Initially only available in Japan

Feb 27, 2009 08:22 GMT  ·  By

Acer, the world’s third leading PC vendor, has just announced a new Atom-based product in Japan, which will not be part of the company’s lineup of Aspire One netbooks. The company has, however, decided to use the low-power Atom processor on one of its latest easyStore H340 series Networked Attached Storage (NAS) products. The NAS comes in two flavors dubbed S1 and S2, each one offering a different storage capacity.

Acer’s NAS has been designed to incorporate Intel’s 1.6GHz Atom 230 processor combined with 1GB of memory and four internal bays. The system is based on the Intel 945GC Express chipset and boasts 5 USB 2.0 ports, one eSATA and one Gigabit Ethernet port, meant to provide the end-user with the necessary connectivity options to back up their large media libraries or important data.

In terms of storage, the new Aspire easyStore H340 can set the user with support for up to 3TB of storage space on the S2 model, while the S1 model is only good for 1TB of storage. The system is packed with Microsoft’s Windows Home Server and is specifically designed to allow home users to easily back up their data, personal photos and videos or music. The NAS is expected to start shipping in Japan on March the 6th with a price tag close to $600 for the S1 model and a whopping $900 for the S2 model. Unfortunately there are no details regarding an upcoming release in other parts of the world, but given the approaching CeBIT show in Hanover, Germany, the PC vendor might be showcasing the new product at the event.

With the launch Acer has basically provided its users with support for storing their personal data in a convenient and easy to use device. It takes advantage of Intel’s low-power Atom processor to ensure the required performance while also keeping the power requirements to a minimum.