Although AOpen hasn't been the most prolific company over the past couple of years, it has taken a fair slice of the mini-ITX market when it comes to digital signage products. Although its latest motherboard, the i945GCt-DN might be an appealing solution for those that are looking for a dual-core Atom 330 motherboard with a difference.

The i945GCt-DN has some rather unusual features apart from the Atom 330 processors, which includes a PCIe x1 slot as well as a Mini Card slot which accepts various notebook modules such as WiFi cards and TV-tuners.

The board also has a built-in DC to DC converter and needs an external 19V power adapter. As such this board can be built into smaller cases and takes up less space. It also has three SATA ports which is one more than most Atom boards. Sadly, it only has one memory slot, but with 2GB DDR2 DIMM's being fairly cheap these days, it's not a huge issue.

The ports around the back are scarce and only include a D-sub, four USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port and three 3.5mm audio jacks that can be configured for 5.1-channel HD audio. There are also two headers for an additional four USB 2.0 ports and as this board has an onboard DC to DC converter, there's also a Molex connector which comes with a special cable that is used to power hard drives and optical drives with.

AOpen supplies a 90W AC to DC adapter with the board and offers a range of cases for it with the smallest one having a volume of 2.63L. No pricing has been revealed, but we expect this board to be a fair bit more expensive compared to your average Atom 330 motherboard due to the external power adapter and onboard DC to DC converter.

You can find the product page here