Reviews - Sapphire EDGE-HD3 mini PC

[HEXUS]

Now with AMD Fusion inside.

Read more.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Is it possible to run a few games to compare real world graphics performance between the nettops??

[Rob_B]

Idles at 62C (?!) Am I out of the loop or is that warmer than I'd like?

[edvinasm]

I am just wondering where is the value in these products? You can get Lenovo x121e for €350, ad an ssd and you have a lighting fast Sandybridge notebook. See here how fast it actually gets with an SSD option:
http://youtu.be/wA0tTTrhoSM

[shaithis]

temps seem high but look how small it is......there really cannot be much room at all for airflow.

[crossy]

Trouble is, the £290 street price, which doesn't include Microsoft Windows, is steep when put up against other AMD E-450-based 'mini PCs'. Really, we like the idea of a pint-sized PC using AMD's low-power technology, but Sapphire needs to take another look at pricing if the EDGE-HD3 is going to be a big hit: £200 should do it.

+1 on this - £300 is too much - although I note that an Asus board with an 18W Hecate on it is about £125, so maybe Sapphire aren't bumping up the price too much after all.

I didn't see any mention of VESA mounting, so I'm guessing that slapping it on the back of a montor (like the Revo can) is out of the question. Think I'd also be happier if like the author (if I'm reading between the lines correctly) Sapphire had put a bit more bulk on the enclosure to slap in a bigger/more-powerful/quieter fan.

I was looking for a decent book-sized system for a project I'm going to start and hoped this was it. Looks like I'll just have to get the bits and build my own.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The basic version with Linux can be had for around £178:

http://www.ebuyer.com/319567-acer-re...c-pt-sj4ec-003

[crossy]

The basic version with Linux can be had for around £178:
http://www.ebuyer.com/319567-acer-re...c-pt-sj4ec-003

Much more like it! (serves me right for unsubscribing from eBuyer's m/l last month).

[Hoonigan]

Seems absolutely stupid not to have a VESA mount on this. I used to have one of the very early ones on the back of my TV years ago, haven't a clue where it went or I'd still be using it now

[Kumagoro]

I have been looking into getting a small nettop for travelling for as little as possible and as always can't get exactly what I want.

The Revo RL70 is a bit chunky but interestingly it has a spare sata port and a fullsize mini pci-e slot. There is no additional sata power connection though so the extra sata socket isn't much use, not that I can think of. I thought it might be possible to stack a HDD and a SSD. Also no USB 3. I wonder if a sata power splitter and a super short sata cable might work in getting an SSD in.

I have found another candidate which is a foxconn A3500 which is significantly smaller has USB 3 and a DVI connection and can be had for £162 barebones but has an E350 rather than E450. Definitely no chance of getting an SSD in as well.

There is also something called the Giada i50 which has an i3 or possibly i5 which is diddy also but it doesn't appear to be available here.

Looking like the foxconn at the mo

[cjs150]

"The EDGE-HD3's 40mm fan produces a noticeable hum when idling in Windows"

I was thinking about using this as an HTPC, but too much noise

[OilSheikh]

I saw this at the recent shambolic AMD event in London. It's the size of a 3.5" HDD caddy. Pricing is just not that impressive. For £300, you can have a better desktop

[bert7]

You could have included the MSI Wind Box DC100, this also runs the AMD E-450 and looks a better bet other than USB-3. VESA is an option plus it has Windows 7 home premium 64 bit installed. MSI also has its own Cloud software installed plus its cheaper to, £260.