I'm looking at upgrading my ageing AMD64 main rig in September. All I ever use my PC for is web, email, Office and (still!) a bit of Battelfield 2 every now and then. And really not much else at all.

Now, I've had a look at the growing trend in marrying netbook specs with dedicated graphics platforms, in desktops the size of ...well ...nothing big at all, with a really minimal power draw (25W in use!)

I'm liking Acer's Revo R3600 nettop, based on Nvidia's ION platform: Full HD-capable, 3D gaming-capable (not reaching Crysis goodness, but...) based on nVidia 9400 GPU. Only hiccup: Atom single core (1.6Ghz). They're about to release an dual core Atom version soon.

But then Asus is reportedly also about to upgrade its 'Eeebox' nettops as well, this time with an ATi 4350-based GPU and dual core Atom ('B208', I believe).

I don't want to procrastinate forever (as I always tend to do :rolleyes:), so... based on my needs, plunge for the R3600 now, or wait for the dual core versions for a bit more future-proofing?

Don't you all rush to your keyboards now :hihi:

I would wait. I am using the single core Atom in a Netbook and althopugh I am really happy with it, its pretty slow for everyday computing. I use mine for basic MSN and web and also to stream music to from the server but anything else I use either a desktop machine or another laptop.
The Revo Will be good for media playback because the GPU kicks in and takes care of that but if you use it a lot for even things like basic web browsing then I think you will get a bit fed up with it. Give it a little while longer and some better low powered CPUs will be out. Just for now the Atom is too low powered for me to recomend jumping onboard just yet. Its a good step in the right direction though. I can have the netbook next to me downloading while I sleep and its as silent as any laptop/desktop/netbook can be. Also never worry about any electricity bills leaving it on all the time due to the really low power. So for that I would recomend, but for other things just wait.

I have one sitting at home playing at being a server :) I decided it was necessary as I leave my main PC a lot. Currently it's running Ubuntu and has Mysql, PHP, Apache, sabnzb and other stuff I need to configure. Once all that's working well I might try XBMC to see if it can cope as being a media box as well....installed the Nvidia drivers and it's supposed to be able to cope with 1080p very well.

Oh and the linux one is £100 less, only diff being you don't get Vista and only 1GB ram.

Oh and the linux one is £100 less, only diff being you don't get Vista and only 1GB ram.Yes, I've been looking at getting the Linux version, then upping the RAM and making a dual-boot system with XP MCE :thumbsup:
I need something capable of driving AI for a lot of bots in BF2 SP, and that's CPU-only.
From what I've seen/read/heard since my OP about the N270 Atom, looks increasingly like I'm better off waiting for the Dual Core N330 version, which should be out by Sept/Oct'09.

Yes, I've been looking at getting the Linux version, then upping the RAM and making a dual-boot system with XP MCE :thumbsup:
I need something capable of driving AI for a lot of bots in BF2 SP, and that's CPU-only.
From what I've seen/read/heard since my OP about the N270 Atom, looks increasingly like I'm better off waiting for the Dual Core N330 version, which should be out by Sept/Oct'09.

Yep for that sort of thing you'd be better waiting :)

Mine is now happily running Apache, PHP, MySQL, SqueezeCenter and various other stuff and is just about silent as well!

As it happens... I don't have to wait any more! (http://www.asrock.com/nettop/spec/ION%20330.asp) (£196 ex-VAT, 2GB RAM/320GB SATA, w/out OS, UK stock) Thank you muchy, Mr Asrock :thumbsup:

As it happens... I don't have to wait any more! (http://www.asrock.com/nettop/spec/ION%20330.asp) (£196 ex-VAT, 2GB RAM/320GB SATA, w/out OS, UK stock) Thank you muchy, Mr Asrock :thumbsup:

Yep I'd seen this too :) Better for a HTPC as well.

ebuyer has the 3600 for £149 today

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/167153

ebuyer has the 3600 for £149 today

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/167153

just bagged one, thanks for the heads up

btw, ASRock is NOT Asus, is ntohing to do with them, never have been and never spawned from Asus

btw, ASRock is NOT Asus, is ntohing to do with them, never have been and never spawned from AsusCorrect, but (specs-wise / bang-for-buck-wise)
ebuyer has the 3600 for £149 todayI've seen the Asus 3610 (dual core Atom) on HotdealsUK (http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/507849/acer-r3610-revo-atom-330-dual-core-?page=1) today, which an online outfit periodically markets for £155 (whenever they have stock, which won't be often at that price!)

Now, to all intents and purposes, Asus Revo 3610 = Asrock Ion 330 minus an optical drive (both dual core Atom 330, 1GB RAM, ION 'semi-integrated' gfx).

Just an FYI ;) (I've gone with Asrock)

EDIT - note that these units may become still cheaper very soon, as distributors may be clearing stocks to make room for "ION 2" units expected at year end (still quite a rumour-mill, but insistent, with double the gfx pipelines and Core2-capable).