Sneak Peek - Acer Aspire easyStore Home Server

[Chris Gohlke]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.wegotserved.co.uk/2009/04/19/acer-aspire-easystore-home-server-–-features-screenshots-and-manual-download/' target='_blank'>http://www.wegotserved.co.uk/2009/0...anual-download/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Over the weekend, the manual for the Acer Aspire easyStore Home Server H340 (now, there&rsquo;s a mouthful) popped up on the internet and of course, as soon as we got our hands on the manual, we plundered it to find out more about the features that Acer have packed into the product. Here&rsquo;s a rundown of what to expect, with (blurry &ndash; sorry!) screenshots:"</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1240359470.usr10.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>No hands on as of yet, but if you want to get a taste, check out the analysis of the manual.&nbsp; I'm pretty happy with the power saving features I'm seeing, and I'm hoping the price will be equally impressive.</p>

[Phillip Dyson]

Just I be concerned that this device is going to be running an ATOM processor? Aren't those designed for Netbooks?

[Jason Dunn]

Just I be concerned that this device is going to be running an ATOM processor? Aren't those designed for Netbooks?

That is a bit curious...it's enough power for the basic backup tasks I bet, but when you look at the direction that Windows Home Server is heading, namely with media streaming, etc., the Atom would fail at that task. But like most any product, it's designed for today's scenarios, not tomorrow's. The 2.0 Ghz Celeron CPU in the HP MediaSmart series would certainly be more powerful than the Atom CPU.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

Streaming requires that much power? Or am I missing something?

[Jason Dunn]

Streaming requires that much power? Or am I missing something?

Not so much for streaming as for transcoding - that's the direction HP is going with their WHS for instance...and Web access of content also requires a decent amount of CPU power. Like I said, the Atom CPU is probably fine for WHS today, but not so much for WHS tomorrow. I guess it depends if there are actual cost-savings by going with the Atom CPU, or if this is just band-wagon jumping because so many companies want to put the Atom CPU everywhere they can...

[Phillip Dyson]

I guess it depends if there are actual cost-savings by going with the Atom CPU, or if this is just band-wagon jumping because so many companies want to put the Atom CPU everywhere they can...

I think its a numbers issue. Acer is a major player in the Netbook market. They probably either had plenty of ATOMs in stock, or they're getting an even larger bulk discount.

Update: Sorry, I think I was thinking of ASUS as the major netbook player.

[Phillip Dyson]

Not so much for streaming as for transcoding - that's the direction HP is going with their WHS for instance...and Web access of content also requires a decent amount of CPU power.

I was just shopping the HP Media Smart devices. I noticed they are using Celerons (Intel Celeron 2.0 GHZ Processor).

Jason, I believe you have one of these. How is the performance?

[Jason Dunn]

How is the performance?

The performance is excellent - the Celeron developed a bad name for itself due to horrible performance early on, but the newer Celeron processors hold up quite well. I have zero complaints about performance.