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AOpen's Ion-powered XC Mini GP7A-HD puts the 'choice' in 'nettop'
There's a decent chance you North Americans in attendance won't ever see the likes of AOpen's XC Mini GP7A-HD, but for those in places where having a say on what innards are shoved into their next nettop (we're lookin' at you, Japan), this mini PC is apposite to fill quite the void. Boasting only a small frame, NVIDIA's Ion graphics technology and space for a multicard reader, it's up to the buyer to slap in a Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4GB of RAM, a 2.5-inch HDD or SSD and a DVD burner or Blu-ray drive. You'll also find six USB 2.0 sockets, an HDMI port and a VGA output, and while gigabit Ethernet is included, it looks as if the WiFi module is on you. Mum's the word on pricing, but we're guessing it'll be as close to nothing as NVIDIA will allow.
Dell's Inspiron Zino HD on sale now in America: starts at $229, doubles as an HTPC
Dell has taken its sweet time in bringing the 7.75- x 7.75- x 3.5-inch Inspiron Zino HD to market, but just 24 hours after it made its market debut across the pond, this little zinger is finally available to the Yanks in attendance. Starting at just $229, the mini PC is far more exhilarating than most ho hum nettops. Oh sure, the base configuration is fairly unexciting, but thankfully Dell enables you to add up to 8GB of memory, a 1.8GHz dual-core AMD Athlon Neo X2 6850e CPU, up to 1TB of HDD space, an optional Blu-ray drive, a 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4330 discrete GPU and WiFi to the mix. 'Course, speccing it out will obviously raise the price substantially, but it's always nice to see more power than anticipated within such a minuscule box. Of note, Dell also mentions that an optional TV tuner, wireless keyboard and mouse are available, but at least for now, the TV tuner is nowhere to be found in the configuration pages. Other inclusions are a 4-in-1 card reader, four USB 2.0 sockets and a pair of eSATA ports. Who says HTPCs have to breathe fire? Update: We've just heard that the TV tuner won't be available at launch (sounds a lot like what happened with the Mini 10), so there goes those dreams of immediately gratifying your urge for a new HTPC of the smallest scale.
Dell's Inspiron Zino HD now official in Ireland and UK
The Irish may be a few hours ahead of us Yanks, but that's not stopping us from snooping on their web pages. Dell's long-awaited Inspiron Zino HD has finally popped official over on the outfit's IE portal, and considering that it even made a brief appearance on the US site over the weekend, we're guessing it's only a matter of hours, minutes and / or nanoseconds before the minuscule desktop shows up everywhere. A total of ten interchangeable colors and designs are being offered on the machine (which gets going at €329), not to mention an integrated HDMI socket and an optional Blu-ray drive. Unlike most of the mini PCs out there today, this one actually has a specs list worth drooling over, and if we can figure out how to get a TV tuner in here, we'd say we just might be looking at our next bedroom HTPC. C'mon US admins -- it's not that early in Round Rock. [Thanks, Andy] Update: It's now live in the UK! Another market down, a few hundred to go... %Gallery-77874%
Inspiron Zino HD now configurable, available to order on Dell's website
Dell may be focusing the bulk of its attention on the white-hot Adamo XPS, but it looks as if its attempting to slide the Zino HD into the wild without anyone noticing. If you'll recall, we snagged a little hands-on time with the box back in August, and now we've reason to believe that an official reveal is just moments away. The Zino HD is now listed on Dell's main "Desktops" portal (a screen cap is after the break), though the accompanying link leads to nowhere. However, one vigilant tipster managed to find a backdoor URL that allows you to configure and order your own Inspiron 400 (its "other name," just so you know) right now. We're seeing the machine available in a slew of colors ($10 to $30 options over black), a 1.5GHz AMD Athlon 3250e or 1.8GHz Athlon 6850e CPU, Windows 7 Home Premium, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, a 500GB (7200RPM) hard drive, 8x DVD burner, a 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4330 GPU, bundled keyboard / mouse and a 20-inch ST2010 LCD thrown in for good measure. The total package described above looks to start at around $807 with a November 27th ship date, though we suspect cheaper models will be available once things get ironed out. [Thanks, Chuck and Douglas] Read - Dell's desktop page Read - Zino HD order page
ASRock ION 330HT-BD nettop gets unboxed and cracked open on video
ASRock's family of nettops may not be anything special when it comes to design, but the ION 330HT-BD can definitely handle its fair share of multimedia. The Atom CPU could unquestionably use a bit lot more oomph, but the NVIDIA Ion GPU and the integrated Blu-ray drive make this little fellow quite the entertainer. Care to see what it looks like inside and out? Hop on past the break and mash play, then.
Myka ION brings Hulu, Boxee and other web content to your TV
It's been almost a full year since we heard a peep from the fine folks at Myka, but it looks like we could be talking about 'em a lot more often judging by the specs list on its latest contraption. The simply-titled ION is an Atom-based media PC that relies on NVIDIA's Ion graphics set and a customized interface that brings Hulu, Boxee and pretty much any other web content you can stumble upon to your television. Within, you'll find a 1.6GHz dual-core Atom 330 CPU, up to 4GB of RAM, ten USB 2.0 ports, VGA / DVI / HDMI outputs, an eSATA connector, Ethernet and plenty of audio outputs. The fanless design ensures that things remain quiet, and for those oozing cash, a Blu-ray drive, HDD and WiFi module can be implanted. It's up for order right now starting at $379, but you'll be stuck waiting four to six weeks for delivery. %Gallery-77659%
ASRock readying three Ion-powered nettops, one with a BD drive
The nettop might not be the most riveting piece of machinery out there, but ASRock's hoping to generate at least a small amount of buzz by outfitting its next trio with NVIDIA's Ion graphics technology. Reportedly, the Ion 330HT, Ion 330Pro and Ion 330HT-BD will all ship with a dual-core 1.6GHz Atom 330 processor, up to 4GB of DDR2 RAM, 7.1 channel audio, gigabit Ethernet, HDMI / VGA outputs, six USB 2.0 sockets and a powered eSATA port. The 330HT and 330HT-BD are both bundled with MCE remotes, while the latter also gets its DVD burner swapped out with a Blu-ray drive. There's no mention of a price or release just yet, but we're figuring that both of those points should be clarified shortly.
Next-gen Atom N470 to relax netbook spec restrictions slightly further
Netbook specs have been held in check by Microsoft and Intel's dizzying array of rules and restrictions for low-cost machines, but now that Windows 7 is out and Intel's getting ready to release the next generation of Atom chips it sounds like things are about to get slightly better. Microsoft has already started allowing netbook manufacturers to load Windows 7 Home Premium on machines without restrictions, and now Fudzilla says Intel will lift the 1GB RAM limit from Atom machines when the 1.83GHz N470 Pine Trail chip hits in March. That means we'll start to see more of a range of netbook specs going forward, but the low-end will probably still be dominated by Windows 7 Starter and the Atom N450, which will still be limited to 1GB of RAM, so don't expect to be happy with the cheap stuff anytime soon. [Via Slashgear]
Onkyo's tiny ION-based P3 nettop has an even tinier removable DVD-ROM
If you're concerned about the future obsolescence of your miniscule Atom-based nettop, chances are its choice of optical storage is not what's bothering you. But, if that's what keeps you up at nights, Onkyo's P3 is your Ambien. Its ION platform sports the usual 1.6GHz Atom 230 proc, 2GB of memory, and 160GB hard drive. The DVD-ROM is a separate module that clips into a groove on the side and, while details are slim, that doesn't look like a standard form-factor to us, so if a Blu-ray upgrade or the like ever surfaces don't expect it to be cheap. The P3 itself (pictured again below with an LCD friend) isn't exactly a bargain to start, with an estimated MSRP of ¥69,800 (about $770) when it ships in March of next year. That's the price you pay for modular design.
Acer's Atom 330, Win7-packin' AspireRevo now shipping to America
Acer's been on quite the rampage of late, pumping out more machines during this week before the Windows 7 launch than in the past few months combined. The latest rig to get the a-okay from the shipping department is the refreshed AspireRevo R3610-U9012, a machine which was originally outed back at IFA. This one ups the ante over the former with a 1.66GHz dual-core Atom 330 (as opposed to an Atom 230), Windows 7 Home Premium, NVIDIA Ion graphics, 2GB of DDR2 RAM, a 160GB hard drive, six USB 2.0 sockets, an HDMI port, eSATA connector, VGA, multicard reader and gigabit Ethernet. There's also WiFi, audio in / out and a bundled wireless keyboard and mouse, though all that oomph in such a small package will cost you $329.99 to bring home.
Slew of Pine Trail packing portables announced, processor release slated for early Jan?
Remember that lone Pine Trail nettop that was spotted yesterday morning? That wasn't the only next-gen Atom product that KND had up its sleeve -- not by a long shot. The company has an array of netbooks, nettops, and one hybrid combination of the two displayed on its website, all captured in tiny little pictures like the one you see to the right. On the low end there's the K116, an 11.6-inch netbook with an N450 processor, 1GB of RAM, and a 250GB hard disk. Two nettops are planned, including the K185 we saw yesterday as well as the K19W with its 19-inch, 1440 x 900 screen, dual-core Atom D510 processor, 2GB of RAM, and again a 250GB hard disk. Finally there's the middle-man, the K133 netbook that shares its specs with the K19W, but is included in a 13.3-inch laptop form. All are spec'd out at the read link below, but none with prices or ship dates. The latest word on the Pine Trail platform release is that the N450 chips will be let loose on January 3, and that several devices will be shipping on that very same day. You can probably connect the dots as well as we can.
Intel's Pine Trail Atom D510 already spotted in Chinese nettop
Remember when we first heard that a mythical Atom D510 was on Intel's roadmap way back in June? Yeah, turns out that memo was spot-on, and while the chip maker has since gone official with the next-gen architecture, we've yet to see it within any machine outside of a trade show floor... until now. Halfway around the world, the KND K1850 all-in-one nettop is said to be packing a dual-core 1.66GHz D510 (Pineview) chip, an 18.6-inch display, 250GB hard drive, 2GB of RAM and a DVD drive. There's also inbuilt WiFi, a 3-in-1 card reader and a few USB ports, though there's no indication that it'll ever ship to anywhere outside of Asia. 'Course, about four billion other machines from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo will, and you can bet your bottom dollar that they'll all have the exact same specifications. Oh, joy.[Via Slashgear]
ASUS EeeBox EB1501 comes packing Windows 7, Atom 330
We just caught a glimpse of ASUS' EeeBox EB1012 nettop last month, but it looks like the company is already doing things one better with its new, redesigned EB1501 model. As before, this one packs the increasingly common one-two punch of NVIDIA's Ion chipset and Intel's Atom 333 dual-core processor, but makes its mark by being the first EeeBox (and one of the first nettops) to come pre-loaded with Windows 7, which also means it's not shipping until the end of the month. Otherwise, you'll get the usual 2GB of RAM (expandable to 4GB) and 250GB hard drive, a built-in DVD burner, and an HDMI port to make it feel right at home in your home theater. No official pricing over here just yet, but it looks like this one will start at €399 (or about $580) when it hits Europe. [Via Notebook Italia, thanks Magnus]
Acer's Ion-boasting Aspire Revo nettop now shipping from Newegg
It's been a bit of a wait, but nettop enthusiasts are sure to be happy to hear this one. Acer's NVIDIA Ion-powered Aspire Revo is now shipping from Newegg. The nettop -- which boasts a 1.6GHz Intel Atom 230 processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 160GB hard drive and Windows XP Home Edition -- got itself a pretty solid review from Engadget back in April, though we did have some gripes about the CPU. It runs $199.99. [Thanks, Kevin]
Lenovo Ion-powered IdeaCenter Q110 nettop on sale now
The slow wave of NVIDIA Ion-based machines continues to wash in -- as expected, the Lenovo Q110 nettop is now on sale. We'd actually wait another couple weeks to score this rig with Windows 7 preloaded, but if you're into Vista you can grab it right now for $399 with 2GB of RAM and a 160GB drive and take a free upgrade disc when it's available. Anyone gonna throw down?[Via Netbooked]
LG introduces XPION X30 Ion-based nettop
Apparently not content to let ASUS have all the fun, LG's just announced the XPION X30, its first Ion-based nettop. This little fella features an Atom N230 CPU, 2GB of RAM, 250GB HDD, and ships with Windows Vista (for the time being, at least). Aside from sporting six (count 'em!) USB ports, it weighs in at a mere 2.4 lbs, draws just 40 watts of power, and can be VESA mounted to the back of your LCD. But never mind all that -- as long is it allows us to stream American Ninja from Netflix with minimal fuss we're happy. Debuts tomorrow in Korea. %Gallery-73363% [Via SlashGear]
Moneual's MiNEW A10 nettop gets preciously attacked by Hello Kitty
You remember Moneual, right? You know -- the guys and gals playing a torrented movie on their demo unit at a trade show. Now that we're on the same page, have a look at the show-stopper above. That's the Hello Kitty-embellished MiNEW A10, or in other words, the most outrageous nettop to ever see the light of day. The wildest part is that existing A10 owners can even make their relatively sane looking machine morph into cuteness overload for the tidy sum of ₩150,000 ($123). Or you can just get a whole new rig that no one else has to know about for ₩540,000 ($443) -- totally your call there. One more frightening look is after the break.[Via Akihabara News]
HP MS200 all-in-one barely putters past nettop status, saves face with Windows 7
An AMD Athlon X2 3250e Dual-Core Processor clocked at 1.5GHz isn't going to be churning through the next Pixar masterpiece anytime soon, but it might just make for a passable (and certainly cheap) all-in-one PC in HP's new MS200. HP has paired the chip with 2GB of RAM, a 320GB HDD, DVD burner and ATI integrated graphics (which wasn't running Aero when we spotted this thing) and a fairly low resolution 18.5-inch LCD. The upside is of course the $599 pricetag, but you'll have to wait until October 22 to buy and behold the glorious visions of Windows 7. PR is after the break. %Gallery-72818%
Fujitsu Esprimo Q1500: Core 2 Duo and Blu-ray in a laughably small form factor
My my, we've seen heatsinks bigger than this latest Esprimo Mini PC from Fujitsu. The Q1500 might look like your run-of-the-mill underpowered nettop, but its makers have successfully crammed a mobile Core 2 Duo CPU and a slot-loading Blu-ray drive inside to make one hell of an appealing little goer. 4GB of memory and a 320GB hard drive fill out the generous spec, and yes, there's a HDMI out as well. Basically, you're looking at a Timeline laptop adapted to the desktop, which would also suggest that the unknown Intel CPUs are of the CULV variety. Of course, all that grunt won't come cheap and the base Core 2 Solo, DVD drive-packing option will start prices off at €699 ($998) when these hit Germany later this month. [Via Slippery Brick]
Linutop 3 out to seduce minimalists, cheapskates
We know we expend a lot of digital ink talking about oomph and va va voom, but sometimes you just need a computer you can give to your old grandpappy and let him go wild with the Reader's Digest online edition. The Linutop 3, sporting a custom Linux OS atop a blistering 1GHz VIA C7 CPU, 1GB of RAM and a tremendously capacious 2GB SSD, is just that sort of machine. It asks for a mere €340 ($485) and 20 watts of power, and lets you expand storage by adding an internal hard drive or plugging a memory stick into one of six available USB ports. Sure, you're unlikely to use it for more than the bundled Open Office and Firefox applications, but have you considered this thing's potential after bumping that clock multiplier and dipping the whole thing in liquid nitrogen? Have you? [Via The Register]
