There are many instances when computer users want a very small desktop. You don’t always need lots of power for some uses, but cramped space is often a concern on desktops and in entertainment centers.

VIA has pulled the wraps off a new SFF Pc called the VIA ARTiGO A1100. The small machine measures a scant 5.7″ x 3.9″ x 2″ for a total space of 44.46 cubic inches. That tiny machine is not much bigger than your average cell phone.

Yes HTPCs are getting smaller and smaller. One day soon they will be the size of a flash drive, with flash drives being the size of a pebble. This crazy small PC has a Via EPIA-P820 Pico-ITX motherboard inside, and Via’s AMOS-3001 is the first PC to use it. It has COM ports and two USB ports on the front, and Ethernet, USB, and HDMI ports in back. It measures just 6 inches wide.

The 1.2GHz all-in-one VIA VX855 Media System Processor plays 1080p video as well. And yes the design is fanless, which keeps things silent. No pricing info just yet, but we should know more soon.

Chinese OEM Tongfong and VIA have announced the latest Via Nano based ultraportable, the Tongfong S30A. It’s just 33mm thick and weighs 1.4kg, with a 13.3-inch display, integrated DVD burner and 2GB of RAM. It uses the VIA 1.3GHz Nano U2250 processor with the unified VIA VX800 MSP and discrete S3 Graphics Chrome 435 ULP graphics, making a great HD-capable machine.

There’s room for a 2.5-inch SATA hard-drive, WiFi b/g and 10/100 ethernet, plus a 4-in-1 card reader, ExpressCard slot, HDMI and VGA ports along with two USB 2.0 ports. The standard battery is a six-cell, but it can be upgraded by removing the DVD burner and slotting in an optional three-cell secondary.

Ask a few people what they think about netbooks and you will get varied answers like “netbooks are great,” to “the screen is too small,” and “they can’t process HD video.” Intel tried to address that last complaint with its new Atom N280 processor that with its chipset can decode 720p video. Still, some users want the full 1080p monty and VIA has announced a new media processor that can deliver.

VIA has unveiled its new VX855 Media System Processor and calls it a highly integrated all-in-one chipset addressing key areas for SFF and mobile PC systems. The key areas the new MSP addresses are small size and the ability to hardware decode full 1080p resolution video.

Samsung has by many accounts one of the better netbooks on the current market with its 10-inch NC10 machine. Many manufacturers are blurring the lines between netbook and notebook by unveiling netbooks with large 12-inch screens and Samsung has joined the pack with its NC20.

The netbook has a 12.1-inch screen and VIA has announced that it uses the 1.2GHz Nano processor along with the VIA VX800 system media processor. Features of the NC 20 include a 12.1-inch 1280 x 800 resolution screen, VIA Chrome9 graphics, 1GB of DDR2 RAM and a 160GB HDD for storage.