After my last nettop comparison post several people at the HTPC Forums have been asking that I write something that is a little more in depth and includes some extra machines. It seems that the original 3 nettops was only the beginning. This is a long read (over 1100 words) so feel free to bookmark the page and finish off later.

I plan to cover the following machines, if you think that I have missed any then please let me know.

Acer Aspire Revo R3610
Asrock 330
Asus Eee Box
CompuLab fit-PC2
Dell Zino HD
Habey BIS-6561
Zotax Zbox

I have divided the post into sections based on each device and written a small paragraph or two about what I personally think are the good and bad sides of each.

Nettops are an affordable option for use as an HPTC they are very well suited because they are small have a lower consumption and in many cases are almost silent.

In the previous most post I decided that this was the winner of all the machines with the best specification based on the cost. As a bit of a bonus the machine is very quiet. With small dimentions in a rhombus shape and with adapters that will mount onto the back of your TV it is almost perfect. Incuded pre-installed you will find Windows 7 Home Premium. Inside the box you will also find a nice little keyboard and mouse, inside the mouse you will find a wireless reciever to plug into the machine. This device does not include an optical drive.

With the bonus of an optional Blue Ray drive this just may be the device for some HTPC users out there. Currently Blue Ray is still growing in popularity with more titles coming out each week and prices becoming much more affordable. Unfortunatly if your after a cheap solution this may not be it. The Asrock does not throw in an operating system so that could be an extra cost on top. Obviously this is not a problem if you are a true geek and plan to run Linux (I am writing this on an XP Machine, I’m not a linux fan). Having a glossy finish does make it look like it will be a fingerprint magnet. Even with a a tiny little CPU fan Asrock claims that it is quieter than a library, although im not quite sure how they made that decision. Others have claimed that it only drew 40W while under full stress. To me this is very impressive.

When you think of Eee you may be thinking of a small netbook, well that is not the only thing that is included in the Eee Line. Please don’t ask who chose the strange name. Only a portion of the Eee’s (urgh) include an optical drive and only the latest release has a Blue Ray drive. These little box’s are very small and are probably arguably the best looking of the bunch. This toy can go over the £300 mark even without an optical drive which is a little higher in price than some of the others. But sometimes it is worth paying for a little extra plastic surgery (according to celebs).

Lets begin with a positive, this machine is fanless so as you can guess it is silent, and it is amazingly small. It is staggering that you can fit all this into such a small box. They didnt manage quite as much inside in terms of GPU but it does still incorporate an NVIDEA 9500 GPU, similar to the Macbook Pro so it still shouldn’t have any issues with playback of HD content . This claims to only use only 10W while in use. Becasue of its size it is perfect to hide away. I personally think it looks like an old netgear router that I used to have.

This is probably the best known brand of the bunch, I have always been impressed with the build quality of the Dell machines that I have managed to get my fingers inside of. The Zino is still fairly small and looks a little like a glorified, curvier and more colourfull Mac Mini. You can pay a little extra for the optional blue ray drive if required. Prices range massivly starting from £279 all the way up to £885 before adding extra software. As standard Windows 7 home premium is included but can be upgraded to Professional for a small price if you wish, but is probably not needed for an HTPC. Graphics comes in the form of a Integrated NVIDEA 3200 which should have no problems with media playback. You can have a pretty swirly design on the top to make it a little more personal to you, hey bonus.

This is an absolutly tiny machine that manages to pack an atom Z510 inside with 1GB RAM. It is somehow even smaller than the Compulab’s offering. This is so small that it uses a 1.8″ Hard drive so swapping in the future could be a little more challenging. This device uses a GMA 500 graphics chip and Habey claim that it is capable of full HD playback, althogh I would like to see it before splashing my cash.

This little box seems to be creating a bit of hype and can sell for less than £200. Uniquikly it is shipped as a barebone allowing you to add the HDD and RAM yourself with what you need. I am a little suprised that other HTPC market aimed devices are not doing the same as some people will want a small SSD Hard drive and others require a large amount of storage. To me the Zotac looks a little like the BT Homehub without the curve. We are back to an ION graphics chipset and an Atom 510 (1.66 Dual Core). This seems to almost be the norm for HTPC nettop hardware.

I am personally still swaying towards the Acer Revo but the Zotac is definatly a new contender for my cash. I am not worried about the ultra small box’s from Habey and Compulab because size is not a big issue behind my screen. I feel that the Eee is overpriced and the Dell is even more money again. The Asrock is a possibilty if I decided that I dont want a stand alone blue ray player. I love the idea of the Zotacs barebone scheme which allows me to create what I need.

I will update the site with a full review of the box of my choice (if any) when/if I do.

Please note that specifications are subject to change and that purchasing decisions should not be made based on the information above.