Intel’s Atom processor is an ULV (ultra-low voltage) processor making strides in the netbook market. Often teamed with wireless networking and a mediocre to decent graphics solution from Intel, ATI or nVidia, these systems make great budget PCs. Most of the time they come with Windows XP and a gig of RAM, although Windows 7 may change that game.
Compaq offers a $249 desktop PC with a 1.6 GHz Atom processor, Windows XP, and a gig of RAM. It’s a nice looking box that likely has a very small power footprint. It even has a DC adapter (although I actually don’t know much about what that means)! I can see them bundling it with a monitor and printer for $299 soon… Nice for the budget market. I’m curious how Windows 7 will affect it, and I’m hearing good feedback that Windows 7 accomplishes Microsoft’s goal of running well on netbook-grade devices.
For those of you looking for an affordable all-in-one desktop, check out Asus’ EeeTop PC – $549, wireless, and a touchscreen. That beats Dell’s StudioOne 19” and HP’s TouchSmart on price if you’re just looking for an auxiliary PC for the kids or kitchen. It isn’t a high-powered machine – so pay the extra money if you need performance for gaming, business applications, and the like.
If you’re in the market for a budget PC, you can also save on software by checking out my post Finding Free Software For Every Task.
If you want to see these in person, they have ‘em at Fry’s. You can get more information on each product’s respective Web site – click the images below to visit each product’s page.
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