ASRock CoreHT 252B Sandy Bridge HTPC
Are you looking to spend $1000 on an OEM SFF HTPC? Yeah, me neither. BUT, for those of you that are ASRock is looking to help you out. Armed with an Intel Core i5 CPU and sandy bridge platform, but lacking an SSD, this unit has it’s pros and cons.
As far as connectors goes, we were really impressed at the amount of connectivity you get from such a small little system that measures in at 195mm (W) x 70mm (H) x 186mm (L) with a volume capacity of just 2.5 litres. On the front of the system you get two speedy USB 3.0 ports and the standard microphone and headphone audio jacks. Moving around to the back of the system is where the fun really begins. You get 7.1 audio output, gigabit LAN, a HDMI 1.4a port (which is capable of displaying Stereoscopic 3D), one D-Sub connector, four USB 2.0 ports, two more tasty USB 3.0 ports, an S/PDIF optical connector for digital audio output and an eSATA3 connector for fast transfers to a compatible external hard drive. Additionally in this region you will also find the DC-in jack as well as the extraction point for the system cooling fan.
$1000, PASS
$1000, PASS
For that much I didn’t expect
For that much I didn’t expect to see a tray loading disc drive. For that much I would expect a slot loading drive (which also looks more professional).