Asrock Ion 330HT-BD review

Nvidia’s Ion chipset and a dual core Intel Atom 330 processor has proved a winning combination in recent months, a good example being Asus’s Eee Box EB1012. Asrock’s new nettop has the same core hardware, but it’s the inclusion of a Blu-ray drive that really had us excited.

The Ion 330HT-BD is the first nettop we’ve seen that can play Blu-ray movies. The Ion chipset is capable of smoothly playback of 1080p video, and there’s a HDMI output for connection to an HD TV, but there’s no software provided for Blu-ray playback.

In fact, it goes a little further than that, as there’s no operating system supplied either – with its sizable 320GB hard disk being supplied blank. How much it costs to get the 330HT-BD up and running largely depends on what software you’ve got to hand. If you have a spare retail copy of XP, then you’ll only have to pay the £65 upgrade price for Windows 7.

Blu-ray playback software isn’t free either, though, with most packages (like PowerDVD 9 Ultra) costing around £50. If you don’t have either of these available to you then you’ll have to pay out around £180 before you can even watch a Blu-ray movie.

On the plus side, it’s a smartly designed device. The case is compact and the shiny black finish is unlikely to upset anyone. There’s built-in wireless 802.11n, with no unsightly antennas to be seen, plus a built-in IR receiver, so you don’t have to use a USB one. The included Media Center remote control has the standard button layout and the same gloss finish as the nettop.

On the back is the usual wide range of ports we’d come to expect from an Ion-based device. There are six USB ports, eSATA, minijacks supporting 5.1 surround sound audio and an optical S/PDIF. VGA and HDMI ports complete the set, and there’s a bundled DVI adaptor too. No keyboard or mouse is supplied.

It’s not quite as compact as our favourite nettop, the EB1012, but then that doesn’t have a built-in optical drive. The laptop-style pop out Blu-ray drive doesn’t feel very sturdy or look very classy – a slot loading drive would have been a far better choice. The small fan is a touch whiny, but you won’t notice if it’s tucked under your TV on the opposite side of the living room. The Atom 330 processor is fine for day-to-day web browsing and office tasks, but isn’t up to tougher tests like video editing.

We really like the 330HT-BD from a hardware perspective, but the lack of Windows and Blu-ray playback software makes it more expensive than it first appears. Then again there aren’t any other Blu-ray equipped nettops on the market and you’d be hard pushed to build your own at this price.

If size isn’t a big issue, however, then Mesh’s Cute Inspire, plus its optional Blu-ray drive, is a better bet at £380. It comes with Windows 7 and Blu-ray playback software plus it’s far faster in applications – head over to Mesh’s website for more details.