14 DAY TRIAL // ASUS seems to have joined Gigabyte on the entry-level PC market, although instead of a netbook it has put together a barebone known as S1-AT5NM10E.
Barebone PCs are a variation of nettops that have very basic specifications and often lack some of the parts that end-users can choose for themselves and buy separately
In the case of the ASUS S1-AT5NM10E, the components that have not been included are the memory modules and the storage device.
Of course, two DDR3 slots do allow for up to 4 GB of RAM to be inserted, and customers need only buy a hard disk drive or solid state drive to suit their storage needs.
The other major parts are, however, present, from the CPU to the GPU and the full list of connectivity and I/O ports.
The central processing unit (CPU) used is the Intel Atom D525, a dual-core Pine Trail model with a clock frequency of 1.8 GHz.
The other more important component is the NVIDIA second-generation ION GPU, otherwise known as the GeForce GT218.
The barebone PC comes equipped with a pair of SATA ports, which allows one to add a hard disk drive of whatever capacity and/or an optical disk drive.
Furthermore, the company threw in a 3-in-1 card reader, Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1 channel audio, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, two USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI output.
The HDMI connector will allow users to stream high-quality multimedia not just to monitors but also HDMI-equipped HTPCs.
Finally, the device is loaded with the Express gate instant-on OS, which lets owners easily start it up should they desire to perform certain tasks on a short notice.
All in all, the newcomer measures 267 (W) x 68.3 (H) x 196.6 (D) mm and should have already started to show up as available for order on online stores based in Europe, at a price of 203 Euro.