Another Ion-based nettop is ready to take its place in our living-rooms: Giada N10.
Giada Slim N10
“So what ?” – you’ll say – “Another nettop coming from China.” Although this is true, the main characteristic of the “toy” is its weight and size. Weighting just 0,52 kg (without HDD), N10 has all the features of Ion-based nettops: dual-core Atom 330 processor, up to 4GB of RAM, and a 2.5″ hard drive bay. In terms of connections, we can find the usual: 5xUSB2.0 ports, eSATA, VGA, HDMi output, and an Ethernet jack, as well as mic and headphone jacks and a card reader.
Giada N10 Front
Giada N10 Back
The available colours are: white, pink, blue and black. For the moment, there are no details on availability outside China space or price.
A new Ion-based nettop appeared on the market: Myka ION. Featuring an dual-core Atom N330 processor, up to 4 Gb of RAM and HDDs from 160 Gb to 1 Tb, the nettop has a fanless architecture. In terms of connectivity, no less than 10 USB2.0 ports are available, as well as eSATA, VGA, DVI, HDMI, S/PDIF ports.
Myka ION
Myka ION Back
What’s interesting about this nettop is the intended usage – as a HTPC (home-theater PC). This is reflected by the fanless approach which will insure minimal noise and by the plethora of multimedia-dedicated applications: Boxee, XBMC, Hulu Desktop.
Welcome Screen
In terms of price the base one is $379 (with Ubuntu Linux installed) and will grow based on the different options to be added (WiFi N, bigger HDD, Win7). The expected delivery time varies between 4 to 6 weeks.
Nvidia just started a contest in order to promote its ION platform. Thus, 12 bundles will go to the most creative and fun material about the Ultimate ION Netbook. Besides the HP Mini 311 the bundles also contain:
A HP external Blu-Ray drive;
A HDMI cable;
A case to hold all the goods;
3 hot new Blu-Ray titles for you to watch at home;
The ION LE chipset was released by NVIDIA a little while ago, and it was virtually the same as the original ION, except for its lack of DirectX 10 support. The marketing strategy was to make the chip cheaper, while at the same time limiting it to only Windows XP systems. Recently, the user runawayprisoner from MyHPMini.com has leveled the playing field and made it possible to run DirectX 10 on an ION LE netbook. Now you can get the full features of ION at a fraction of the cost! The best part is that it is a pretty simple procedure to perform. Simply add the ION LE device id to the driver install INF file then run the installer and poof! Check out the source link for more info on this neat trick.
Considering the plethora of Ion-based devices launched lately, we might consider Zotac as one of the most enthusiastic fans of Nvidia’s GPU. The PC components maker released a new motherboard serie for Europe.
The new motherboard series – called Synergy Edition – come in the same Mini-ITX format and has two versions – ION ITX-E Synergy (with a single-core Atom 230) and ION ITX-G Synergy (with a dual-core Atom 330). Besides the usual stuff (DVI/VGA output, HDMI output with digital 8-channel LPCM audio, Gigabit LAN and 6xUSB2.0), there are also 2 DDR2-800 memory slots, one PCI-Express x1 slot, four SATA 3.0Gbps ports and integrated 5.1-channel audio.
Fudzilla managed to find the suggested prices – €119 for the dual-core version and €90 for the single-core version.
Haleron just announced its line of Ion-based nettops – the H-BOX.
Haleron H-BOX
Featuring a Dual-Core Atom N330 processor and ION graphics, the nettop weighs less than 1kg. Besides that, we find the usual: 2Gb of RAM, 320 Gb of HDD, 5xUSB2.0, HDMI output, Ethernet, audio ports and card reader.
At this point, no information on price and availability were disclosed.
We first announced it back in May. Afterwards it was delayed until an undefinite October. Now, Fudzilla announces its release date for 22nd of October, in Japan, at a price of around $757.
As specifications, the ION-based netbook comes with Atom N270 CPU, 1280×800 display, 2GB of RAM, 250GB HDD, 802.11b/g WiFi, Bluetooth, 1.3MP webcamera, 3xUSB2.0, VGA, HDMI and audio ports and will run on Win 7 Home Premium. Packing a 6-cell battery, its weight will be around 1.55kg.
Good news, everyone! ION 2 has been officially announced for a 2009 release. ION 2 will still have support for Intel Atom and VIA Nano processors as well as other similar processors. Newer mobile processors with DMI chipsets like the Arrandale Core i5 will not be supported by ION 2. No exact release date yet, but it will definitely be shipping before the new year.
Just getting back from my holiday and found a rather curious concept from motherboards producer DFI: the hybrid P45-ION-T2A2 packs two PCs onto one motherboard. How is that possible ?
The guys at TweakTown were invited at DFI HQs for an exclusive look at the “thing”. On the same board you can find an Intel Atom+Nvidia ION and a P45 chipset+a 775 Socket. According to DFI, this new approach “allows for two systems to run shared (KVM style) or fully independent of each other, on the one single board.”
Announced at a price-tag of $400, it remains to be seen how many fans this new concept will attract. Personally, I think there are far better options in this price range…
