April 7th, 2009
Acer reveals the nVidia Ion-based AspireRevo: The perfect budget HTPC?
PC makers have fallen in love with Intel’s Atom processor, placing it in myriad netbooks as well as some low-cost, low-power networking devices and even desktops. One of its shortcomings, however, is that it can’t handle 1080p HD, and even Intel’s upcoming roadmap for Atom includes integrated graphics that won’t be to support Blu-ray playback.
Enter graphics card manufacturer nVidia, which has married the Atom CPU with more robust graphics performance from its GeForce 9400M chipset (the same used in Apple’s latest MacBooks) and packaged it as the Ion platform. Rumors of Ion-based computers, both of the desktop and laptop variety, have been floating around for a few months, but today one has finally been given an official announcement. Acer is launching the AspireRevo, which out-minis the Mac Mini while delivering full 1080p HD (i.e., including Blu-ray discs) video and 7.1 audio. It also comes with an HDMI port, so no need for a DVI-to-HDMI adapter as with the Mac Mini. It’s too slim to house its own DVD drive, but it could otherwise be a nice companion PC for your home theater.
As an actual computer, the specs aren’t so bad for a tiny unit: up to 4GB of memory, up to 250GB of hard drive space, six USB ports, Windows Vista, and DirectX 10 compatibility. nVidia is really playing up Ion’s ability to handle mainstream gaming (no, not Crysis), which remains to be proven in real-world testing. Also unknown are pricing and release date, though it’s hard to imagine this will cost more than $500 (and possibly quite less).
Could this, or other Ion PCs, be the ultimate budget HTPC? Would you buy this over the Mac Mini? Let us know in the TalkBack section.
[Via Engadget]
Sean Portnoy spent several years as an editor at Computer Shopper magazine, most recently serving as online executive editor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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