VIA's updated its mini-ITX lineup with the EX-series, adding some extra grunt to their 7"-square mini motherboards. Updates include a 1-1.5 Ghz VIA C7 low-power processor and the integrated VIA Unichrome GPU, built to handle MPEG4 and WMV9, with a HDTV encoder supporting 720p and 1080i resolutions. Other incrementals include gigabit ethernet and dual 3 Gb/s SATA headers.
One side of the board is studded with the usual outputs galore, including S-Video, component, DVI and LVDS, but no HDMI. Audio output comes through standard RCA jacks, digital coax and optical S/PDIF.The board consumes only 13.6 watts of power, which, with its small form factor, makes it great for carputers and crazy custom cases.
Still, I'd really prefer an upgraded, volume-manufactured nano-ITX board, s'il vous plait:. At 4.7" square, these are about the only thing going that trumps the Mac Mini, but they're $300 and offer about as much computing performance as a Lego difference engine.
VIA Announces EPIA EX-Series [DailyTech]
