The third largest computer manufacturer in the world - Acer has unveiled its Aspire Revo ion nettop, which is basically a mini-PC including an Atom CPU with an NV 9400 chipset. According to Taipei, Taiwan based Acer, AspireRevo is the first small form factor computer equipped with Nvidia's Ion platform, combined with Intel's Atom chip and the Ion graphics processor.

It is important to note that the Acer's AspireRevo ion nettop is not a netbook; it is a 'desktop' computer featuring Nvidia Ion turbocharging Intel Atom. Acer intends to boost its presence in the category of nettops, with its AspireRevo.

The portmanteau of Internet and desktop, Nettop is mini desktop or small form factor computer designed for performing basic computation tasks such as surfing the Internet, accessing web-based applications and rich internet applications, document processing and audio/video playback etc. Nettops are low-cost desktops offering looks of netbooks, but core charactristcs desktop computers. The examples are Asus' Eee Top 1602 All-in-one PC and Eee Box Compact desktop.

During the uncovering of AspireRevo at a science museum outside New York City, Acer officals were touting the excellent graphics processing power of Ion combined with the Atom 230/330 chip. It was being touted as a multimedia home PC, which can be used as a gaming device

AspireRevo allows users to watch 1080p HD video or play DirectX 10 games at high frame rates, or enjoy the 3D capabilities of Windows Vista Premium. It will be released with a game controller with 3D motion sensors. It will be release with either a Serial ATA hard drive or Solid State Drive (SSD) and up to 4GB of DDR2 memory; the users will be able to expand its memory with a Mini PC Express slot.

Acer CEO Gianfranco Lanci said, "Using SSD and not HDD saves power… There were several things holding back the wider use of SSD and the main one was cost," he said. "SSD used to cost about 50 times what HDD cost for the same capacity, but now it's down to about 10 times the cost, so we're getting there. Over the next two years we expect to see much greater use of SSD."

According to Acer, AspireRevo is sized to cover less than a liter of space, or about the form of a hardcover book. The users will be able to attach AspireRevo to the back of any TV display or LCD with a VESA attachment. The Nettop will come with 802.11 b/g WiFi and Gigabyte Ethernet connection. The company hanowever did not disclose price and release date of AspireRevo.