Dino PC Banji 3450 review

The processor is a 3.1GHz Intel Core i5-3450. It’s a quad-core Ivy Bridge processor, but, unlike the Core i5-3570K chip that’s almost ubiquitous in PCs at this price, it has a locked multiplier so is tricky to overclock. However, it still did reasonably well in our benchmark tests with a score of 103.

At the front of the case are two USB2 ports alongside the eSATA port and obligatory 3.5mm mic and headphone ports. At the back are another six USB2 ports, two USB3 ports, a PS/2 port, three 3.5mm outputs for 5.1 analogue audio, an optical S/PDIF output for digital audio and a Gigabit Ethernet port.

Dino PC has included an Asus VS247H monitor, which is a 23.6in widescreen LCD with a matte screen, even lighting and pleasingly natural colours. Also included is a Trust eLight Full HD Webcam, which captures full HD video so you can make Skype video calls from the comfort of your sofa.

Although the idea of a compact Windows 8 PC is essentially a good one and the Banji 3450 does the job in terms of processor power, we weren’t too happy with the build quality of this system and its comparatively small hard disk, and it’s not much good for gaming. With its existing specification, the Banji 3450 doesn’t quite work as either a media centre PC or a compact PC alternative to a games console.