i3/i5 Mini PCs

[usxhe190]

Does anyone know whether there are any upcoming mini pcs/htpc that uses the Intel i3/ or i5 chipsets?

Was planning to buy a htpc because I am too lazy to build my own now.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Building your own PC will probably end up a bit cheaper as many companies charge a premium for SFF ready built PCs AFAIK.

[kalniel]

Does anyone know whether there are any upcoming mini pcs/htpc that uses the Intel i3/ or i5 chipsets?

Was planning to buy a htpc because I am too lazy to build my own now.

Really keen on the Intels?

Dell do some neat mini PCs using AMD X2 chips and ATI HD graphics from about £309:



http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home...-hd_d00zhd02~~

[usxhe190]

Thanks guys.

@CAT-THE-FIFTH: I agree it would be cheaper but I am just busy (i.e. lazy) to build one now. Also, getting a nice looking case is hard...

@kalniel: Thanks for your suggestion. I did a search on this system in the regular forums and seems like there are issues with it as a htpc. Also, I am not really a fan of AMD as heat and power usage is pretty high compared to Intel atm (unless this has changed with the latest chipset which I have no idea about anymore - getting old!)...

Guess I just need to wait!

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

The Lian Li PC-Q07 is quite a nice case IMHO:

http://www.lian-li.com.tw/v2/en/prod...ndex=63&g=spec

Here is a review of the case:

http://aphnetworks.com/reviews/lian_li_pc_q07

[simonw]

usxhe190 - I think you may be interested in this. ASRock are showing off two new HTPCs at Computex 2010.

Vision 3D HTPC
- Mobile Intel HM55 Express chipset
- Choice of i7 920XM or i5 520M (according to the ASRock rep)
- GeForce 300/400M series notebook gpu
- USB3.0 and eSATA II


Video courtesy of TweakTown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1HwqBodanA

Core 100 HTPC
A more affordable version, pretty much the same as the Vision 3D HTPC except it will introduce some lower cost models of the Core i7 / i5 / i3 mobile processor family, and will use the integrated Arrandale gpu instead of Nvidia, and a similar case to ASRock's existing Atom based nettops.



Product page already available:
http://www.asrock.com/nettop/overvie...ore%20100HT-BD

[usxhe190]

simonw, these ASRock systems look good. If they are anything like their ION machines (ie. in their good reviews), I might get one of these! thanks

[sprite-]

I've got an Acer Revo R3600

Fantastic little thing i got for £130 on ebuyer a while ago - whacked XBMC Live on it.. 1080p playback is flawless.. Really am godsmacked.

Looking forward to when XBMC Live incorperates bluray disc playback a bit better, then i'd probabley upgrade to one of these higher spec'd Asusrock HTPC with a bluray drive.

[spoon_]

Just looked the R3600 up and its deffo a temptation!

Just under £180 from eBuyer...

[sprite-]

Just look the R3600 up and its deffo a temptation!

Just under £180 from eBuyer...

Yeah that's the updated version with the dual core Atom, so it is better. Fantastic little thing

I did a video a while back, as i made a large thread on hotukdeals about it. Here is it running on my 50" at 1080p res - shows off how standard definition, 720p and 1080p playback is. For the price i paid, i don't think it can be beaten. Doesn't drop a frame.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVZ4F0tuDcM