A Closer Look

Upon first unpacking the Zotac MAG, the first point of interest was the construction quality. Overall the casing is well build and reinforced well. Only the silver area does not convey a good impression, as the plastic has been painted silver instead of actually using material of that color. But due to the design, you will not have to worry about scratches on this part of the enclosure. The upside of the MAG holds the Zotac logo. I was surprised, that there is no orange ring, which was seen in the package illustrations at first. Turning the unit over, the underside - or right side if you decide to use the stand - has three rubber dots so that you can place it on a flat surface without having to worry about vibration.


The foot is made of solid plastic and a metal base. Our sample - a preproduction unit - does not seem to hold well on the stand as there is a lot of play. Zotac is working on using a different method of attachment to avoid that problem. Even though the VESA mounting kit is made of plastic, the clips holding the MAG in place work perfectly. This system also allows you to pull the entire Nettop off with ease. This is a step up from other manufacturers which require you to hang the unit from your screen using screws.


Taking a closer look at the connectivity, starting at the front we have the power button, a USB port along with the card reader and the usual pair of audio connectivity. There is a white LED for the hard drive activity and a blue one for Wifi connectivity indication. Turning the MAG around to the rear, we are greeted by a host of additional connection possibilities. Going from left to right, there is an eSATA port, four USB 2.0 and a single Gigabit Ethernet plug, as well as outputs for VGA, HDMI and optical audio. If you look closely below the VGA port, there is a small card reader. This is actually for a SIM card, allowing you to use a 3G network to get on the internet. This functionality is not present with the MAG by default, but Zotac will be offering it in regions where such an internet connection are commonplace and thus makes sense. The top of the Nettop has a single USB 2.0 plug and an air vent, through which hot air can escape the system.