Acer mini PC surprisingly fast!
Posted by Simon Salvin on 03. Dec 2009 on PCI was recently asked to install a new PC for one of my regular customers. I’ve been supporting his mortgage brokering business for over a year.
He was conscious of spending too much for a new PC and with his needs being internet based only, a nettop PC seemed to be the way to go!
“A nettop?” I hear you say, “What’s that?” Well you’ve probably seen the netbook PC’s, tiny laptops, without an optical drive (CD/DVD), designed for business men to read their email on the train commuting to and from work, loved by kids because they’re ‘Cute’ and come in a multitude of colours, you know the ones?! The net-top is the desktop version of the netbook, mainly without an optical drive although they are starting to appear with one, at last manufacturers have realised we can’t live without discs no matter how much software we can download!
So the nettop of choice for this job was the Acer Aspire Revo R3600. Featuring an Intel Atom 230 Single Core processor with 2gb Ram and Windows Vista Home Premium, there’s no optical drive, but in it’s incredibly slim shell there’s wireless B/G connectivity, 6 USB ports, 10/100 ethernet, HDMI output, e-SATA, card reader and 160gb Hard Drive.
Graphics are handled by NVidia’s new ION graphics chip designed for nettops and netbooks giving extra graphical power for movie playback even HD! Although it will never be a gaming machine the graphics will happily handle older action titles.
So why the title “Surprisingly fast”? Well Vista is known to be a power hog, and this machine appears to handle Vista quite nicely.
With some specialised financial software installed opening and using the software along with internet browsing appeared quick and responsive.
In the box there’s a power adaptor just like a laptops, so fan noise like that of a traditional desktop PC is kept to a minimum, there’s also a stand for sitting the unit upright on your desk while a further adaptor allows you to attach the PC to the back of a monitor using the VESA standard mounting.
I’ve found Acer PC’s to feature a large amount of ‘Crapware’, so cleaning up the software and start-up programs helps create a speedy little machine.
At a price of £220 (amazon.co.uk – Prices correct as of 21/11/09) this unit is a bargain, and purchasing before the Jan deadline for the Windows 7 upgrade, at a cost of £12 the upgrade is fantastic, Acer supplying 2 discs, the Windows 7 upgrade disc and an Acer preparation & drivers disc, the only downside is the need for an external DVD drive, excuse the plug – we can do the upgrade for you should you wish.
The Windows 7 upgrade adds to the speedy run times and makes this a dream PC for light use, great for a kitchen or kids bedroom!
If the sound of this machine appeals but you’d like a little more power then you can opt for the new R3610 model, with the upgraded Atom 330 dual core processor, 4gb Ram, 500gb Hard Drive and Windows 7 Home Premium, a slightly higher price tag at £310 (http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=189803 – Prices correct as of 21/11/09)
or as above except 2gb Ram & 250gb Hard Drive £255 (http://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=189800 – Prices correct as of 21/11/09).
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