First Looks: Astone Nettop NT435 – Hit the Ground Running

First Looks: Astone Nettop NT435 – Hit the Ground Running

Internet In An Instant

Soon after ASUS introduced the concept of netbooks in 2007, the same minimalist philosophy was soon applied to desktops, resulting in the creation of “nettops”. These are similar to small form factor PCs such as the Shuttle XPC, but are even smaller and not as expandable in terms of parts. Just like their mobile cousins, they are meant to be a quick and inexpensive way to get on the Internet. Four years after their introduction, a number of manufacturers are still making them, one of the latest iterations being the Astone Nettop NT435.

BYOP: Bring Your Own Peripherals

As is the case with all nettops, it is a BYOP affair, meaning you must provide your own input devices and display. This particular model measures in at just 25mm (about 1 inch) thick and 109mm or 7.5 inches long, giving it a very small footprint. This means you can hide it behind your LCD monitor by using the included VESA cradle. Alternatively, you may choose to prop it up with a circular stand, which is also included in the package. Despite its tiny size, ASTONE was able to shoehorn six USB 2.0 ports, a VGA port, and a 5-in-1 multimedia card reader. Unfortunately, it does not feature an HDMI port, so this might not be the ideal candidate for a Home Theater PC (HTPC).

Basic Performance

Within its glossy black plastic exterior you will find a 1.8GHz single-core Intel Atom D425 processor supported by 1GB or up to 4GB of DDR3 memory. During our tests it was able to play 720p videos pretty smoothly with its integrated Intel Media Accelerator 3150. Full HD (1920 x 1080) videos however, were a little jittery. As for storage, it can accept one 2.5-inch SATA II hard drive, such as the 250GB example in our demo unit. Running the PCMark 7 benchmark on it yielded a score of 434, or just below the 544 recorded by the dual-core Lenovo IdeaPad S100. So in essence, the Astone Nettop NT435 is exactly the same as a netbook, minus the built-in keyboard and display.

Final Thoughts

Just like with netbooks, nettops are seen as passé, with the new trend of tablets being the next generation of general-use computing. However, these devices are still in their early stages of development and have plenty of kinks to work out, which means netbooks and nettops like the Astone NT435 still have a strong fighting chance, with their full operating systems and complete compliment of interface ports. Its tiny footprint and incredibly simple setup makes it a very quick and affordable way to get on the Internet as well as perform basic computing tasks.