Asus Eee Media EM0501

The ASUS EeeMedia EM0501 is supposedly a “High Definition Media Center”, based around an 800MHz  Samsung S5PV210 ARM chipset with 512MB of RAM onboard and a standard2.5-inch HDD bay.  It can hook up to your network for streaming content, and output 1080p Full HD via wired ethernet and WiFi b/g/n, though we’re not entirely sure what video/audio outputs there will be.  If we had to guess, we’d say HDMI will be among them.  Supported media formats include H.264, WMV, MPEG1-4, HDV, VC-1,DivX, XviD, AVI, VOB, MOV, MKV, RMVB video and JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG and TIFF / TIF stills.

It’s also possible to surf the internet directly from the EM0501, though there’s no indication of whether ASUS will be supplying a remote keyboard to make that a little more straightforward.  Instead there’s talk – but no photos – of an IR-based “multimedia remote control” which will presumably handle basic navigation.  No word on pricing or availability.

Zotac Zbox Nettop

Zotac has lived up to the rumours and has announced that they’re  updating its nettop lineup to add support for Intel’s latest Atom processor and NVIDIA’s next-generation ION graphics.  The new Zotac Zbox HD-ID11 is the same size and shape as the earlier Zotac MAG nettop. But the new model features a 1.66GHz Atom D510 dual core processor and faster NVIDIA ION graphics.

As the outgoing Zotac nettop, they system will be available as a barebones system.  That means there is no memory, hard drive, or operating system included.  What do you get is a  2.5″ hard drive bay and  a single 200-pin DDR2-800 SODIMM slot. The computer also has 802.11b/g/n WiFi and 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet.  The ION graphics processor has 512MB of dedicated memory and supports DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 3.2.

The computer has 6 USB ports, HDMI and VGA output, and mic and headphone jacks. There’s also an eSATA port and flash card reader. The system comes with a VESA mount and a DVI to VGA adapter.

A great design feature is that you can open the case without any tools. You simply need to remove two “thumb screws” to open the Zotac ZBOX HD-ID11 and insert RAM or a hard drive.

No word yet on when the new ZBoX HD-ID11 comes out, but you can get the current Zotac Mag Mini-PC nettop from Amazon for £249.99.

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Shuttle was one of the first to make the small form factor desktop computer popular long before the current nettop craze got started. So the introduction of their new Xs35 nettop is just natural progression for them.

The XS35 will have a 1.6GHz Intel Atom D510 dual core processor. It’s a barebones system, meaning you’ll have to install your own a hard drive, RAM, and operating system. There’s room for a 2.5″ hard drive and a slimline optical disc drive. It also has VGA and HDMI output, Ethernet, and 5 USB ports.

Perhaps the most exciting part is that the XS35 will also use NVIDIA GT218 graphics, which a Shuttle press release pretty explicitly says is synonymous with “NVIDIA ION 2.”

There’s no word on the price or availability yet, but it will be on display next week at CeBit.

via SlashGear

Blogeee has discovered a disassembly manual for the Aspire Revo R3600 which walks you through the complete disassembly process. There’s also screens of the BIOS and perhaps other stuff that might be useful for a modder.

Download the Acer Aspire Revo R3600 disassembly manual (713 KB)

The Acer Aspire Revo R3600 is currently selling at Amazon UK for £199.

Asus Eee Box EB1501 Unboxing

Netbooked got their hands on the new Asus Eee Box EB1501 Nettop.  This latest Eee Box 1501 (EB1501) comes with an upgraded design and an optical drive (DVD) and still packs Nvidia ION graphics and a dual-core Atom 330 processor.  There’s also decent wireless keyboard and mouse and a remote control included to make one of the best of-the-shelf HTPC (home theatre pcs) on the market today.

The EB1501 is is available at Amazon UK for £391.08 in white, and £388.93 in Black.

ASUS Eee Box EB1501 specs:

DVD burner
Nvidia ION graphics
Intel Atom 330 processor (1.66GHz, dual-core)
2GB RAM
250GB HDD
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
6x USB 2.0, HDMI, eSATA, S/PDIF, audio jacks
Windows 7 Home Premium
Wireless keyboard / mouse / remote control

Check out the unboxing video after the break.

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Zotac Mag Nvidia 2 Nettop

UPDATE:  The Zotac Mag is currently available and SHIPPING at Amazon UK for £249.99.

A company called Zotac showed off  several MAG nettops at CES 2010 and one included (as pictured above)  ION 2 graphics along with either an Atom D410 or D510 processor.  Digitimes confirmed the story today and added that it will launch in March for $249.  (about 200GBP).  No word yet if it will make it to the UK, but we certainly hope so.

via NettopReviews

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ECS MD120 Nettop

NettopReview.com reports on this new ECS MD120 nettop. It’s a barebones nettop, meaning you add your own hard drive and RAM (up to 4gb) and OS, but it does come with the popular and powerful Nvidia Ion graphics card.  It also packs a processor punch with a dual core Atom 330 processor.

There’s also room for a 3.5 inch SATA II hard drive and space for a  DVD burner. You also get a total of 6 USB ports, HDMI and DVI ports, 6-channel audio, and a D-Sub port as well as a multi-format flash card reader.  For expansion, there are also two Mini PCIe card slots on the inside.

The ECS MD120 measures 10.6″ x 7.9″ x 2.4″.

The ASUS Eee Box PC EB1501 is the latest nettop from Asus and it’s a fully featured scorcher.  It comes with a super-multi DVD burner, dual-core Atom 330 processor and NVidia ION graphics.

Other specs are: 2GB RAM (4GB max), 250GB HDD, Gigabit LAN, 802.11n Wi-Fi.
Ports: 1x LAN, 1x eSATA, HDMI, VGA, 6x USB, S/PDIF, Mic and headphone, Card Reader and built-in Antenna.

It can be mounted to your monitor via the includeda VESA kit, comes in black and white and runs Windows 7.

It looks like this nettop will be sold by Amazon UK for £339, although the page is looking a little sparse and units won’t ship for 2 to 5 weeks.

Asus Eee Keyboard

Computerbase.de reports that the  ASUS Eee Keyboard will finally ship in Europe at the end of October priced at 500 Euros.

The Eee Keyboard is basically a nettop with a keyboard and a small touchscreen 480 x 800 display.  On the other hand, you could also call it a netbook with a different form factor and tiny screen!

The specs:
Atom N270 Processor
Intel GMA 945GSE + GMA 950 graphics
VGA and HDMI out.
1GB RAM
16GB SSD
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 2.0
Gigabit Ethernet, 3x USB 2.0 ports.
Windows XP Home

Size: 145 x 425 x 24.4 mm and weighs 1.1 kg.

Lenovo C300 Nettop

The folks over at NettopReview have gotten their hands on, and unboxed Lenovo’s new C300 nettop.  The new Lenovo All-In-One nettop comes in three flavours, ranging from a single core, Intel GMA 950 graphics entry-level version, to a well spec’d dual core Atom 330 model with 512mb of dedicated ATI graphics.

Their first impressions indicate the fit and finish of the nettop is good, as is the small footprint of the machine.  Pricing in the states ranges from $450 – $699 for the entry level and top of the line model respectively.  We’ve contacted Lenovo but haven’t heard back yet on UK availability or pricing.

You can see NettopReview’s full unboxing pics here.