Jetway MiniTOP review JBC600C99-52W - The Jetway Mini-TOP

The Jetway Mini-TOP

So the Jetway Mini-TOP is a fully capable desktop computer really, limited of course in overall performance, but powerful enough for all basic functions with a very decent ION2 graphics implementation which offers good multimedia features. The GPU embedded is in fact an NVIDIA GT218 which is clocked at 600 MHz and comes with 16 shader processors (which can be utilized for post-processing and enhancing video content). This GPU also has a video processor to accelerate and decode high-definition content. The combination of the embedded video processor and shader processors on that GPU is of course excellent and is what's making ION/ION2 so popular.

The Mini-TOP is especially good for high definition video, some (very low level) gaming, sharing digital photos, surfing the web, listening to music. It's the combination of the NVIDIA ION graphics processor implementation and the energy efficient Intel Atom processor that makes the golden combination here. Which is interesting as both companies are pretty much archrivals.

NVIDIA ION GPU information

The Mini-TOP comes with a wide array of connectivity options including e-SATA, 4 USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit LAN, DVI-I, HDMI (Full HD 1080p compatible), optical S/PDIF output and also a handy 3-in-1-memory card reader. Really lovely is the Wireless 802.11n Wi-Fi is integration for quick network transfers, plenty fast enough to stream HD content. Included with the Mini-TOP is a software suite for basic things and content playback with, very Asia targeted, karaoke options :)

The first thing you want to do though is skip that software suite, install an OS and then install software like MediaPortal (is a free software) which functions as a media-center overlay.

But let's have a peek at the hardware features.

Two quick remarks, You'll notice that this product does not use regular memory DIMM modules, you'll need to hunt down some DDR2 SODIMMs (laptop memory) and the HDD/SSD you'll fit into the product has to have a 2.5" size (laptop size). All of this was done to design a product as small as possible.