ViewSonic VOT550 PC Mini launched

The VOT550 mini computer has been spotted online during the summer, but ViewSonic just launched it (as in: you might be able to buy it soon). Don’t mistaken the VOT550 for a Nettop – despite its small size, it packs a lot of punch: 2.2Ghz Core Duo processor, 4GB of RAM, 500GB hard disk and a Blu-Ray drive. ViewSonic has cleverly used a slim optical drive design, and has extracted the power supply from the main box (like laptops). The result is a very small box that is a fully featured PC. We have not cracked one open, but we expect to see a single fan, which will make it a relatively quiet computer. In the back, all the ports are there… except the HDMI output, which *might* be an issue with HDCP (the HD digital copy-protection scheme) at some point. At $949, it is relatively expensive, but there aren’t many small Blu-ray home theater PCs like this one. If Blu-ray is not a priority for you, the Mac Mini could be a decent alternative, although you need to price in the cost of getting Windows. I doubt that it will be cheaper.