Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

"We put Giada's Slim-N20, Jetway's Mini-TOP, and Zotac's ZBOX to the test. Does Intel's Atom D500-series offer smooth performance in these nettops when it's paired with Nvidia's ION 2 graphics, or does the platform fall short of entertainment excellence? The nettop form factor is hard for the enthusiast community to swallow. On one hand, we want to love the fact that so much technology can be packed into such a small platform. On the other, it's frustrating to sit in front of a PC with so little performance compared to our full-sized (or even microATX) desktop machines."

Nettop computers - basically netbook desktops - are an interesting study in the "Good Enough" category. They have enough power for most tasks, excluding HD video editing and serious gaming. But for most productivity tasks, simple gaming (think browser-based), and email, the deliver in a small, quiet package. These three all look quite intelligently designed; the Acer Aspire R1600 I have has its audio input jack on the front - so if I want to connect speakers to it, I have to leave a cable plugged into the front of the computer. WHAT? Yeah, exactly.

Any Digital Home Thoughts readers own a nettop? What's your experience like with it?

"We've seen our share of miniature PCs over the years. They generally get smaller, more power-efficient, and quieter-but they never seem to get faster. Take eMachine's ER1402 machine, for example. This unique-looking, pedestal-mounted machine is the epitome of the original "nettop" concept: a low-power PC designed almost exclusively to browse the web. And that's about all you can do with its single-core, low-clock chip."

Nettop PC's are a bit of a hit and miss affair depending on what you want to use them for. This one from eMachines is a single core unit and due to that it isn't really powerful enough to be used as a media center PC, but as a simple web browsing device it should be fine. There are so many options out there you really need to decide what you want from a small pc like this before you purchase.

"It’s time to put that credit card back in your wallet, if you’re thinking about buying an HD capable nettop to function as your living room’s HTPC. Shuttle has just announced that they will be debuting the Shuttle Barebone XS35 Mini-PC, featuring Intel’s Atom D510 1.6Ghz dual core processor and NVIDIA GT218 (ION 2) graphics, at CeBIT 2010 (release date: Q2 2010)."

I am sure that we are going to see more of these being announced in the coming weeks. While the Atom still will not break any speed records, a dual core machine with HD acceleration, boosted video processing and the capability of light gaming should make this a very attractive option. Surprisingly, this nettop is even passively cooled! Hopefully the price will be consistent with other nettops making it the defacto choice for someone who really just needs a computer that will handle their everyday tasks for a pittance of power.

"Looks like the kids in Taiwan will be able to take everyone's favorite Ion-based nettop for a spin sometime soon. Except, instead of being known as the Acer AspireRevo, its been rebranded as a Gateway QX2800. Actually, that isn't the only difference -- the CPU on this new guy has been upgraded to an Atom 330 dual core, and storage is now 500GB."

Getting close, but it still seems like these need the horsepower to handle HD video streaming to be a success. When they get there, these will be the HTPC for the masses.

"A reasonable 15.6 touchscreen, with a 1,366 x 768 pixel resolution, is the X50's dominant feature, although the sizeable handle up top comes a close second. Powering the X50 is a dual-core, 1.6GHz, Intel Atom 330 accompanied by 1GB of RAM - with 2GB supported - a 160GB hard drive and Intel's older 945G chipset."

The whole netbook craze has definately spilled over into the desktop market full force. Shuttle is getting into the game with the X50, though there doesn't appear to be anything unique about it aside from the carrying handle. I'm all for low power desktops since most of us probably don't need powerful CPUs for regular web surfing, email and IM, but I fail to see the need for a carrying handle. If you're going to cart a PC around the house, netbooks are quickly growing in size with some touting 12" displays and a battery means you're not limited to the nearest power outlet. I just don't see being able to swing a nettop around the house as compelling enough to choose Shuttle over any other nettop out there.

"The Fit-PC2 is quiet, or even noiseless when ordered with the solid-state drive (SSD) option, says the vendor. The nettop is said to be capable of withstanding a high level of shock, vibration, and extreme temperatures. As a result, CompuLab is pitching it for a wide range of applications, from ruggedized industrial, automotive, and nautical devices, to applications where silence counts, such as a library PCs, desktop replacements, and point-of-sale (POS) PCs. With its IR receiver, DVI (via HDMI) interface, and 1920x1080 video capabilities, it is even pegged for home theater PCs."

The the original Fit-PC was released, CompuLab claimed it was the smallest full functioning PC. While that could be argued, depending on what your definition of a full functioning PC is, the Fit-PC is still a marvel of technology. Now the Fit-PC2 updates the line by using the seen-everywhere-now Atom CPU. The specs indicate that it'll do fine for light PC duty, but the kicker is the power consumption of 8 watts under load. It'll run both Linux and Windows XP and starts at $245. I'm unable to find any details if its VESA mountable, which would make it even better, but it does include an IR port. I really hope that's consumer IR. In all the years that I saw IrDA on laptops, I never found a use for it. It's got to be one of the oddest additions I've seen on a current generation PC. Still, I can see this as a great low power computer for the kids, kitchen, or bathroom. At 8 watts of power, I can leave it running doing little tasks without starting up big bessie. Anyone else see great potential in a PC that sucks just a bit more power than a nightlight?

"Finally, a nettop we can really support. Rather than forcing consumers to deal with yet another underpowered box on their desk, MSI is enabling Earthlings to totally conceal said underpowered box so long as they have an LCD monitor with a VESA-compatible mount. The WindBOX, which actually broke cover back in November, is now completely official, and within the slim slab will be a 1.6GHz Atom CPU, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, Intel's GMA 950 graphics set, 802.11b/g WiFi, audio in / out, three USB 2.0 sockets, a VGA port and a 3-in-1 multicard reader for good measure. There's no mention of a price, but it should start filtering out later this quarter."

I like nettops as they're extremely low powered computers that can handle my day to day computing and take up a minimum of space. MSI intends to take this even further with their WindBOX which can mount onto the back of LCDs that have a VESA mount. VESA mountable PCs have been around a long time, but they've also traditionally either been underpowered or expensive or both. If this could be paired with a touch-screen LCD, I could see this having lots of tempting uses all over the house like looking up recipes in the kitchen. What would you use a dandy WindBOX/LCD combo for?

"Dell just dropped the new tiny-tower OptiPlex 160 for businesses and educational markets looking to save space and "go green." This 1.85-inch thick machine packs the usual assortment of ports, and an integrated power supply (no brick!), but unfortunately forgoes the integrated disc drive. The $563 base model incorporates a single-core Intel Atom processor, 80GB HDD, 1GB RAM, integrated video, and Vista Home Basic SP1 -- most of which reminds us of the Eee Box, other than the extra two Benjamins Dell's asking for. "

I remember the time when Nettops weren't called Nettops, but just really expensive, tiny desktop PCs. The first one that comes to mind for me is the Compaq iPaq Desktop, which came out sometime in 2001. With the Dell joining the recent Nettop explosion, it does suggest that it is now a serious market. The Optiplex is definately targeted towards the business segment, and the space freed up and power savings combined makes this quite attractive. It's still a tempting purchase for home as well since all its benefits still apply for home use, especially for somewhere like the kitchen, where it can be mounted to the back of a monitor.

"HP recently used an event in Taiwan to unveil its first-ever nettop PC, the mini-Q 2030, that is powered by Intel's 1.6GHz dual-core Atom 330 processor and 2GB of DDR2 RAM. Other hardware includes a 160GB 7,200rpm SATA hard-drive with Windows Vista preloaded and a dual-layer DVD burner. It also has four USB 2.0 ports, two PS/2 ports, an Ethernet port, a VGA jack for connecting to monitors and an audio and microphone jack."

Asus may have started both the netbook trend and the nettop box trend, competition is definitely heating up. The HP mini-Q is a shot against the ASUS EEE Box. It comes in two models with the mini-Q 2020 being the single-core variant with 1GB of RAM and Windows XP. None of these nettop PCs will ever be a powerhouse, but the attraction for me is that they'll get most of the light work done while barely sipping power. I used to have almost a dozen computers, each only dealing with a light load so I can appreciate desktops that could easily cut my PC power consumption in half, if not more. I've invested in virtual machines, but I'm tempted to make the jump to using nettops so I don't have to shut down everything when my main server needs a reboot. Anyone try out any of these nettops yet? Are they powerful enough for you to do your everyday tasks?