Archive for March, 2010
We’ve been hearing about the ET2010 model since CES, then got another glimpse at CeBIT a few weeks ago. Now it has come to light that there isn’t just one ET2010 model -there are actually five! The five models range from the ET2010AG, with an AMD Athlon II processor, up to the ET2010PNT, with an Atom D510. All models have a 20-inch, 1600 x 900 displays, but only two of them sport multitouch. Storage ranges from 160GB to 500GB, 1 or 2GB of RAM is available, and graphics options include an integrated Intel GMA chipset, ATI’s Radeon HD 5470, or, most interestingly, Ion 2 graphics in the two Atom-powered options. All offer a DVD drive and all sport the same, wall-mountable and 1-inch thick design.
No word yet on when these will start shipping, or what the price will be, but they certainly look tempting.
– Amazon
– Amazon
VIA VX900 Nettop Processor
VIA has officially introduced a new product called the VX900 graphics processor which can be coupled with a VIA low power CPU to provide HD Flash and desktop video playback. The VX900 media system processor uses VIA’s ChromationHD 2.0 video engine which supports hardware acceleration of H.264 video. That also includes Flash video if you’re using the Flash Player 10.1 beta, which can take advantage of hardware acceleration features. Furthermore, VIA says the new platform can handle 1080p HD video “without incurring a heavy CPU load.” Blu-Ray video playback is also supported, as is hardware acceleration for MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV< and VC1.
The VX900 MSP supports DDR3 memory with speeds up to 1066MHz. And while VIA has been showing the media processor off with a Nano processor, it’s also compatible with VIA C7 and VIA Een chips.
We just told you about the Zotac ZBOX HD-ID11 nettop the other day which uses an Intel Atom Pine trail chip and next-generation ION graphics and now Zotac is introducing two more new models. Blogeee reports that one will use Intel’s CULV processor coupled with ION graphics and another with an AMD/ATI chipset.
The first of the new nettops, the Zotac ZBOX HD-ND21, will feature a 1.3GHz Intel Pentium SU4100 dual core (CULV) CPU, NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics, HDMI, DVI, and VGA output, as well as 6 USB ports and an eSATA port.. This model will sell for around $300.
Then, the AMD model will be called the Zotac ZBOX HD-AD01 and it will have a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon X2 Neo L325 dual core processor and ATI Radeon HD3200 graphics. The rest of the hardware is identical to the CULV version (and the current Intel Atom models for that matter). It should be much less expensive, at just $240 or so.
If those prices sound cheap, remember that Zotac selsl barebones units that come without operating system, RAM, or hard drives — although from Blogee’s description, it sounds like these machines might ship with 2GB of RAM and 160GB hard drives. We’ll have to wait and see, but Zotac does seem to be pumping out the some of the best nettops at the moment.
