Digital Home Thoughts: ION2 Nettops Make Small Work Of Desktop Computing

"It’s time to put that credit card back in your wallet, if you’re thinking about buying an HD capable nettop to function as your living room’s HTPC. Shuttle has just announced that they will be debuting the Shuttle Barebone XS35 Mini-PC, featuring Intel’s Atom D510 1.6Ghz dual core processor and NVIDIA GT218 (ION 2) graphics, at CeBIT 2010 (release date: Q2 2010)."

I am sure that we are going to see more of these being announced in the coming weeks. While the Atom still will not break any speed records, a dual core machine with HD acceleration, boosted video processing and the capability of light gaming should make this a very attractive option. Surprisingly, this nettop is even passively cooled! Hopefully the price will be consistent with other nettops making it the defacto choice for someone who really just needs a computer that will handle their everyday tasks for a pittance of power.