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Overview of nettop platform nVidia ION

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Having considered the various options for cases and ION-based motherboards, it remains only to assess the feasibility of self-assembly system. Many leading (and not so) global manufacturers offer ready-made stylish nettops on the nVidia ION platform. At the moment, the Intel G45 could be considered as a competing platform, and only Atom + G45 bundles were not available to the general public. The main task of modern HTPC is one - to play FullHD media content via HDMI, and the GF9400 graphics core is the best way to cope with this.


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In fact, I still could not decide for myself to choose a particular solution. One part of me requires self-purchase of the case and motherboard, fine-tuning the cooling system, abandoning the HDD in favor of the CF card and watching movies over the network from the local NAS. The second part says: “Do not worry, there is not enough time for everything. Buy a beautiful Acer Revo and forget about the problems. ”

In fact, I generally want to attach a small, noiseless HTPC based on ION to the back of a 37 ”TV hanging on a wall. Big boxes from the previous review will not fit in there, noisy ones will spoil the sound background, the passive ones will be heated both by themselves and from the TV. I even almost fell for the beautiful pictures of nettop mounting on the back walls of monitors. But this is all the lyrics, I would like to return to this issue in the review of slim cases for mini-ITX.

So, the list of participants:
  1. Acer Aspire Revo R3600
  2. ASRock ION 330
  3. MSI Windbox DE200
  4. Lenovo IdeaCentre Q110
  5. ASUS Eee Box EB1012


The first two comrades are already sold in Russian retail, the rest are mostly announced for the end of September.

Acer Aspire Revo R3600



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This handsome man appeared on the market even earlier than the first ION motherboards were announced. The thickness of the Revo was even less than the standard height of the radiator on these same motherboards. A little later, Acer introduced a clone of this model under the brand name Packard Bell. In order not to completely duplicate the product, Packard Bell's nettop was announced as a home entertainment center and had a gyro controller supplied. This controller is a bendable analogue of the Wii-mout and is presented in one of the photographs of the review. And I really like the power button ...



In the Russian market, the model comes in two versions - with Windows Vista Home Premium and with Linpus Linux. I forgot to say that the delivery module includes Wi-Fi 802.11b \ g. From the photos, everyone probably already noticed that there is no optical drive in the model.



TTX models:


Nettop weighing 1kg ... metal in the case does not even smell. The TTX presents the average characteristics of models in retail. A full TTX plug is available on the Acer website .

Search in stores for 12000r .

ASRock ION 330



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The second “popular” nettop from the company ASRock appeared in a wide retail about a month ago and has quite good equipment. In general, the netbook niche is new for ASRock, since the main priorities of the company have always been enthusiast motherboards, but this should not affect the quality of the product. This model also has rebranding clones, most likely for Asian markets.



The manufacturer announces a noise level of 26 dB. Looking at the photos, I want to believe that the cooling system really copes with the heating of small radiators.

A bit later than the standard model, the ION 330-BD version appeared. As the name implies, the thin DVD drive is replaced with a similar BD drive. Very good solution for HTPC, if the price did not bite.
ION 330 even has a video tour ...



TTX models:


Retail prices for ION 330 fluctuate around 13000r . Model 330-BD in the Russian retail is not yet represented, but may appear at a price of 18000r . Although in my opinion, the body lacks grace and individuality.

MSI Windbox DE200



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We turn to non-serial nettops, while presented at exhibitions in the form of concepts or low-serial models. Information on such models will be significantly less, so that the photos will be smaller and they will be a little easier.

In the news bulletins, I’d skipped information that MSI and ASUS would ignore the nVidia ION platform as a sign of loyalty to Intel products. Judging by the fact that we are discussing the MSI product on ION, this information turned out to be nothing more than a rumor. However, not all so simple.



MSI decided not to use the Intel Atom processor in its product and replaced it with a slightly more powerful analogue of the Intel Celeron M550, operating at 2 GHz with 1MB L2 cache. So nettop is essentially beyond the scope of the ION specification. The model also received an 802.11n wireless module and an optional ability to install a BD drive.

TTX models:


The exact size and weight of the model is unknown, however, as its price.

Among other things, it was reported that the model can be re-equipped and instead of ION, a combination of Intel chipset and ATI discrete graphics will be used.

Lenovo IdeaCentre Q110



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About two weeks ago, Lenovo announced two nettop models - the Q100 and Q110. The first model is based on Intel's 945th chipset, so we will not be interested in it.



Information on the models in principle is quite small. Cute glossy body with fun textures, bright blue LEDs (for fans) and a transparent stand in the style of Revo. The maximum nettop thickness is 1.7cm. Although I can not believe it.

By tradition, the model also goes under other brands with a different appearance. Images are attached.



Those TTX, which managed to find out:


The estimated cost of such a configuration in the United States is $ 350 .

ASUS Eee Box EB1012



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Once again, refuting the myth about the neglect of ASUS platform nVidia ION, consider a potential novelty in the EEE Box series. Preliminary information about the model appeared about a week ago, and on its basis, in general, and have to give a description.



Visually, no special highlights are seen. As a processor, the familiar Atom 330, a 2.5 ”hard drive with 250GB, up to 4GB of RAM and an 802.11n wireless module are already familiar. On an improvised front panel, although I would call it a “edge”, there are three USB2.0 connectors, a power button, audio connectors, and an SD card slot.

TTH:


They promise a price of around $ 300 .

comparison table



Characteristics / Modelsimage
Acer Aspire Revo R3600
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ASRock ION 330
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MSI Windbox DE200
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Lenovo IdeaCentre Q110
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ASUS Eee Box EB1012
Price12000r13000r?350 $
(US only)		$ 300
(US only)
CPUIntel Atom 330 \ 230Intel Atom 330Intel Celeron m550Intel Atom 230Intel Atom 330
RAMup to 4Gb DDR2-800 SO-DIMM2Gb DDR2-8002Gb DDR2-800 SO-DIMM2Gb DDR2-800 SO-DIMMup to 4Gb DDR2-800 SO-DIMM
HDD2.5 "160-320Gb2.5 "320Gb2.5 "160Gb2.5 "250Gb2.5 "250Gb
NetworkGigabit Ethernet, WiFi 802.11gGigabit ethernetGigabit Ethernet, WiFi 802.11nGigabit Ethernet, WiFi 802.11gGigabit Ethernet, WiFi 802.11n
USB6x USB2.06x USB2.04x USB2.04x USB2.06x USB2.0
eSATAthere is-??there is
Video OutD-sub, HDMID-sub, HDMIDVI-D, HDMID-sub, HDMID-sub, HDMI
Dimensions180x180x30mm195x70x186-thickness - 17mm222x178x26,9
Weight1 kg1.7kg--1.1kg
Additionallywired keyboard and mouseDVD-RW \ BD Combowired mouse-SD card reader, VESA mount


In fact, for 13yr you can put together a quite good home computer for office and entertainment tasks. For the same money, you can collect a good HTPC in cases from the previous review. And you can just take and buy any of these stylish and compact nettop with support for hardware decoding of HD-video. They, by the way, in extreme cases, you can take with you on vacation or to the country, where there is a TV with HDMI or D-Sub.

Honestly, with each review I get more and more questions than answers ... But I don’t want to buy a big-bellied cuboid-shaped case for HTPC. =)

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/68234/

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