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Stealth's rugged LPC-395F Mini PC: it's like a caged monster, but weak
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
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
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
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.
Dell's Zino HD crams desktop parts into miniature enclosure
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.
eMachines delivers EL1300 line of small form factor PCs
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.
Shuttle intros Atom 330, SUSE Linux-packin' X270V nettop
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]
Stealth's latest fanless mini PC: the Core 2 Duo-powered LPC-625F
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.
Shuttle XPC Barebone SX58H7 wants a piece of your Core i7
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-45327%
CherryPal calls its Bing netbook a nettop, can't win for losing
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
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]%Gallery-42414%
Atom-based Shuttle X27 priced at $189
Shuttle's Atom-based X27 mini-PC is definitely pretty intriguing if you're looking to play around with getting a PC in the living room or even in your car, and it's just gotten the modder-friendly price of $189. That's almost impulse-purchase territory -- we're definitely looking forward to seeing what kind of trouble people get into with these when it hits next month.Update: We just talked to Shuttle and they told us that $189 is just for a barebones rig -- no chip, memory or hard drive. Fully spec'd with an Atom, you're looking at $500+ -- which is ridiculous, since the MSI Wind barebones nettop runs $139 with an Atom chip. Oh well.
Shuttle's Atom-powered X27 mini PC goes easy on the power bill
Shuttle has always been small, but now it's hopping on the completely overcrowded green bandwagon with its latest mini PC. The X27, which sports an admittedly sleek shell, will suck down as little as 23-watts while idle and 36-watts while in use. Additionally, the unit will include one of Intel's Atom chips, and as predicted, fan noise shouldn't be an issue. The entire case measures just 10- x 7- x 2.75-inches, and while a price hasn't been outed for the September-bound nettop, we'd expect to hear more as IFA gets going on the 29th.[Thanks, Adam]
CherryPal $249 cloud PC delayed for a fortnight... or longer, maybe
Be honest here, you didn't even remember that the $249 CherryPal cloud PC was expected to ship this month last month. Reportedly, you'll be waiting a little longer for a PC you don't even know about thanks to a software quirk that isn't playing nice with a newer SSD. CherryPal is hoping to get the issue resolved and begin shipping the wee boxes within two weeks, though it does leave open the possibility for things to take "longer" as it slips into vaporware territory.
Dell Studio Hybrid gets reviewed, does alright
Now that Dell's Studio Hybrid has gone on sale for the adoring public, you're probably trying to talk yourself into buying one. Not so fast, buckaroo. According to a review just posted by PC Magazine, this mini PC is probably only right for a certain sect of folks. On the upside, the unit arrives practically devoid of bloatware, which is astonishing and wonderful in its own right. Still, the Penryn T8100 CPU jammed within wasn't a top performer, so those looking for lighting fast performance will likely be disappointed. Furthermore, the lack of expansion options and weak integrated graphics were also frowned upon, but we wouldn't expect anything different given the design. In the end, critics deemed it a great buy for style-conscience consumers, but it couldn't help but mention that there "are more-powerful and more-expandable choices out there if you're less concerned about design."
MSI Titan 700 mini-PC gets reviewed
We weren't exactly hot on MSI's Titan 700 mini-PC when it first hit back in May, and now that TrustedReviews has had a chance to look one over, it looks like our initial impression wasn't that far off the mark. Although the diminutive case was stylish in an industrial way, the fit and finish left something to be desired, and the DVD door is apparently rather convoluted. The machine itself, powered by a ULV 2GHz VIA C7M, is "annoyingly audible" when running, and you're not getting a ton of horsepower in return -- a 720p AVI file barely played, and a .mov at the same res brought Windows Media Player to its knees. Like we said last time, unless space is at a premium, you're probably better off investing $500 into a real PC -- even if that means you have to forgo the Darth Vader looks.
More details and press shots of ASUS Eee Box
In typical ASUS style, it utterly failed in dishing out a nice gallery of press shots to go along with the official unveiling of the Atom-powered Eee Box. Nevertheless, those photographs you've been hankering for have finally appeared, with luscious high-resolution angles of the white, black and "red" Eee Box. For the whole gallery along with a few informational pages on how this miniature PC is guaranteed to revolutionize the way you compute, give the read link down there a little love.[Thanks, Sascha]
ASUS gets official with Atom-powered Eee Box
Well, what do you know? Those rumored specifications for ASUS' not-secret-at-all Eee Box were spot on. The outfit has just now gotten around to getting official with said mini PC, which checks in with a 1.6GHz Intel Atom N270 processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, an 80GB hard drive, multicard reader, 802.11n WiFi and gigabit Ethernet. As predicted, you'll find Windows XP Home running the show, and ASUS is spicing things up by tossing its newly unveiled Express Gate fast boot technology on here too. There's nary a mention of a price or release date, but that's pretty much par for the course with this company.
Dell Studio Hybrid mini PC leak reveals specs, new casing
Remember that tidy little bamboo-encased mini PC Dell showed off in April? Well apparently the company is at work on a variant of the diminutive system, dubbed the Studio Hybrid. In addition to forgoing the eco-friendly wood for what appears to be a sleek, orange Plexiglas shell, the system boasts an Intel chipset, 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, WiFi, a DVD+R drive, five USB ports, an HDMI port, S/PDIF, DVI, and a memory card reader. We're not sure exactly when Dell plans to unleash these on consumers or what the final cost will be, though previously the company had stated plans to offer it later this year for between $500 and $700. Check the gallery below for a few more (blurry) shots of the device.%Gallery-25638%
ASUS EBOX cracked open for world to see, previewed
Okay, so this isn't the finalized SKU or anything (it's an "early sample," if you must know), but it's close enough to the real deal to warrant a dissection. The model shown here came sporting a 1.6GHz Atom processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 160GB Seagate hard drive and built-in gigabit Ethernet / WiFi / Bluetooth. Best of all, you'll see more than flashes of EBOX PCB when you step into the read link below -- you'll get a lengthy list of initial impressions too (hint: it's rather impressive). Go on, get![Thanks, Charlie]
