CrunchGear » nettop

MSI makes the CS120 ‘Nettop’ official

Doug Aamoth — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:20:00 +0000

If you’ve always longed for a netbook but you don’t want to have to put up with all that pesky “portability”, MSI is hoping you’ll take a liking to the CS120 “Nettop” computer. It’s decked out similarly to the cornucopia of currently-available netbooks – 1.6GHz Intel Atom CPU, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive – but you’re not saddled to 1024×600 resolution and this guy’s got a built-in DVD-burning slot drive.

The CS120 would likely look right at home next to your TV and the Wi-Fi mixed with the near-silent operation, plus the DVD drive could very well replace at least your DVD player while adding some streaming video fun to the mix.

Other features include two front-mounted USB ports, a front-mounted 4-in-1 card reader, four USB ports on the back, VGA out, Ethernet, 7.1 audio, and Windows XP. Make sure your TV has a VGA input because MSI says on the bottom of the product page, “The VGA port can not be converted into DVI or HDMI through any adapter.”

MSRP is around $299 and you can get the CS120 at a fairly wide range of stores already. Newegg has it if you’re looking to pick it up right away.

Product Page [msicomputer.com]

Dell intros the OptiPlex 160 Tiny Desktop Computer; it’s a nettop

Matt Burns — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:22:53 +0000

Dell is jumping into the world of tiny Intel Atom-powered desktops with the OptiPlex 160. There really isn’t anything fancy or special about this nettop. It lacks an optical drive but has the standard Atom CPU, Gigabit Ethernet, Wifi, and a trio of hard drive options including a 160GB HDD, 64GB SSD, or 20GB “Ultra Performance” drive. Prices start out $536 for the base model, which when compared to other similar spec’d nettops, indicate that you are clearing paying a Dell tax — or they are setting these up for a big ’sale.’

Celeron-powered Eee Box coming soon from Asus

Matt Burns — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:51:55 +0000

Surprise, surprise. The underpowered nettops aren’t selling so well. Sales are lagging so much that Asus is benching the Intel Atom for the more powerful Celeron CPU in an upcoming Eee Box release. The hard drive is also getting bumped to 120GB from 80GB. Overall, Asus still sees a future over this mini-desktops with 100,000 – 200,000 selling this year and over a million next as it the computer enters new markets. To bad nettops are still sorely underpowered by today’s standard.

MSI Windbox is a VESA-mount’s best friend

Matt Burns — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:15:08 +0000

MSI deserves a round of high-fives for the Windbox. Generally, all-in-one computers tend to be pricey and stick owners with limited LCD screen options so the Windbox’s mounting solution just makes so much sense. The nettop is a slim-line PC that affixes to the standard LCD VESA mounting holes allowing owners to choose their monitor.

An Intel 1.6GHz N270 Intel Atom CPU powers the computer with Windows XP Home the OS of choice. The rest of the specs includes 1GB or 2GB of RAM, either 160GB or 250GB HDD, WiFi b/g and gigabit ethernet are kind-of mundane but should make a decent enough desktop for most daily tasks.

Interested? MSI has slated a first quarter ‘09 launch at a price around €200 ($258). Not too bad; could be a great kitchen/kids computer.