Acer’s Aspire Revo nettop has just received a welcome shot in the arm, courtesy of a dual-core Atom 330 processor and an extra gig of RAM. The Aspire Revo R3610-U9012 kicks out its predecessor’s Atom 230 chip in favor of the quicker alternative, and pairs it with 2GB of RAM, Windows 7 and NVIDIA Ion graphics. That should hopefully make the system a little better at coping with non-1080p video tasks, something the first model had issues with.
Adobe have upgraded their Flash offensive, with the news this week that the next version – Flash 10.1 – will run across not only desktop but mobile and smartphone platforms. Taking advantage of the Open Screen Project (OSP), the new version will arrive as a Windows Mobile and webOS beta before the year is out, while early in 2010 we’ll get Android and Symbian versions. Finally, while there’s no release date for 10.1 yet given, RIM have signed up to the OSP meaning BlackBerry devices will also get Flash support.
After the cut, GPU acceleration for Flash 10.1
The Acer AspireRevo AR1600-U910H nettop is one of those slick little systems that offers all the performance you need for general computing needs in a tiny form factor that is easy to hide inside your entertainment system or on a desk. The little machine is now available for purchase on Newegg.
Acer’s Veriton N260G has been launched in the US, shortly after its arrival in the UK, but unfortunately the company hasn’t seen fit to slot in the NVIDIA Ion GPU while it chugged across the Atlantic. The Veriton N260G-U2802CP still packs Intel’s 1.6GHz Atom N280 processor, paired with 2GB of RAM and a 160GB hard-drive, but unlike its Aspire Revo consumer cousin the business-focussed N260G uses Intel GMA 4500M graphics.
Acer’s NVIDIA Ion toting Aspire Revo nettop is getting a much-needed processor bump, with the company swapping out the breathless single-core Atom 230 CPU for its dual-core Atom 330 counterpart. The compact nettop also gets more memory and bigger hard-drives, the former doubling to 4GB and the latter offering either 320GB or 500GB.
In a deeply frustrating move, Acer have released a new version of their Atom-based nettop, addressing one of the key issues we had with the first-gen AspireRevo but then scuppering it in another way. The Acer Veriton N260G switches the original AspireRevo’s mediocre 1.6GHz Atom 230 or 330 processor for a far more welcome 1.66GHz Atom N280, but simultaneously drops the NVIDIA Ion GPU we so admired.
NVIDIA’s Tegra may be stealing MID-lover’s hearts at Computex 2009, but that doesn’t mean the company is forgetting about their Ion GPU. Taking to the stage with news of a full 21 Ion-based devices - including the ASUS Eee Top ET2002 all-in-one, ASRock ION 330 and MSI Wind Top AE2201 – NVIDIA revealed a mixture of mainboards, all-in-one desktops, netbooks, nettops and notebooks based on the 1080p-capable chipset.
Hot on the heels of ASUS’ new Eee Box nettops comes rival MSI’s new Wind Box DE200. Sporting a new tapered design that reminds me of a Cylon’s helmet, the Wind Box DE200 pairs Intel’s Atom 230 1.6GHz processor with an ATI Radeon HD 4350 GPU and HDMI output.
From the very start, ASUS’ Eee Box nettop caught the eye as a potential media PC, and the company themselves threw their hat into the ring with the launch of the Eee Box B206. Swapping the DVI output for an HDTV-friendly HDMI, and slotting an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 GPU with 256MB of its own DDR2 RAM in instead of the integrated graphics, the B206 promises high-definition playback above its humble Atom roots.
The Register have been taking a look at the nettop, and in some ways the B206 does deliver. Standard definition video runs with no problems, and DivX 720p files in Windows Media Player were also smooth; however, the B206 showed itself to be particularly picky about codecs.
The problem is that not all media player apps support DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA), the technology which lets the Radeon HD 3450 GPU get its teeth into the video. Without that, it’s up to the Atom N270 1.6GHz chip to keep things ticking over, and we already know that Intel’s CPU struggles with high-resolution media.
It’s been another week dominated by cellphones here at SlashGear, with our exclusive review of the HTC Touch Diamond2 plus plenty of news from the rival Android smartphone camp. The HTC Magic launched on Vodafone Spain, but we were more interested in the Samsung I7500, a super-skinny slice of 5-megapixel Android loveliness. Check out the live demo video here.
Chrome OS: Waiting Is The Hardest Part…Though Necessary
Apple is no longer the Nordstrom of Tech, they’re the “New Nordstrom”
Can Anything Replace Windows XP As the Best Netbook Operating System?
Hey, Premium Notebooks or Netbooks, Get the Basics Right!
SlashGear Japan
