Epson goes miniature with Endeavor ST100 micro PC

We know Epson's engineering team prides itself on cranking out the tiniest, most miniscule products they possibly can, and the company has veered from the printing / scanning world for a bit to unveil its Endeavor ST100 "micro PC." While the Endeavor NA101 did its wee thing on the laptop side, the ST100 packs an Intel Core 2 Duo (T7200, T7400, or T7600) processor, ATi's Radeon Xpress 200M graphics chipset, up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM, 40GB to 160GB SATA drive options, and a dual-layer DVD burner. It also sports a ho hum port assortment including VGA, audio in / out, Ethernet, 56k modem, and six USB 2.0 ports with a pair of them being on the front panel. While it doesn't quite undercut the Mac Mini's 6.5- x 6.5- x 2-inch enclosure and 2.9-pound weight, this PC weighs in at just over five pounds while boasting a 7.28- x 7.68- x 2.95-inch package. Those looking for an ultraportable desktop on a budget shouldn't find much to complain about here, as the ST100 starts at just ¥59,850 ($508), but we're sure adding a speedier CPU and gobs of RAM will ratchet that right up.

[Via Akihabara News]

[sunz @ Nov 21st 2006 12:35PM]

don't they know black makes it look smaller .. jeesh .. lol .. but thatz kewl . itz not that bad looking .. me likes a lil.

-sun

[PodMonkeys @ Nov 21st 2006 12:48PM]

Looks neat. Rather like an old sun turned upside-down! The specs aren't bad at all. The Radeon isn't the best, but at least its not Intel graphics.

[Jeff @ Nov 21st 2006 1:10PM]

Haha, the Mac mini is smaller. Epson loses!

Seriously though, that's a nice lookin' machine. They probably should've made it a color other than white, though, as to avoid the instant comparison I just made.

[diulei @ Nov 21st 2006 1:16PM]

Not bad. Much better than all the other Mac Mini wannabes, IMO, but now that you can run Windows on the Mini, you might as well get the "original".

[Jarrett Kaufman @ Nov 21st 2006 1:16PM]

Wow, that's surprisingly nice looking. Epson's Japanese teams generally have better color choices than Epson America, though. A lot of stark white printers in Japan, while in the US they tend to go with the safer, but more bland, neutral colors, like black, charcoal, gray, silver, and chrome. Still, those colors match other components better.

Got to say, that computer almost makes me consider an import. Very slick.

[GioNYC @ Nov 21st 2006 1:43PM]

An Epson Computer? Please Epson stick to those shitty InkJets!!!!
Lets hope it can last longer than thier Inkjet cartridges.

[perror @ Nov 21st 2006 2:43PM]

VGA and no DVI?!?!?
Are they serious? It's year 2006 now not 2000.

[Jack Hatch @ Nov 21st 2006 3:18PM]

It' so cute!

I think the only thing that will make it cuter is if I smear it with Hello Kitty stickers.

Props to Epson though, for a first forray, this is a very decent end result.

[Tony C @ Nov 21st 2006 5:33PM]

The price is NOT competitive, if you could even get it in the US. There is nothing in their lineup comparably priced to a Mac Mini at the same equipped performance levels. This tiny Epson desktop is only a little cheaper than a comparably equipped MacBook! ($1094 for the 2GHz Endeavor, $1299 for the MacBook)

Base machines priced out:

1.4GHz Celeron is �59,850 ($504)
1.66GHz Core Solo is �70,350 ($596)
1.66GHz Core 2 Duo is �81,900 ($794)
2.0GHz Core 2 Duo is �102,900 ($872)
2.16GHz Core 2 Duo is �123,900 ($1,050)
2.33GHz Core 2 Duo is �165900 ($1400)

Also note that all base configurations come with only 256MB of RAM, a 40GB HD and a CD-RW/DVD-ROM optical. Anything else above and beyond is a build-to-order option with a fatter price tag.

The $599 Mac Mini is a 1.66GHz Core Duo with 512MB of RAM and a 60GB HD. An Endeavor with the same specs? $774 (80GB drive makes the Mini $649, since 60's not an option for the Epson) and it still doesn't have Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, WiFi or a FireWire port.

http://epsondirect.jp

[Tony C @ Nov 21st 2006 5:39PM]

Conversion typo...

1.66GHz Core 2 Duo bases at $694, not $794

[Karl Viklund @ Nov 21st 2006 6:20PM]

Mac mini :O

[craig @ Nov 21st 2006 6:48PM]

I would much prefer a miniature PC with a real hard drive such as this one: http://sys.us.shuttle.com/X100_4.aspx

Just because Apple made the mistake of using an inadequate hard drive doesn't mean everyone should. Imagine how much better the mini would be as an HTPC if the hardware looked like the Shuttle instead. Of course, I'd prefer an even larger HTPC mac...

[keith waddington @ Nov 21st 2006 9:42PM]

The fact is the mac mini is my stylish, cheaper, smaller, better featured and comes with real apps that people will love and use.

The fact is that these days macs give better value for money and a better user experience from the mini all the way through to the mac pro. Plus you don't have to deal with Microsoft.

These are the facts, my lord.

waddo
http://www.waddo.net/

[ps @ Nov 21st 2006 10:57PM]

i'm compelled to say, though. that is the ONLY pc enclousure i've seen my entire life that actually is on par with apple's industrial design. if they only hadn't slapped "endeavor" across the top.