14 DAY TRIAL // CeBIT 2010, taking place in Hanover, Germany, has not exactly kicked off yet but, of course, the various hardware makers and PC vendors that are participating have already set up their booths. As such, we had the chance to take a short look at what was going to be on display even before the show started. Having seen the NVIDIA GTX 285M-packing gaming notebook from MSI, namely the GT660, we turned our gaze towards the entry-level market, where the ION-based Zotac Zbox HD-ID11 lies in wait.
Nettops, like netbooks, are generally known for their basic computing and graphics capabilities, since they are meant for little else besides web browsing and modest multimedia. Still, as technology develops, PC makers naturally see no harm in upgrading even such devices, especially if it can be done while keeping at the same price point. Of course, the price of Zotac's nettop is still unknown, since the official introduction has yet to be made, but we did have the chance to find out the machine's basic specifications.
The Zbox HD-ID11 is based on the Intel NM10 chipset and runs on the Intel Atom D510 dual-core central processing unit. This CPU is combined with a 200-pin DDR2 SODIMM and a 2.5-inch storage unit, which can be either a hard drive or a solid state drive. What is especially interesting about the product, however, is its use of what is dubbed simply an NVIDIA ION graphics processor. While this leaves the required degree of pre-release vagueness firmly in place, we can assume that this NM10-ION pairing is, in fact, the highly-anticipated ION 2 technology that NVIDIA has been working on for some time.
Still, while the use of ION 2 is not confirmed, what is clearly stated is the nettop's 802.11 WiFi, Gigabit LAN and 6-in-1 card reader. Finally, the machine boasts 8-channel audio and a VESA monitor mount.
Live report by Traian Teglet from CeBIT 2010 in Hanover, Germany.