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MiniPc posts

Dell's Inspiron Zino HD on sale now in America: starts at $229, doubles as an HTPC

by Darren Murph posted Nov 12th 2009 at 9:59AM

Dell has taken its sweet time in bringing the 7.75- x 7.75- x 3.5-inch Inspiron Zino HD to market, but just 24 hours after it made its market debut across the pond, this little zinger is finally available to the Yanks in attendance. Starting at just $229, the mini PC is far more exhilarating than most ho hum nettops. Oh sure, the base configuration is fairly unexciting, but thankfully Dell enables you to add up to 8GB of memory, a 1.8GHz dual-core AMD Athlon Neo X2 6850e CPU, up to 1TB of HDD space, an optional Blu-ray drive, a 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4330 discrete GPU and WiFi to the mix. 'Course, speccing it out will obviously raise the price substantially, but it's always nice to see more power than anticipated within such a minuscule box. Of note, Dell also mentions that an optional TV tuner, wireless keyboard and mouse are available, but at least for now, the TV tuner is nowhere to be found in the configuration pages. Other inclusions are a 4-in-1 card reader, four USB 2.0 sockets and a pair of eSATA ports. Who says HTPCs have to breathe fire?

Update: We've just heard that the TV tuner won't be available at launch (sounds a lot like what happened with the Mini 10), so there goes those dreams of immediately gratifying your urge for a new HTPC of the smallest scale.

Gallery: Dell's Inspiron Zino HD on sale now in America: starts at $229, doubles as an HTPC

Stealth's rugged LPC-395F Mini PC: it's like a caged monster, but weak

by Darren Murph posted Nov 9th 2009 at 2:14AM

Stealth Computer has been kicking, shoving and blasting ruggedized PCs out of its labs for years on end, and the latest mini PC is amongst the smallest we've seen to still sport such a hardcore shell. The LPC-395F is a fanless rig with integrated removable storage, featuring front-loading removable media slots (for HDDs and flash media), a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, a metal chassis and an overall size of just 6.54- x 6.18- x 1.89-inches. As for ports, you'll find twin gigabit Ethernet sockets, four USB 2.0 connectors, DVI and RS-232; there's also an inbuilt WiFi module and room for 2GB of RAM, while the OS that arrives is totally your call. The base configuration checks in at $795, but you'll probably end up paying well north of a grand when everything's said and done.

Okoro delivers mini Media PCs with a full size price tag

by Richard Lawler posted Sep 30th 2009 at 3:43PM

Continuing its streak of questionably high priced media PCs Okoro has announced the new OMS-Q100 and OMS-Q200 Quantum mini Digital Entertainment Systems. Combining an Intel Atom processor and NVIDIA ION in the OMS-Q200 and Mobile Core 2 Duo in the OMS-Q200 with 4GB of RAM with 320GB of hard drive space, 7.1 audio outputs, OTA & QAM recording capability (plus optional digital cable tuner) these tiny, quiet boxes could find a welcoming home theater somewhere, though the starting price of $1,295 may make for a difficult fit. You probably don't need our help to put together something equivalent or better for less than that, but feel welcome to it.

Fujitsu Esprimo Q1500: Core 2 Duo and Blu-ray in a laughably small form factor

by Vladislav Savov posted Sep 6th 2009 at 1:22AM

My my, we've seen heatsinks bigger than this latest Esprimo Mini PC from Fujitsu. The Q1500 might look like your run-of-the-mill underpowered nettop, but its makers have successfully crammed a mobile Core 2 Duo CPU and a slot-loading Blu-ray drive inside to make one hell of an appealing little goer. 4GB of memory and a 320GB hard drive fill out the generous spec, and yes, there's a HDMI out as well. Basically, you're looking at a Timeline laptop adapted to the desktop, which would also suggest that the unknown Intel CPUs are of the CULV variety. Of course, all that grunt won't come cheap and the base Core 2 Solo, DVD drive-packing option will start prices off at €699 ($998) when these hit Germany later this month.

[Via Slippery Brick]

Ripple unleashes dashingly handsome LOOK on unsuspecting nettop crowd

by Vladislav Savov posted Aug 13th 2009 at 2:31PM

With its shapely curves and dramatic paintwork, the Ripple LOOK makes a wonderful first impression. Though not a candidate for being either the smallest or thinnest mini PC around, it's definitely one of the best looking nettops we've seen. Specs are par for the course -- dual core Atom 330, 2GB RAM, 320GB storage and Intel GMA950 graphics -- but you really don't buy devices like these for their power. Then again, we won't be buying this at all unless it does the unthinkable and finds a reseller outside Korea, where the lucky locals can have it for $321. A couple more glamor shots await after the break to soothe your heavy heart.

Continue reading Ripple unleashes dashingly handsome LOOK on unsuspecting nettop crowd

Dell's Zino HD crams desktop parts into miniature enclosure

by Paul Miller posted Aug 12th 2009 at 6:53PM

Confirmed specs are scarce, but we're taking the term "desktop parts" -- about the only info Dell will spill so far -- to heart. Hopefully this new Zino HD mini PC from Dell can live up to its name and kick the sometimes sluggish, laptop-inspired Studio Hybrid to the curb as Dell's home theater PC of choice. There's HDMI, eSATA and USB galore, so that's certainly a good start. Should ship sometime this fall.

Gallery: Dell's Zino HD crams desktop parts into miniature enclosure

MiniPC updates line with Atom-based GF27, more powerful GF45

by Vladislav Savov posted Jul 28th 2009 at 5:03PM

MiniPC, the maker of one of the more enduring utilitarian case designs, has sprung a new nettop out of the bag, which it hopes will compete with the likes of the Eee Top and Wind Top, alongside an update to its Core 2 Duo-infused line of um, mini computers. The GF27 is the company's first dip into the Atom pool with an N270, up to 2GB RAM, gigabit Ethernet, VGA and DVI outputs. And if it's power you want, the GF45 offers a juiced-up selection of C2D laptop parts, from the P8400 up to the T9600, with up to 4GB RAM, and whatever 3.5-inch or pair of 2.5-inch drives you can stash inside it. Barebone prices will begin at ¥52,000 ($547) for the GF27 and ¥58,000 ($610) for the GF45 when these units finally hit Japan in mid-August.

[Via Gadget Mix]

Read - GF27 product page
Read - GF45 product page

Archos rolls out Archos 10s, Archos 13 laptops, Classmate-based student PC

by Donald Melanson posted Jun 11th 2009 at 1:08PM

Archos's new Windows 7-based Archos 9 tablet may be the headliner at today's event in Paris, but the company's also taken advantage of the opportunity to expand its laptop / netbook offerings, which have so far been confined to one. Those include the previously announced Archos 10s "MiniPC," which hangs onto some mostly identical specs to the Archos 10 but packs 'em in a slimmer and lighter package, and the all new Archos 13 (pictured above), which is a full-fledged 13-inch ultraportable with a 1.2GHz Celeron ULV processor and some fairly standard specs across the board. As if that wasn't enough, Archos has also partnered with France's Ministry of Education to make a Classmate-based laptop available to students in the country, which will also include a one-year subscription to an online course service for about $400. Still no word on price for the Archos10s, unfortunately, but it'll apparently be available later this month in both three-cell and six-cell versions, while the Archos13 will run about $800 when it rolls out closer to the end of the summer.

Read - Archos 10s
Read - Archos 13
Read - Archos Press Release [Warning: PDF link]

[Thanks, @charbax]

Update: ArchosLounge has already made the rounds of the event and provided a few hands-on pics of all the goods. Head on past the break for a quick look at the Archos 10s and Classmate PC, and hit up their site for some more shots and details.

Continue reading Archos rolls out Archos 10s, Archos 13 laptops, Classmate-based student PC

eMachines delivers EL1300 line of small form factor PCs

by Darren Murph posted May 20th 2009 at 9:36AM

Once the laughing stock of the PC world, eMachines has managed to pull together some rather stylish looking rigs over the past few months. As the comeback continues, the company has outed two new Mini PCs in its EL1300 line, the $298 EL1300G-01w and the $398 EL1300G-02w. Both systems include a chassis that's 10.7-inches tall, 4.2-inches wide and 15-inches long (not exactly "mini" in our books...), and while the power ain't anything to write home about, it should handle Word processing and the occasional YouTube video fine. Speaking of specs, both rigs boast a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon 2650e CPU, NVIDIA's GeForce 6150SE integrated graphics, a 160GB SATA HDD, 18x SuperMulti DVD burner, nine USB 2.0 sockets and a multicard reader. Personally, we'd select the more pricey of the two, as that one arrives with a 20-inch LCD (E202H) and Windows XP rather than Vista Home Basic. Totally your call though, boss.

Gallery: eMachines delivers EL1300 line of small form factor PCs

Shuttle intros Atom 330, SUSE Linux-packin' X270V nettop

by Darren Murph posted Apr 17th 2009 at 6:59PM

Go 'head, Shuttle -- break on out of that shell! The company notorious for pumping out the same barebone rectangle with a different model name and a few extra ports has finally seen fit to do something a touch different, and what we're dealt is the X270V. This so-called Mini-PC relies on Intel's 1.6GHz Atom 330 to push the computations, while up to 2GB of DDR2 RAM keeps things in order. There's also gigabit Ethernet, 6-channel audio, a PS/2 connector for the retro folks, six USB sockets and VGA / DVI outputs. Shuttle also claims this bugger is energy efficient, though it doesn't go into great detail about just how much it'll save you each month. Oh, and it also comes loaded with openSUSE 11 (a Linux flavor, for those unaware). Interested? Move to Europe and plop down at least €299 ($390).

[Via Slashgear]

Gallery: Shuttle intros Atom 330, SUSE Linux-packin' X270V nettop

Stealth's latest fanless mini PC: the Core 2 Duo-powered LPC-625F

by Darren Murph posted Mar 21st 2009 at 4:53PM

Not that we're far removed from Stealth's last fanless mini PC, but hey, there's no harm in having options, right? The company's latest, dubbed the LPC-625F, is a 7.9- x 7.9- x 2.4-inch machine that somehow houses a 2.26GHz Core 2 Duo processor, up to 4GB of RAM, your choice of 2.5-inch HDD or SSD, integrated Intel graphics, gigabit Ethernet and a surprisingly plentiful array of ports including HDMI, eight USB 2.0, RS-232 and DVI. The stock configuration sits at $1,595, but it doesn't take too many tweaks to cross the two large mark.

Gallery: Stealth's latest fanless mini PC: the Core 2 Duo-powered LPC-625F

Marvell's SheevaPlug Linux PC fits in its power adapter

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Feb 24th 2009 at 4:48PM

Marvell has the technology and the vision, and if the company gets its way the world will soon be overrun by lilliputian Linux machines. Hiding in wall warts and the like, these guys will begin quietly taking over tasks that we once relegated to servers and desktop machines. To this end, the company has just announced that they'll be making the SheevaPlug dev kit available. This is the platform that PogoPlug is based on, consisting of a 1.2GHz Kirkwood processor, 512MB flash storage, 512MB DRAM, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and USB 2.0. This bad boy supports many standard Linux 2.6 kernel distributions, and the whole thing plugs directly into a standard wall socket, drawing "less than one tenth of the power of a typical PC" while in use. Currently available for $99, the company says that it anticipates a price drop to $49 "in the near future."

Shuttle XPC Barebone SX58H7 wants a piece of your Core i7

by Darren Murph posted Feb 19th 2009 at 10:56AM

Shuttle's newfangled XPC Barebone SX58H7 is hungry, and nothing but an Intel Core i7 CPU and twin GPUs hooked up in unison can satisfy it. Those looking to pack a lot of power into a relatively small box need look no further, as Shuttle's latest SFF case comes loaded with an X58 Express chipset, 500 watt power supply, two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, space for up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM and room for two SATA II hard drives. You'll also find twin gigabit Ethernet jacks and a case that looks pretty much exactly like every other Shuttle case produced in the past five years. Oh, and then there's the heart-stopping €483 ($611) price tag. Gotta hate that.

[Via I4U News]

Gallery: Shuttle XPC Barebone SX58H7 wants a piece of your Core i7

CherryPal calls its Bing netbook a nettop, can't win for losing

by Darren Murph posted Jan 18th 2009 at 10:00PM

We know, these newfangled terms can certainly get confusing, but you'd think a company producing miniature laptops would do a little research before assuming that "nettop" is actually just another word for "netbook." CherryPal has made it exceptionally easy for us to joke on it by introducing the first nettop we've ever seen that actually looks nothing like a diminutive desktop. In fact, the eco-friendly Bing has a fold-up 10.2-inch LCD -- you know, exactly like a laptop. Inexplicably launched this weekend at the Sundance Film Festival, the machine includes a 1.6GHz Atom N270 processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 160GB hard drive, three USB 2.0 ports, an SD / MMC / MS card reader, WiFi, dual speakers, a 1,024 x 600 resolution panel, 0.3 megapixel webcam and a headphone jack to boot. Pricing is expected to hover around $250, but for a limited time, users interested in an actual nettop (imagine that, right?) can snag the Bing along with the C114 PC for a grand total of $399.

[Via Liliputing]

Stealth introduces Core 2 Duo-equipped LPC-650 Mini PC

by Darren Murph posted Jan 17th 2009 at 10:19AM

Man, it's been awhile since we've seen any miniature machines from the labs of Stealth, but the outfit is returning over a year after introducing its LPC-350PCI with the even tinier LPC-650. Featuring a mildly attractive 6.54- x 6.18- x 1.89-inch aluminum chassis with a Core 2 Duo within, the micro PC is also stocked with gigabit Ethernet, a slot-loading optical drive, optional SSD, WiFi, 1GB of DDR2 RAM and a rather respectable array of ports including twin USB 2.0 jacks, HDMI, audio in / out and a RS-232 socket. Unfortunately, you'll be paying a serious premium for all the space savings -- it gets going at $1,595, and it's only up from there depending on CTO options.

[Via AkihabaraNews]