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Sparkle's CUTi n30 finally launched, loses stackability, appeal?

by Parm Mann on 18 January 2010, 14:29

Tags: CUTi n30, Sparkle

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Remember the CUTi n30 we spotted at the Sparkle booth back at Computex in June 2009?

Back then, we described the stackable HTPC concept as both interesting and unique. Fast forward some seven months, and Sparkle has finally launched the product in a notably toned-down guise.

Gone is the cool-looking aluminium finish and stackable multi-component design to be replaced by what's essentially just another plastic-shelled nettop. To see just how drastic the change actually is, take a look at Sparkle's original design.

Get past the disappointment of what could have been, however, and you may conclude that the CUTi n30 is pretty useful as a compact HTPC solution. Sparkle has opted to equip the system with a dual-core 1.6GHz Intel Atom 330 processor, sitting atop of NVIDIA's ION chipset and GeForce 9-series graphics.

What's useful for the HTPC crowd is that Sparkle reckons the system creates just 26 dB of noise when under load, and that drops right down to 3 dB when idle. Power consumption, too, will remain low at between 14-30W.

There's still no mention of price, but Sparkle's complete specification now looks like this:

CPU Atom N330 1.60Gz 533MHz (FSB)
Chipset
NVIDIA MCP7A-Ion
VGA
Intergrate NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GPU
DX10 , Full HD support HDMI 1080p
Pure Video HD technology for GPU H/W decoding
Blu-ray/HD DVD H.264 video without CPU usage
Memory
Up to 4 GB of DDR2 800 ( Support Dual Channel ) Optional
Storage
Up to 500G SATA 2.5" HDD or SSD
LAN
Supports 10M/100M/1000M
Audio
Supports high-performance 7.1 Channel by S.PDIF Out
Optical S/PDIF-In/Out
(mini audio jack connector, Coaxial & Optical combo)
Card Reader
Supports SD/SDHC/MS/MS Pro/MMC
Wireless/Bluetooth
Wifi 802.11 b.g.n + Bluetooth 2.0+EDR ( Optional )
AC Adapter
19V , 3.42A, 65W
I/O Ports
6 x USB 2.0 ,
1 x DVI-I ,
1 x HDMI ,
1 x RJ45 ,
1 x Headphone ,
1 x Mic-In ( Support SPD-IF )
1 x Line-out ( Support SPDIF-Out ) ,
1 x SD/SDHC/MS/MS Pro/MMC card slot ,
1 x DC in
Support OS
Linux / Windows XP / Windows Vista / Windows 7 ( Optional )
Dimension
210mm x 135mm x 36mm


HEXUS Forums :: 2 Comments

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its not really the same product anymore!
No optical drive?

Makes it a pretty useless HTPC then, won't be able to play my Blu-Rays on it without a stupid breakout USB drive… in which case I'll just stick with my larger but integrated box thanks.