drivers. We pointed the installation program to the location on the CD specified in the instructions. Initial files were copied from the CD, but the installation routine did NOT ask for the computer to be restarted as the instruction indicated. Instead, we immediately moved forward in the installation by installing the sound card drivers. At that point, we were asked to restart and did. Next, the Found New Hardware wizard started for the new video portion of the Applica. Next, as per the instructions, we started the set up routine for the actual Applica program. The install routine immediately suggested that, although our 64mb of RAM was adequate, 96mb was really preferred. We ignored the suggestion and continued with installation on our 64meg machine. After setup was nearly complete, the installation routine suggested that User Profiles needed to be enabled and a click on the "yes" button automatically turned them on. These are needed so that the user of the main machine and the Applica "add on" can have distinct settings. One more restart of the machine and we were nearly done. Upon restart, the monitor for the second, or Applica, machine shows a large blue screen with the Applica logo. Turning back to the main computer, you need to run the Applica program and manually turn on the Applica workstation. Once you do that, the second monitor starts another session of Windows and asks for a password for the user. At that point, you are up and running. Very slick. We did run into one major problem with installation. The Applica had a major conflict with a Creative Labs Ensoniq sound card. If that card was installed, the Applica would either not "turn on" or would lock up the main computer. The problem occurred whether we installed the Ensoniq sound card before or after the Applica. We noticed on the web site that Applica has a new application update available for free download. Some combination of that update and new Ensoniq drivers will probably solve the problem. Performance Frankly, we were hard pressed to come up with any objective measurements of the Applica performance. Instead, we used a series of subjective tests to determine the performance of the hardware and software. For example, when we were running Quake III (a very hardware intensive 3D game for those who haven't heard of it) on the main machine, we were able to surf the Internet on the Applica machine with few, if any, hiccups in either application. Of course, as many people know, surfing the Internet is not an application that normally drags on your CPU, memory and hard drive. So.. to test that...we tried to run another game on the Applica machine while Quake III was running on the main machine. This time, it was clear that Quake III was affected and the other game stuttered considerably...both the video and audio. Certainly with more power in the main computer some of this could be minimized. Applica suggests the minimum configuration is a Pentium 233, so our Celeron 400 must be considered at least medium level power for this system. More memory probably would have helped; remember, Applica suggests 64 meg for the main "host" and 32 meg for each extra user under Windows 98. Technical Support Concurrent Controls has a technical support hotline for registered users. Hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday through Friday. They also have a tech support fax and e-mail. The web site, www.applica.com, has an extensive support section and downloads. Summary For certain users and certain applications, the Applica Multimedia will hit the mark. You would, in fact, be hard pressed to spend less money to find a way to get two users on the Internet if you only have one computer. Still, at $250, many people will want to consider adding another $50-100 for a second, admittedly low power machine. That decision comes down to how critical that extra $50-100 is to you AND whether or not you might need to run two power-hungry applications or games at the same time. If the answers are "very important" and "probably never" then take a close look at the Applica Multimedia. We would only warn you that even seemingly simple applications...such as a kids game...can be a real drain with 3D graphics and multimedia output. In that instance, if you can swing a few extra bucks, even a cheap second computer might be the way to go. Grade = B+ Details
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