Hmmm, most games tend to demand that you have the disc in the drive before you can play them (except of course Steam, and games "acquired" by other means).
While it looks great, and I think it's pretty good as a small platform for the home user, having to lug around an external disc drive to play games would certainly lessen it's appeal.
I'd buy a shelfload of those. Never mind the graphics, looks excellent for a host of firewall/server uses. Small, unintrusive, quiet and low power (i.e. wife approval guaranteed).
But on the UK Apple Store the 160G Apple TV is £263. If Acer is sayng "below $300", which could mean $299.99, then in Ripoff Britain then can we expect to pay £300?
If so this is a tricky choice.
Apple TV is cheaper, more polished (inevitably), has Front Row, and looks as gorgeous as any other Apple product.
The Acer is a PC, so it'll be hampered by Media Centre, is running Vista (gag reflex), so the 1.6GHz Atom vs the Apple's 1GHz Crofton might not make as much difference in performance as one would think. But the Acer is more open, and you're not tied to the Big Brother of iTunes. you theoretically get a faster CPU, graphics hardware assist, nice chunk of memory (at least 1G of which, of course, Vista will not be able to use as it's a 32-bit OS). You get a bigger hard disc.
The Acer may or may not be able to play PC games, as Roger pointed out for reasons of disc protection (and assuming one stays honest and resist the opportunity to download the no-CD hacks).
My first impressions - it needs to be the same price as the Apple TV to compete - and the remote has to be excellent. By the way your review doesn't mention what kind of remote and/or keyboard options will be provided. I think the product might sink or swim depending on its usability.
Bet ya Asus will have to ape this product- as its going to totally blow their EEEBox out of the water. Nice to see Acer quick off the mark on this one- I've been warming to Acer a lot lately- the build quality of their products is great- and they even make their laptops easily moddable (if you're that way inclined). I'd like to see the Dell Studio line go down the same path as the Acer 8930s.......
Nice little box- if I can offload some of the crap from my IT bits and bobs- it'll look very nice, on top of my PS3......
The world and his dog are now used to ripping music CDs, and it's weird that laptop users the world over aren't demanding laptop-friendly games yet. (Personally, I'm comfortable enough with using a virtual drive for discs that I genuinely own anyway.)
It's high time the software houses hands were forced on this one.
That said, I expect Acer's next move with this will be to partner with someone else to get a BluRay drive and use the box as a one-stop home media hub. If not, I reckon ASUS will do it instead....
Seriously - While I have an iMac for my desktop, I want a small box to plug in to my TV and watch video files on - and I don't want to pay Mac prices for that. This looks like it'll be just the thing I'm looking for!
Wont be much use for gaming then will it. Thought it looked good till you hear "windows 7/Vista".. won't me any system resources left over for MS word let alone trying to play call of duty
Nettop is not a great name for this... considering that both laptop and desktop end in "-top". Also, even though the "net" prefix was already bullshit for "netbooks" that can do way more than web browsing, it's especially bullshit for a box that runs CoD4. Naming fail all around.
As you can find out in El Reg's own articles (search for "Atom 230" and "Atom 330") you can see that everything after Windows XP just demands too much of the Atom 230. A fancy graphics design may help, but right now MSI Wind barebones PC's prices increase from $175 to $185 going from Atom 230 to 330 here in Canada.
Surely Acer should have used the Atom 330, especially if they're thinking of Windows 7.
I wonder how it would fare as a MythTV platform? I guess having to put an external optical drive on is less good, as is having to add an external video capture interface if you want to feed it from a cable TV box or similar. However, it it's that cheap and works well enough then I'm sure I'd cope.
After the hardware "support" I've recently received from Acer, I won't be oging anywhere near them again - expensive, poor communications and very inflexible.
Apple iMac All-In-One Desktop (3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB DDR2, 1TB, DVD+-RW DL, Mac OS X v10.5 Snow Leopard, 27" LCD)
HP (Hewlett-Packard) Pavilion p6210f Mini-Tower Desktop (2.6GHz Athlon II X4 620, 6GB DDR2, 640GB HDD, DVD±RW DL, Windows 7 Home Premium)
HP (Hewlett-Packard) Compaq Presario CQ5210F Mini-Tower Desktop (2.7GHz Athlon 64 X2 215, 3GB DDR2, 500GB, DVD±RW DL, Windows 7 Home Premium)
Apple iMac All-In-One Desktop (3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB DDR2, 500GB, DVD+-RW DL, Mac OS X v10.5 Snow Leopard, 21.5" LCD)
Acer SX2800 SFF Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz/4MBL2/4GB/640GB/SuperMulti/GigNIC/W7HP64
Acer flaunts first Ion-based nettop
This post has been deleted by a moderator
Roger de Laborde
good for gaming? #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 03:23 GMT
Hmmm, most games tend to demand that you have the disc in the drive before you can play them (except of course Steam, and games "acquired" by other means).
While it looks great, and I think it's pretty good as a small platform for the home user, having to lug around an external disc drive to play games would certainly lessen it's appeal.
foo_bar_baz
Wants #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:13 GMT
I'd buy a shelfload of those. Never mind the graphics, looks excellent for a host of firewall/server uses. Small, unintrusive, quiet and low power (i.e. wife approval guaranteed).
Tux because - obvious.
groovyf
How much?! #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:13 GMT
Around $300... so, that'll be £300 then? (Call me a cynic)
@ Roger:
Those super slimline LG external cd/dvd drives are thinner that a netbook, so not such an issue for "lugging" around I don't think.
Andy Towler
OS Choice #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:13 GMT
If they put XP Pro or Ubuntu on it (or ship it OS-free with a driver CD) it might be worth considering.
alain williams
Linux version #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:13 GMT
What will that cost ?
Kevin Pollock
Apple TV killer? #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:13 GMT
Looks to me like it goes up against the Apple TV.
But on the UK Apple Store the 160G Apple TV is £263. If Acer is sayng "below $300", which could mean $299.99, then in Ripoff Britain then can we expect to pay £300?
If so this is a tricky choice.
Apple TV is cheaper, more polished (inevitably), has Front Row, and looks as gorgeous as any other Apple product.
The Acer is a PC, so it'll be hampered by Media Centre, is running Vista (gag reflex), so the 1.6GHz Atom vs the Apple's 1GHz Crofton might not make as much difference in performance as one would think. But the Acer is more open, and you're not tied to the Big Brother of iTunes. you theoretically get a faster CPU, graphics hardware assist, nice chunk of memory (at least 1G of which, of course, Vista will not be able to use as it's a 32-bit OS). You get a bigger hard disc.
The Acer may or may not be able to play PC games, as Roger pointed out for reasons of disc protection (and assuming one stays honest and resist the opportunity to download the no-CD hacks).
My first impressions - it needs to be the same price as the Apple TV to compete - and the remote has to be excellent. By the way your review doesn't mention what kind of remote and/or keyboard options will be provided. I think the product might sink or swim depending on its usability.
Shane McCarrick
Thats the EEEBox blown out of the water #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:13 GMT
Bet ya Asus will have to ape this product- as its going to totally blow their EEEBox out of the water. Nice to see Acer quick off the mark on this one- I've been warming to Acer a lot lately- the build quality of their products is great- and they even make their laptops easily moddable (if you're that way inclined). I'd like to see the Dell Studio line go down the same path as the Acer 8930s.......
Nice little box- if I can offload some of the crap from my IT bits and bobs- it'll look very nice, on top of my PS3......
S.
Anonymous Coward
Re: good for gaming? #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:13 GMT
@"Jolly" Roger de Laborde
The world and his dog are now used to ripping music CDs, and it's weird that laptop users the world over aren't demanding laptop-friendly games yet. (Personally, I'm comfortable enough with using a virtual drive for discs that I genuinely own anyway.)
It's high time the software houses hands were forced on this one.
That said, I expect Acer's next move with this will be to partner with someone else to get a BluRay drive and use the box as a one-stop home media hub. If not, I reckon ASUS will do it instead....
Antony Shepherd
Brilliant! #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:13 GMT
It's a Mac Mini killer!
Seriously - While I have an iMac for my desktop, I want a small box to plug in to my TV and watch video files on - and I don't want to pay Mac prices for that. This looks like it'll be just the thing I'm looking for!
Another Anonymous Coward
Mac mini killer #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:21 GMT
There, I said it. :P
This thing looks like the badger's nadgers to me... current competition in the field is the eeebox, and this one adds the following:
HD playback, dual monitor output (with HDMI), can play CoD4, upgradeable to 4gb ram, IR receiver for remote, and an extra 2 usb ports + card reader.
If they keep the price down this thing is going to be as huge as their netbook was last year. Perfect product for the recession.
Also, that little red thingy in the last pic.. that's an esata port isn't it?
Rob Moss
Hello MythTV box! #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:21 GMT
Hey this is exactly what I've been waiting for with MythTV.. do away with all the excessive PC'ish parts and overpowered CPU
I guess it will have to use a USB tuner, but that's the way the cookie crumbles
Matthew
No CD drive? #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:21 GMT
Wont be much use for gaming then will it. Thought it looked good till you hear "windows 7/Vista".. won't me any system resources left over for MS word let alone trying to play call of duty
Anonymous Coward
Utterly useless if used legally #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:21 GMT
And how are we supposed to get that movie to watch on it?
Legally that is?
Any legal way to get a movie encoded in 1080p onto it?
It is a bit on the expensive side as well.
Christopher Martin
nettop? #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:21 GMT
Nettop is not a great name for this... considering that both laptop and desktop end in "-top". Also, even though the "net" prefix was already bullshit for "netbooks" that can do way more than web browsing, it's especially bullshit for a box that runs CoD4. Naming fail all around.
Mark Hewitt
What about using dual Atom 330? #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:21 GMT
As you can find out in El Reg's own articles (search for "Atom 230" and "Atom 330") you can see that everything after Windows XP just demands too much of the Atom 230. A fancy graphics design may help, but right now MSI Wind barebones PC's prices increase from $175 to $185 going from Atom 230 to 330 here in Canada.
Surely Acer should have used the Atom 330, especially if they're thinking of Windows 7.
Steven Raith
Blimey #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:21 GMT
I've been looking for a small machine to do web/email/movies etc for a while now.
If that price is right, Acer would have a sale out of me before you could blink,
Will it run Ubuntu though...?
Steven R
Dave
MythTV? #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:28 GMT
I wonder how it would fare as a MythTV platform? I guess having to put an external optical drive on is less good, as is having to add an external video capture interface if you want to feed it from a cable TV box or similar. However, it it's that cheap and works well enough then I'm sure I'd cope.
david
I wish you wouldn't do this to me... #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 09:42 GMT
I'd just decided on the Ion nettop from Novatech but this is much closer to what I'm looking for.
How long do we have to wait for this do you reckon?
Greg
Give it a disc drive and I'm sold #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 10:42 GMT
Make it a BD drive and you've definitely got a sale.
As for a generic name, how about Weeboxes?
Dennis
Won't be buying one #
Posted Wednesday 8th April 2009 11:06 GMT
After the hardware "support" I've recently received from Acer, I won't be oging anywhere near them again - expensive, poor communications and very inflexible.
W
@ the gaming whingers. #
Posted Thursday 9th April 2009 08:40 GMT
Two words:
1. Orisinal
2. Friv
Not all games are tech-hungry behemoths. *Your* games might be. But you are not everyone.