Ganesh Reviews ASRock’s Core 100HT-BD
I’m not sold on the 100HT-BD’s PC look (that power button looks really bright in the pictures), but for ~$700 it’s really hard to argue with the capability it provides. Ganesh did an amazing job of testing ASRock’s Arrandale based HTPC – even if you’re not in the market for a off the shelf SFF box it’s well worth a read.
ASRock has gained a reputation amongst us of being innovative in a crowded market, and having come out with pioneering products. Their first play in the SFF HTPC market was the ASRock ION 300-HT. Though it was found to be technically good, it ended up competing against products such as the Aspire Revo from Acer (with a substantially higher marketing impetus). Now, they have stolen a march over the competition by introducing the Core 100 HT-BD. Realizing that the Atom in the nettop was the major cause of concern amongst HTPC customers, they seem to have done their homework by introducing their next play in the market with the Arrandale platform.