CES 2006: Motherboards, Memory, Cooling, and a Few Surprises

AOpen

Aopen has not been focusing much on the high-end motherboard scene lately, but they have numerous other products besides motherboards. That's not to say that they weren't showing any new motherboards, as they have several updates coming out. A 975X chipset motherboard was on display, and we hope to have a roundup of some of the 975X based boards done as soon as we can. Core Duo support is another addition, and Aopen has a Mobile on Desktop ( MoDT) uATX board for that market. Performance of such a solution should be competitive, but more importantly for the target market is that the performance can be achieved with very low heat output, which means low noise as well. The design will be used in some of Aopen's SFF/ MiniPC and HTPC barebones cases and should be available very soon. We took pictures of several such systems, which you can see below, and we hope to take a closer look at some of them in the future.

Aopen also makes a full range of cases, from the "smallest PC in the world" - a blatant knock-off of the Mac Mini called the PC Mini - through full size ATX cases. We're working on a review of the PC Mini already and will have that done in the near future. The one concern we have is that it is being sold as a barebones system rather than a complete unit, and working within such a confined space can be difficult. Some of Aopen's partners may offer units pre-configured with HDD, RAM, and CPU at a price that will hopefully be competitive with the Mac Mini. For more typical computer use like office applications, email, and web browsing, there's really no need for high-end graphics and processor upgrades. A DVI port provides a great fit for LCD users, and component out as well as S-VIDEO support also allow the unit to function as a basic HTPC. If you don't want a Mac and you want a small PC that isn't a notebook, it's a very interesting package. Those who want a bit more in the way of expansion options can look towards some of the larger SFF designs.

One unit using the Core Duo motherboard and Viiv certified is the Aopen EPC945-m8. Viiv units were on display at numerous places, and there is a clear goal of getting Intel-based systems into the living room. Whether or not consumers are ready to purchase such computers is still a matter of debate, but the sleeker appearance and lower heat output of the upcoming designs is certainly a step in the right direction.

One final item shown at the Aopen booth was a "3D Mouse". The optical mouse has the standard left and right buttons, but besides those are three directional buttons (sort of like a gamepad controller) that can be used to manipulate objects in 3D environments. A cube was on display, and you could twist, rotate, shove, etc. the cube by manipulating the buttons. There is definitely a learning curve to the process, and whether or not the product will actually see full-scale production is anyone's guess. The closest comparison that I can come up with is that using the device is something like a cross between a mouse and the old SpaceOrb controller from the Quake/Decent era. One problem with such devices is application/game support, and really, it seems more of a gimmick than something truly useful, but it's at least something different from the norm.