Nettop Computer Review: Acer Veriton and Aspire Intel Atom Based Computers
Nettop computers are the new fashion: inexpensive, very low power-consumption; very small and quiet (making them ideal for use as a media-centre PC) They are also ideal as a second computer or for the kids to use and can be left on all day without damaging the planet too much.
These computers became popular when the Asus Eee PC was launched in 2008, which was based on the new Intel Atom single-core (N230 and N280), low power consumption processor (also used in Asus Netbook computers), which used a tiny fraction of the power of the dual-core higher clock-rate CPUs popular in laptops.
The newly launched (July 2009) Acer Aspire and Acer Veriton N Series nettops are an improvent on this original idea, but with some additional media-centre friendly additions, such as HDMI output (so you can plug it into you television and home theater (i.e. home cinema) system) The Acer Veriton uses a similar Intel Atom processor and the Acer Aspire has the faster Nvidia graphics processor. They come in a variety of models:
Acer Aspire Revo R3600 Desktop, which has an Intel Atom N230 1.6 GHz, 1 GB of RAM and just 8 GB of SSD memory (i.e. no optical disk) and with Linux installed
Acer Veriton N260G Desktop, which has an Intel Atom N280 1.66 GHz, 1 GB of RAM and Microsoft XP Home Edition (Office Ready)
Acer Aspire Revo R3600 Desktop, which has an Intel Atom N230 1.6 GHz, 2 GB of RAM, 160 GB HDD and with Vista Home Premium installed
Various other permutations exist with more RAM and different operating systems. All come with a keyboard and a mouse.
Here is a review of the Acer Veriton N260G Desktop which I have purchased as a media-pc and photo album which I have networked with Apple macbooks and iMacs (details of how to do this below) What is the difference between the Acer Aspire Revo and the Acer Veriton N260G?
Table of Contents: Acer Veriton and Aspire Nettop Computers
- Nettop Computing
- Nettop Review: Acer Veriton N260G
- Home Theater/Cinema
- Home Theater Kit
- Acer Veriton N260G and alternatives
- Inexpensive Computer Monitors
- Acer Veriton N260G Setup and use
- More Home Theater Kit
- Alternatives to the Acer Veriton N260G and Acer Aspire Revo
- Apple Mac Mini vs Acer Veriton/Aspire
- Apple Macs Minis
- Other Acer Aspire Computers
- Please Twitter Follow AndyPo
- Related Articles
- All About Me
- More Intel Atom Nettop Computers
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Nettop Computing
Acer Veriton N260G
Nettop Review: Acer Veriton N260G
Acer Aspire and Acer Veriton N Series Nettop Computers

Nettop computers, based on the Intel Atom processor, are not powerful/fast, but use very little power and can be left running for long periods without damaging the environment. The new Acer Veriton N series computers however have an integrated Intel GMA 4500M graphics processor, whereas the Acer Aspire Revo R3600 has the more powerful Nvidia ION graphics processor which makes it fast enough to handle HD video without stuttering and therefore makes it ideal for Home Theater/Cinema applications or as a media-pc i.e. you can store all of your music, photos, videos and also store television programmes, either downloaded from the internet or from terrestrial digital TV e.g. Freeview (via an adaptor)
Specifications: Veriton N260G
OS: Windows XP Home Edition
CPU: Intel Atom processor N280
RAM: 1GB DDR2
HDD: 160GB
Optical: None
Video: Intel GMA 4500M Integrated
LAN: Wireless LAN
Modem: None
Keyboard: PS2
Mouse: USB
Speaker: None
BIOS: P01-A2
I bought the Acer Veriton N260G mid-range model with 160 GB disc and Microsoft XP installed. This has good storage space, but avoids the cost of an expensive operating system, such as Vista. I paid about £160 (excl. VAT) The computer is tiny at just 3 kg in weight and just 180 (L) x 180 (H) x 30 (W) mm in size (7" x 7" x 1.5")
The difference between the Acer Aspire Revo and the Acer Veriton N260G nettop computers: Veriton versions do not have the NVIDIA Ion graphics processor, but do have the faster Intel Atom N280 cpu, otherwise these computers are very similar.
Home Theater/Cinema
Use your Acer Aspire as a Media-Centre PC
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Home Theater Projectors (Home Cinema)
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Home cinema projectors allow the real feel of a cinema or film theater in your own home; enormous picture for a reasonable price. The price of LCD and Plasma flat panel screens and televisions has come down a lot in price the largest sizes available...
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Home Cinema / Theater
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This is a compilation of articles, reviews and recommendations about home-cinema/home-theatre and HiFi: Reviews of Blu-ray players, LCD televisions, home-cinema-projectors, Nettop and Media PCs and HiFi equipment. The pros and cons of LCD v Plasma t...
Home Theater Kit
Acer Veriton N260G and alternatives
Inexpensive Computer Monitors
Acer Veriton N260G Setup and use
Acer Veriton N260G Setup
and file-sharing with Apple iMac, Macbook and Windows XP
The setup of the Acer Veriton N260G is very simple. Plug in the keyboard, mouse, power-cable, HDMI (or VGA) to the television or monitor and press the power-button. It really is that simple. You then have a standard Windows XP Home computer. It even connected to the wireless network without any problems, so internet browsing was possible straight away.
The only problems I had were trying to get it to talk to my other computers on the network: Apple Macbooks. I am running Mac OSX 10.5 and did finally manage to setup file sharing with the XP, but I had to do the following:
How to file share between Apple Mac and Acer Veriton of Aspire with Microsoft XP Home
create a copy of the default "Automatic" location the create a new work-group: MSHOME
On the PC I created a new network place linking to the shared folder on the Mac and was able to copy file between the two.
More Home Theater Kit
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How to Choose a Blu Ray Player
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The format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD has finally been won, with Blu-ray the only survivor after most of the film studios backed just that format, about a year ago. Both formats output "Full HD" (1080p resolution) and Full HD televisions are also...
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How To Choose The Best Television For You
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How do you choose a television? What size do you need to get a full Home Cinema effect? LCD or Plasma? Projector or flat-panel. I have covered all of these subjects in the article below. Please also see the full review of an excellent, relatively i...
Alternatives to the Acer Veriton N260G and Acer Aspire Revo
Apple Mac Mini vs Acer Veriton/Aspire
The Acer Veriton and Aspire build quality is reasonably good, especially when you consider the very low price, but not in the same league as an Apple Mac (which cost far more) they can however be tucked away behind the television or monitor (although mine had very low WiFi signal strength there and had to be moved to under the TV, where it was fine. The computer dimesions are tiny at just 3 kg in weight and just 180 (L) x 180 (H) x 30 (W) mm in size (7" x 7" x 1.5") The plastic used for the case feels quite cheap, but looks reasonably stylish, partly because of the unusual trapezoidal shape and the slim design (and lack of optical drive) The stand which allows the Acer computers to stand up is flimsy, but works fine and there is also a bracket that allows the computer to be mounted on the back of the monitor. The keyboard and mouse provided and effectively free (Apple Mac mini doesn't come with either) but despite that they are quite useable and far from the worst I have used.
An alternative to the Acer Aspire and Veriton computers could be the Apple Mac Mini computers. These are beautifully made and will also work straight out of the box. They have also an optical drive (but not Blu Ray, although the Acer models have no optical drive) and look excellent in the lounge. The Mac mini is also a tiny machine at a similar total volume to the Acer computers.
Apple Macs Minis
Other Acer Aspire Computers
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Lensmaster AndyPo has been a member since July 7 2008, has rated 2,042 lenses, favorited 1,959, and has created 207 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "The Rocky Mountaineer Train, Canada". See all my lenses
My Bio
Hi, I am Andy. I live in the U.K. but have worked and travelled all over the world. I am a semi-professional wildlife and travel photographer (i.e. I sold a couple of photos once), semi-retired consultant physicist (i.e. unemployed boffin) with a keen interest in finance (i.e. get rich quick..ly):
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Classic Car Review: Ferrari 308 GTS
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Investing in National Savings Premium Bonds
How to Reduce Risk of Your Investment Portfolio
Investing in Corporate Bonds
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More Intel Atom Nettop Computers
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- AndyPo AndyPo Oct 20, 2009 @ 8:24 am | in reply to Tipi
- Congratulations on the new wings and thank you very much for the blessing. Glad to hear that you had a good vacation.
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- ElizabethJeanAllen ElizabethJeanAllen Oct 19, 2009 @ 6:07 pm
- I need a second, maybe even a third computer. A little one would be nice.
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- Tipi Tipi Oct 13, 2009 @ 5:52 pm
- Hi AndyPo-Po! I got these ~angle-wings~ today and thought I'd fly around Squidoo just being a blessing to some of the good folks and nice lenses. I can do that now! This is going to be fun being more of a blessing to others. Shelly is pretty excited for me...what a nut. I was so busy last month on Squidoo that I taught her how to edit lenses for me. Now when she proof-reads she can just do the corrections herself, which is much wiser on our part...should have done that to begin with. I decided I needed to let someone know how to get my pay-outs too just in case some-thing happened to me. ~ Had a nice vacation the 1st weekend on Oct. to go see my mom. Shelly and her husband traveled there too to see me. My Mom is planning on giving me the house someday. I have wanted to move back home and now I'll be able to, don't know when, but that's my plan to live at Kabetogama. Gives me something to look forward to and makes me a bit happier knowing. ~ Best wishes to you! :)
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- JaguarJulie JaguarJulie Aug 4, 2009 @ 7:19 am
- You know, I had an Acer computer at my last job -- it is just so amazing HOW MANY computers there are to pick from today! Just amazing.
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- kathysart kathysart Jul 30, 2009 @ 9:48 am
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Very interesting lens.
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- Tipi Tipi Jul 21, 2009 @ 6:21 pm
- Techno-geek!!! :) --- My Squidoo security word is "geektoes"!
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- Tipi Tipi Jul 21, 2009 @ 5:59 pm
- I have a Acer Aspire one notebbook. I was getting a free ride on the internet with it for awhile, but they moved or some dang thing. My son has wanted it, for a deal of course and I finally told him I would sell it to him. Its a sweet little computer and I love.
Thank you for all of this information Andy, it is helpful to me. I mostly use a Everex PC right now, until I need or can get something better. Thinking that I will add some memory to it and that should keep it going for a good while. - ( Remember to change the oil on your cars! :)
Susie
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- ElizabethJeanAllen ElizabethJeanAllen Jul 21, 2009 @ 1:39 pm
- Excellent review!
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- stargazer00 stargazer00 Jul 15, 2009 @ 10:35 am
- I've been hearing about these little computers. Great reviews!
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