UK retailer Play.com is taking preorders for the upcoming Acer AspireRevo nettop. The AspireRevo will be one of the first devices to use the NVIDIA ION platform which bundles an Intel Atom CPU with an NVIDIA graphics chip to offer improved video and graphics performance. In other words, you actually will be able to play Call of Duty 4 and other recent video games on a low power computer with an Atom processor. And that’s something I don’t get to write very often.
It looks like Play.com will be selling the nettop in several different configurations with prices ranging from £179.99 to £329.99 or about $268 to $491. The low end system comes with Linux and a small 8GB solid state disk, while the top of the line version will run Windows Vista Home Premium and have 2GB of RAM, a 160GB hard drive, a wireless keyboard and vido game controller. The estimated release date is May 18th. No word on whether the AspireRevo will be available in the US at the same time or how much it will cost here.
via Engadget
Does the price include VAT? It’s not clear on the site itself…
If it does, then I’ll get the one with the 3d controller. If not…meh. I can get a windows MCE remote for like $20 from amazon, and XBMC will just work.
Well, either way, now I have to convince my friend with all the disposable income that he needs this to compliment his new 42″ 1080p LCD….and that I’m the one to tweak it for him.;)
All Play.com prices shown on their website include VAT and UK shipping.
Thank you very much for the information!
As I understand it, most Play.com products are shipped from Jersey, a tax haven, so are VAT exempt – it’s how they manage to undercut many of their competitors. However, you may be stung for import duties and customs handling fees – CDs and most DVDs come in under the threshold (£18-ish, from memory) but computer hardware may not. Caveat emptor.
“If your delivery address is outside of Jersey, you may be subject to import duties and taxes, which are levied once a shipment reaches your country. Any such additional charges for customs clearance must be borne by you. You should note that customs policies vary widely from country to country; Play.com advises each customer to contact their local customs office for further information.”
http://www.play.com/HOME/HOME/6-/Help.html?page=playterms
Thank you. And just in the way of clarification: I don’t actually live in the UK, I’m in the US. I’m *really* sorry…I was just in a hurry and didn’t fully explain my thought process.
I figured that if those prices were with VAT, they’d cost less in the US. Still, I thank you for your information, it helps me make a more informed decision.
Glad to see the linux option. I would like to see a review from a user once they have had it for a couple of weeks.
This is a bit about what they mean by ‘play’ correct…I mean the part about playing Call of Duty 4? I’m sure it can do it, but what is the baseline of play. What effects are turned on? What effects are turned off? How many frames per second do you get? How steady is that fps number in when turning, etc? To me (and most gamers) ‘playing’ would be all the setting on medium and getting 24 fps or above. So the question remains in a real world test how well does this set up work? And I hate to say it but the test-bed for a gaming computer is Crysis, supposedly you can make a desktop gaming rig for $600 that plays Crysis so for this to have much meaning I’d rather know if a netbook could beat that for under $525, under 3.1 lbs, in a case that… Read more »
The “Aspire Revo”? Uh, I can’t believe this naming is pure coincidence – not with all the fuzz about Psion and the Netbook trademark. -> for the “Psion Revo” see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psion_Revo