As yours truly has managed to learn first hand (by getting an ASRock's ION HTPC), NVIDIA's ION platform is a very impressive solution, especially when coupled with Intel's dual-core Atom 330 CPU and a hefty amount of memory. The tiny PC (which I use as an HTPC) runs Windows 7 with absolutely no problem and is able to play full HD videos without a glitch.

Now, despite the fact that Myka is calling this thing a media player, its ION device has exactly the same configuration as the ASRock machine, which leads me to believe that, in fact, ASRock is the OEM manufacturer for the Myka player. The only difference is that the Myka machine comes pre-loaded with the Linux operating system and the company's own interface on top, offering access to a couple of useful media playback functions, as well as media tools such as Boxee and XMBC.

As mentioned before, the internal configuration is more or less the same as that of the ASRock ION machine, so we're talking about an Intel 1.6 GHz Atom 330 Dual Core CPU, accompanied by an NVIDIA MCP7A-ION chipset and NVIDIA GeForce 9400M GPU, plus a 160GB HDD. The setup supports up to 4GB DDR2 memory, as well as resolutions of up to 1920 x 1440 pixels.

The similarities to the ASRock platform continue in the realm of connectivity, where the Myka ION boasts no less than 6 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 VGA port, 1 DVI-I port, 1 HDMI port, 1 eSATA port, 1 LAN port, 1 PS2 keyboard port, 2 S/PDIF-out ports (coaxial/optical) and 3 Audio jacks: line-out, line-in, mic-in.

Pricing for the basic Myka ION starts at around 380 US dollars, but users can also opt for adding certain components (more RAM, Blu-ray optical drive, larger HDD), which will push up the price tag (way above that of the ASRock machine I was telling you about).


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