Sapphire Edge-HD Pro Reviews

In its barest form, Sapphire's EDGE-HD PC is an Intel Atom (CPU) and NVIDIA ION 2 (GPU)-powered nettop that's presented in a nice-looking chassis. Wonderfully small in size - barely larger than a Blu-ray case - and lovely and quiet at all times, the EDGE-HD makes a case as a general-purpose system that's adequate for everyday tasks such as Internet browsing and emailing, though moderate multitasking can cause it to stall. But neither plumbed out with the necessary outputs for a quality HTPC and not powerful enough for proper gaming on a large-screen TV, we reckon it makes most sense as a second (or third) PC or, as Sapphire suggests, a basic office-based machine.Arriving with a basic retail price of £265, likely jumping up to over £300 with Windows 7, the sheer portability of the system makes it an above-average proposition. Intrigued as we are by Sapphire's attempt to create a teeny-weeny bundle of geeky joy, we would hold fire until a Fusion version becomes available and then take the pick of the two.

Super small and quiet, there’s plenty to like about Sapphire’s miniature Edge-HD, but I think it’s over priced. The entry-level Dell Zino HD 410, for example, is just £50 more expensive and comes with a faster AMD II X2 V160 processor, built-in optical drive and a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium. It’s not nearly as compact as the Edge-HD, but it sure makes Sapphire’s effort look a little expensive. The fact Sapphire hasn’t bothered to preinstal a fully-functional OS also leaves a bad taste in the mouth. ®

If you're looking for an ultra-small PC, Sapphire's EDGE-HD will undoubtedly appeal. Its simple-yet-attractive design impresses, and the inclusion of an HDMI output makes it perfect for use as a home theatre PC. However, you're clearly paying a premium for its diminutive design, and considering it doesn't come with Windows pre-installed, we were hoping it might be a bit cheaper. If you can cope with a slightly larger chassis, Dell's Inspiron Zino HD 410 is a better value option, but this is still an impressive mini PC from Sapphire.

If it could manage that, it would do Sapphire and PC gaming a world of good. If Winchester's law stands, though, machines like this are only going to get smaller, not better.

The Sapphire Edge-HD shows us what the next generation of NVIDIA ION chipsets is capable of. Overall dimensions have become even smaller, noise level has been reduced, while overall performance and power efficiency increased. The Sapphire Edge-HD will only set you back as much as most other offerings, I did miss some functional features like a card reader, optical connectivity or IR sensor. The system would fit extremely well within a home theater setting and Sapphire is handicapping such a potent system by not offering those extras. But that does not mean that the Edge-HD is not a great Nettop - on the contrary. It packs quite the punch, looks good and you can just plug it in, install the OS and enjoy the unit without having to rip it apart to install memory or hard drive.

Sapphire's Edge-HD is compact, good-looking and silent, and makes a great simple desktop PC. However, Zotac's Zbox barebones system may be larger, but has a faster processor, a card reader, an optical S/PDIF output and a VESA mount for your monitor or TV, and is around £210 once you've added 2GB RAM and a 250GB hard disk.