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Atomic Technologies announces dual-core nettop for the living room

by Parm Mann on 13 November 2008, 13:29

Tags: iStyle epc, Atomic Technologies

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qap5t

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UK-based Atomic Technologies has announced a dual-core version of its small nettop system, the iStyle epc.

The dubiously-titled machine aims to combine the best of Apple's "iStyle" flair with ASUS' "Eee PC" pricing. The result is a fairly smart-looking system that aims to find a place in your living room or kitchen.

The iStyle epc, pictured below, will be available in a choice of black, blue, pink or white, and can be fixed to a wall or mounted on its bundled stand.

Inside its smooth-but-sleek shell is Intel's dual-core 1.6GHz Atom 330 processor, up to 2GB of DDR2 memory, up to 1TB of hard-disk space and a choice of Fedora 9 or Windows Vista Home Premium as the operating system.

Not quite powerful enough to playback full-HD 1080p material, says Atomic, but it'll handle 720p without kicking up a fuss. Users hoping to make it into something of a Media Center solution will be happy to hear that Atomic provides a few handy optional extras, including an optical drive, Wi-Fi and a choice of USB-based TV tuners.

It's looking a useful system for those seeking simple web access or media capabilities in the living room, but its Achilles’ heel could be price. The iStyle epc starts off at £299 but that'll get you just a single-core CPU, 1GB of RAM and not much else. Configure a dual-core system with 2GB of RAM, a bigger hard-disk drive, Windows Vista and a TV tuner and you'll soon be hitting, or surpassing, the £500 mark.

Nettops are certain to become mainstream in the coming years, but cost is certainly scuppering their growth.

Official product page: AtomicTech.co.uk



HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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Crap price of what? An Eee Box is just as stylish but £100 less. If Asus rolls out a dual core Eee Box then they'll kill this in the water.

Roll on the new Mac Mini with 9400M chipset I say!
Slightly better-priced alternative: http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=16310
Parm
Slightly better-priced alternative: http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=16310

As its a mini ITX self assembled case/mobo I'd bet its the 945GCLF2 mobo which consumes 22W of power compared to what… 4W or 8W for the dual core Atom? Not green enough for me. I use Linkstations for my low power PC usage.. 14W including the HDD :rockon2:
Hi Guys

Firstly thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it and am sorry if you felt the product was overpriced. Since Hexus's review the price has changed, this is mainly due to the euro and dollar exchange rate. If you now visit our site, the price's has come down and we should be the same price as the expd8.

We also have a different product compared to others (its more decorative rather than a hideaway) and also its wall mountable and comes with a slot loading dvd/rw, unlike other manufactures who don’t supply one at all.

As a X-mas special we have some deals going on too, so check them out.


Any questions please get in touch!

Thanks


Rakesh
AtomicTech
Firstly thanks for the feedback, really appreciate it and am sorry if you felt the product was overpriced. Since Hexus's review the price has changed, this is mainly due to the euro and dollar exchange rate. If you now visit our site, the price's has come down and we should be the same price as the expd8.

I must be easily confused… but I thought the exchange rate has degraded so that imported goods are more expensive. So that would mean that the statement above is rather inaccurate. I welcome a price drop to make it more competively priced but the reasoning given doesnt hold water.

Unfortunately for Atomic, the hardware is not very energy efficient (well not compared to the 945GSE that Asus are using) unless I have been unfair in my assumption that Atomic use the 945GC on the 945GCLF2 mobo.

And time moves on. Asus have now announced Radeon 3400 powered Eee Boxes so Atomic are not only more expensive but playing catch up. Having an optical drive is not enough to make me want this box and the dual core Atom is not that great (according to Anandtech). I suspect discrete VGA is a bigger boost for the HTPC credentials than Dual core.

SCH/Poulsbo might give Atomic a USP but right now its a little “meh” for me!