Sapphire Announces the Edge-HD Mini PC

[btarunr]

SAPPHIRE Technology – the world leading manufacturer and supplier of PC graphics cards and mainboards has just introduced the first in a new line of lifestyle computer products – the SAPPHIRE Edge-HD Mini PC. The Sapphire EDGE-HD Mini PC is believed to be the smallest PC in the world with its slim, stylish outline. At less than half a litre in volume, it is slimmer and smaller than most wireless access points – in fact around the size of a paperback book! Its stylish design and simple pedestal mount make it equally at home next to a TV or business monitor whilst unobtrusively occupying the minimum of desk or shelf space.

But don’t let its size fool you – it is a fully featured PC for home, education or business use. Specifications include a second generation 1.66GHz dual core processor, 2GB of memory, a 250GB hard drive and built in wireless connectivity as well as high speed LAN port and four USB ports. It provides high resolution graphics output with a full HD (1920x1080) HDMI interface (HDMI cable and HDMI-DVI adaptors supplied) as well as a VGA monitor output and it has built-in audio with mic-in and line-out sockets. All of this makes it more than capable of handling day to day Office tasks as well as streaming video or browsing the Internet.



Another way in which the Mini PC is a top scorer is in power efficiency. Consuming only around 22W under load, the SAPPHIRE Edge-HD Mini PC uses around 10 times less power than a typical desktop PC – and less than most notebooks – making it one of the Greenest PC solutions available. Power and space savings alone can justify switching to Mini PC for many businesses*.

The SAPPHIRE Edge-HD Mini PC is ideal for integration into an office or education environment. The user or system integrator has a free choice of design for keyboard or mouse, which can be either wireless or USB connected. The Edge-HD is supplied pre-installed with FREE DOS – ready for the reseller or end user to install the preferred choice of operating system. It is fully compatible with Microsoft Windows7, Vista or Windows XP. All appropriate drivers are supplied on a USB memory stick.

[Imsochobo]

sapphire with a ion based pc ?
woot....
got a cheap deal i expect, loads of leftovers.

But whats up with sapphire going into much wider markets, going properly into motherboards and now a mini pc.

[InnocentCriminal]

Looks good.

[RejZoR]

I hate these weird nettops. Why can't they make a small and cute cube shaped box, similar to what AsRock is offering, just even smaller?

[HalfAHertz]

this design gathers less dust than a box maybe?

[Flanker]

Originally Posted by RejZoR

I hate these weird nettops. Why can't they make a small and cute cube shaped box, similar to what AsRock is offering, just even smaller?

to an extent I agree, a simple brick shape would be much better

[meran]

wow amd will slam sapphere in the face if its atom based LOL

[pr0n Inspector]

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...ge_HD_mini_pc/

You can just place it horizontally without the stand.

[MikeMurphy]

GIVE ME AN E350 ZACATE IN THIS FORM FACTOR ALREADY!!!

With mild overclocking capabilities

[Completely Bonkers]

Silly stand. Looks even sillier as a PR photo. Plug a VGA or HDMI cable in it and it will soon fall over.

Otherwise nice. Would make a great mini-NAS and a good setup for WHS. They should have given it 500GB/640GB though. 250GB is more than enough for a nettop, but option it as a mini-NAS with a decent backup size HDD. Or media station. For these usage scenarios 250GB is too small. For a nettop, 250GB is much more than necessary, and a small SSD would give the device a bit more oomphf. Option NAS, 640GB HDD. Option nettop, 32GB SSD. Perfect.

WHY-OH-WHY-WHATASHAME this has only one ethernet port. With 2 ports, this would have made a fantastic router!

[wahdangun]

wtf, what are the type of CPU they using ?? Zacate or atom based ??

[SetsunaFZero]

Atom D510 1.66ghz inside lawoot

[HossHuge]

Personally, I would much rather buy a solid netbook or notebook than ones of these things.

[HossHuge]

Consuming only around 22W under load, the SAPPHIRE Edge-HD Mini PC uses around 10 times less power than a typical desktop PC – and less than most notebooks – making it one of the Greenest PC solutions available.

Sorry for the double post but I assume they are not including the power used by the monitor in these figures. Marketing BS....

[wahdangun]

Originally Posted by SetsunaFZero

Atom D510 1.66ghz inside lawoot

wow, then shapire is fail,

[Jizzler]

D510? That's not a D525, get back in the kitchen Sapphire!

For a serious criticism, if you want them to have more appeal to businesses (I'm a purchaser for one), a VESA mount would be great addition.

Couple reviews if anyone wanted to know more:
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...ge_HD_mini_pc/
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/review...roduction.html

[theubersmurf]

I wonder if we'll see Nvidia video cards from them any time soon...Or intel chipset motherboards.

[Steevo]

So AMD releases a new awesome dual core with integrated GPU for hardware accelerated fun stuff, and sapphire releases a piece of junk only good for internet browsing with low quality video and basic 1990s audio?


Better be cheap. Real cheap.

[Completely Bonkers]

Originally Posted by Jizzler

D510? That's not a D525, get back in the kitchen Sapphire!

For a serious criticism, if you want them to have more appeal to businesses (I'm a purchaser for one), a VESA mount would be great addition.

Couple reviews if anyone wanted to know more:
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha...ge_HD_mini_pc/
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/review...roduction.html

Thanks for that first link. Useful review. ION2 makes the Atom a useful low-end or low-power device. I fully agree that if it was using Intel graphics then it would need the D525 just to survive the basics. But with ION2, it makes nil difference in game or video playback since ION2 is doing most of the work, and for a 5% gain in CPU only activities it raises the power/heat/efficiency question. As you know a D525 is not much faster but needs relatively more power and generates more heat.

Here is a useful comparison of D510 vs. D525
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...5-lf,2716.html

Remember, an Atom box is not targetted at CPU constrained applications.

A double ethernet port would have been perfect for channel bonding or router applications.

[Jizzler]

True. I wasn't really thinking of those two activities with it when I posted (read my mind Bonkers! ). However, from that Tom's link, it seems like there's nearly no difference in power consumption from CPU's themselves. One board has ION2 and while the other did not. So for longevity purposes, I'd could squeeze a couple months more out of a D525 and not really pay more than a couple extra dollars for it's consumption.

As for dual (Intel!) Ethernet: http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/Atom/

Was hoping to have one by now for my storage box so I could give a hands-on review of it's performance but.... "life" and all that. But when I do get around to it, TPU exclusive review!

[Completely Bonkers]

^ hehe. I got one of those D525 boards already. Using it as a fileserver, sitting in a 1U rack. However, intel chipset so no use for video. However, they are not cheap, and if the Sapphire Edge has dual ethernet it would be a economy dream. I would buy one portable fileserver running various services. Size of a DVD case. Now THAT would fit easily into my overnight case, and could be sync'ed whenever I get an internet connection to the main office server. I'd have local speeds, and services to dream for.