After creating a whole new notebook concept with the netbook, Asus turned its attention to creating an all-in-one desktop PC - or as the company called, it a net top - based on netbook technology. Hey presto, the Eee Top appeared, but while most us weren't that convinced, Advent took the idea and, some may say, improved upon it, producing the Advent AIO-100 which is a compact, neatly styled all-in-one.

Unlike most of the all-in-ones you come across, with everything except the kitchen sink crammed in behind the screen, Advent has designed the AIO-100 so that the hardware is separated from the screen in a small netbook-sized base unit, with the screen supported on a rather flimsy strut that's built into this base unit.

It is a neat, compact design, ideal where desktop space is at a premium, and if all you need a PC for is basic jobs like email, web browsing and office work, these are just what the AIO100 was designed to do.

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The 18.4-inch screen with its native resolution of 1,680 x 945 pixels has a glossy finish, which fortunately doesn't reflect office lighting too badly and can be tilted forwards and backwards and up and down using the support strut. Built into the top of the bezel is a 1.3-megapixel webcam.

Inside the base unit you'll find all the standard netbook hardware: Intel Atom N270 processor clocked at 1.60GHz, 1GB of PC2-5300 memory and Intel's i945GME Express chipset which keeps the pre-installed Windows XP Home SP3 OS more than happy. Powering the graphics is an Nvidia GeForce 9200M chip which means you won't be playing any modern games on the AIO-100, but then that's not what it's for.

The base unit is home to five USB ports (two in the right-hand side, three in the rear panel), a 4-in-1 flash card reader, VGA output port, a 160GB, 5,400rpm Fujitsu hard drive and a built-in, dual layer DVD burner to back up your files and data. Built into the top of the unit is a pair of speakers; not the best you'll ever hear but by no means the worst either.

To keep in touch with the outside world you get WiFi (but it's only 802.1b/g), and Gigabit Ethernet. Bundled with the system are a neat and useable mini keyboard and a slim-line mouse, while the software bundle comprises just Cyberlink's DVD Suite and Microsoft Works SE9.0. Advent backs the system with a year's RTB warranty.

This is a really good effort at an all-in-one PC, ideal if desktop space is at a premium and you only need to surf the web, check emails and create office documents. It's priced attractively too.