Archive for August, 2010
So you’re probably, like the other visitors to this site, looking for the ultimate nettop. We’re not going to claim that this is the best nettop for everyone, but Zotac’s Zbox certainly checks most of the boxes.
The Zbox’s slim profile packs in Ion chipsets along with Intel CULV CPUs, making for a power-sipping experience that can play HD video as well. Zotac offers a number of different a few varieties the Zbox. The HD series (the NS21 and ND22) pack a Celeron 743 or SU2300 CULV (respectively), DDR3 RAM slots, a 2.5-inch hard drive slot, HDMI and DVI-I ports, along with NVIDIA’s Ion GPU. There’s also an ITX series, all sporting those same CPUs, a single PCI Express x16 slot, a handful of SATA / eSATA hookups, and HDMI, DVI-D, and VGA connections.
All the systems have a slew of USB ports, the boxes can be mounted in four different positions (including on the back of a monitor), and though retail pricing hasn’t been announced, it looks like at least the ND22 should list for around $270.
Check out the dual core ATom Zotac Zbox nettop at Amazon below, or check out our Zotac Zbox hands-on here.
Zotac Zbox - Intel Atom D510 1.66 GHz Dual Core All-in-One Mini-PC $222.44 - Amazon
Giada Slim i30 nettop
Giada has a bit of history of putting out super slim, and awfully sleek designed nettops, but none so far have been seen in the US. That may be about to change, however, as the Giada Slim i30 nettop has passed through the FCC just the other day.
Like other Giada nettops, the Slim i30 is a skinny and sleek design. Under the hood, it sports NVIDIA ION graphics, a dual or single core Intel Atom processsor, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Gigabit Ethernet, VGA and HDMI output, a flash card reader, 2 USB ports and a combo UBS/eSATA port.
It’s been a long wait but Shuttle’s eagerly anticiaptedXS35 nettop is reality. This 1.5-inch thick nettop is today rolling out to online retailers in the US and Canada, offering three pre-configured options to suit a variety of budgets. Common to all configurations is 802.11n WiFi, a dual-core 1.66GHz Atom D510 CPU, 5 USB ports, and a 4-in-1 media card reader, while the pricier two also include DVD-RW drives for good measure. The top XS35 spec gives you 500GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, a HDMI output, and the crowning glory of NVIDIA’s scrumptious Ion 2powering 1080p video playback.
Check out the full press release after the break or go directly to Amazon where the base version is now shipping for just $178 at Amazon (UPDATE: Sold out, for now, but back in stock soon).
Remember the Asus Eee Keyboard? Would you like it better with some Apple shinyness? If so, you’re not the only one. Another brave hacker is in the process of ripping apart a MacBook Air and stuffing its guts — plus an Apple Magic TrackPad into a keyboard case.
The end result should be a full fledged computer with a 1.6GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, 80GB hard drive, and OS X all in a keyboard. Think of it as an iMac, but with the computer hidden by the keyboard instead of the display.
via CrunchGear
Ripple. a Korean PC company that already has a tradition of making small form factor desktop PCs is getting into the nettop game. Although, the company’s two latest models look like they should be projectors rather than computers they’re distinctly nettop being powered by Intel Atom chips and NVIDIA ION graphics.
The Ripple ISSB-D410 has a single core Intel Atom D410 processor, while the IDSB-D510 has a dual core Atom D510 CPU.
Both models have 1GB of memory, a 160GB hard drive, 4 USB ports, Gigabit Ethernet, and D-SUB ports. They measure 9.2″ x 8.5″ x 2.7″
via Akihabara News
