Viewsonic VOT550 Media Centre - Blu-ray Mac Mini Alternative?

We had a brief look at the Amex Digital BD-UG1 Blu-ray add-on for the Mac Mini a week or so back, a product which gave the Mac HD disc abilities at a cost of some dollars and the need to install another OS.  However, those who are looking for a Blu-ray equipped mini computer to hide away under their TV and forget about should take a close look at the Viewsonic VOT550, which although flawed, does a few things better than the Mac Mini.

The piano black casing will look great alongside the majority of LCD or plasma TVs and the complete absence of any superfluous controls keeps the style on the right side of cool.  Inside is an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2Ghz processor with 4GB of RAM to keep things moving briskly on, while the latest Windows 7 operating system keeps things simple - well, simpler for Blu-ray than OS X anyway.  A 500GB hard drive takes care of storage.

Connectivity wise is where the Viewsonic is let down, as there is no HDMI socket.  Yes, we know, it's a big problem but at least there is a DVI-I to slightly make up for it.  There is a total of six USB 2.0 ports, two at the front and four at the rear, along with an S/PDIF connection ready to connect to your AV receiver.  Wi-Fi is built-in, an Ethernet connection is present and if you dig deep enough in the box you'll find a remote control too.

The Viewsonic VOT550 is a tempting package if you can get past having to use a DVI to HDMI plug, however the US price of $950 and UK cost of £690 is a little steep considering a Playstation 3 is considerably less.  But, if space is at a premium and you need to have the PC side of things up and running on your HDTV, the VOT550 may be worth a closer look.