eMachines Joins AMD Nettop Trend with the Unique ER1402-05

If anything, the past few weeks have shown that the Intel Atom processors, otherwise known as the Pine Trail platform, are no longer the only means by which a competent mobile or compact computer can be created. In fact, the recently introduced platforms from Advanced Micro Devices have seen quite a few design wins, even in a short time. Netbooks, notebooks, desktops and nettops have already been announced. As such, that another company, eMachines in this case, would decide to join the bandwagon is not altogether surprising.

What the PC supplier has completed is the development of the ER1402-05 vSFF (very small form factor) desktop personal computer, nettop in other words. This machine can be seen as somewhat refreshing, compared to all the competitors that showed their faces recently, through its use of the novel combination between NVIDIA's nForce 9200 chipset and the AMD Athlon II Neo K125 central processing unit. The rest of the build is also not altogether similar to those of all the other compact PCs that the larger players recently showcased.

The Athlon chip is backed up by 2GB of ARM and the NVIDIA GeForce 9200 integrated graphics. Storage is provided by a hard disk drive whose capacity is 160GB. Other specifications include D-Sub and HDMI outputs, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n WiFi and a multi-card reader. All of these parts are crammed inside a thin, uniquely-shaped enclosure that measures 7.1 by 1.2 by 7.1 inches and weighs 9 pounds.

The chassis is shaped like a sort of square with rounded edges and stands out, in a literal fashion, because it rests on a stand that is just an extension of one of said square's corners. As for software, eMachines has provided the Microsoft Windows 7 Home premium Operating 64 bit. The product has already become available, priced at $300.