Mini PCs: Asus and ASRock do battle in your living room

Asus EeeBox PC EB1501

MARCHANDS €     Amazon mark...  377.26  Amazon mark...  465.52  Amazon mark...  497.63  Amazon mark...  549.27  Compare prices

Halfway between desktop computers and media centres with hard drives, mini PCs are slowly gaining round in living rooms everywhere.  The EeeBox PC EB1501 from Asus and the ASRock ION 330-BD are two options with optical players (DVD and/or Blu-ray) and perfectly capable of handling HD video.

This certainly isn't Asus' first venture into the world of mini PCs, or net tops as they're sometimes known.  The big news on the EeeBox PC EB1501 is the arrival of a slot-loading DVD writer.  This small, quiet unit is full of surprises.

Opposite it, ASRock is hoping its hardware will stand out by including a drive that reads Blu-ray discs and writes DVDs.  Shipped without an OS, the ASRock ION 330-BD leaves the choice of software up to you, representing a considerable saving on the unit price.  It's much easily configurable, making it ideal for anybody who wants to customise their computer.

> Test : Asus EeeBox PC EB1501
> Test : ASRock ION 330-BD


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