Point of View Mobii FamilyPC Compact Desktop Design, NVIDIA ION Platform, Intel Atom Dual-Core Processors

Computer and component manufacturers are always seeking new ways to get
their wares into people's homes. While not quite as ubiquitous as the
television, PCs are certainly well on their way. One of the last
bastions of market share left in the never-ending battle for consumer's
money is the family unit. In this world it's all about user-friendly,
turnkey operation. This clientele doesn't want to be bothered with
upgrades or peripherals. The want a computer that is ready to go right
out of the box. Not to be left out of the game, NVIDIA partner Point of
View (more well known for their graphics cards than anything else)
announced today the launch of their new compact, family-friendly
personal computer, the Mobii FamilyPC.
Point of View's new Mobii FamilyPC is based on the company's just
announced motherboards that make use of the NVIDIA ION platform and
they're pretty compact. The entire computer is housed in a mini-ITX case
that shouldn't take up much space on a desk or shoved next to the family
entertainment center. These desktop computers are based on Intel's dual
core Atom 330 CPU that's known for its speedy performance and dainty
energy consumption.
The system allows for several options over and above the base 320GB HDD,
Intel Dual Core Atom 300 unit. You can upgrade from 1MB to 2MB of RAM
and you can get a Blu-ray player instead of the DVD/RW if you plan to
use it as a part of your high-definition entertainment system. The cute
little box sports several graphical output connections including DVI,
VGA and HDMI-out and the audio is handled by either digital SPDIF,
coaxial or stereo output connections.
Overall, the Point of View FamilyPC is a fairly upgradable PC. The
mainboard has two standard full-size DIMM slots and there are also PCI
and mini PCI-Express slots. I wouldn't really say those options are
family-friendly, given that most families wouldn't know what to do with
them without having Geek Squad on the phone. To their credit, Point of
View has included eight USB 2.0 ports so those should never be in short
supply. There is no word on whether or not this thing comes with
integrated wireless, but gigabit Ethernet is mentioned, so probably not.
The Mobii FamilyPC is expected to be available just in time for the
holidays in both black and white. No additional information on pricing
is available at this time.