HIGOLE PC STICK (J4125+WiFi 6) review – Part 1: Specs, unboxing, teardown, and first boot

HIGOLE PC STICK Review

HIGOLE PC STICK is a mini PC that looks like a large flash drive, is smaller than a regular mini PC, and is easier to carry around. You can connect it directly to a monitor or TV with an HDMI input, and use it like any computer right away. In part 1 of the HIGOLE PC STICK review, we will go through the specifications, unbox the design, check its hardware design with a teardown, and go through the first boot. HIGOLE PC STICK specifications The HIGOLE PC STICK is powered by an Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor with 8GB RAM, 128GB flash, and microSD card slot for storage expansion. The mini PC comes with a Gigabit Ethernet port, WiFi 6 & Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity, and supports two independent displays through the HDMI 2.0 port and USB Type-C port. The device also includes two USB 3.0 ports, one […]

MeLE Quieter2D ultrathin fanless mini PC is now available without an operating system

MeLE Quieter2D mini PC no OS

Barring barebone models, most mini PCs sell with Windows 10 or Windows 11 pre-installed, and that’s not ideal for people wanting to run Linux only since they also pay extra for the license of an operating system they are not going to use. But MeLE is now selling the Quieter2D mini PC with an Intel Celeron N4000 dual-core processor, 4GB RAM, and 64GB or 128GB eMMC storage for $139.99 and up without an operating system or a Windows key. The ultrathin fanless mini PC also features M.2 2280 SATA/NVMe socket, a microSD card reader, two HDMI 2.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet and WiFi 5 connectivity, four USB 3.0 ports, and takes 12V power input through a USB Type-C port. MeLE Quieter2D specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N4000 dual-core Gemini Lake processor @ 1.1GHz / 2.6GHz (Turbo) with Intel UHD Graphic 600; 6W TDP System Memory – 4GB LPDDR4 Storage – 64GB […]

MeLE PCG02 Pro Review – A Fanless Intel Celeron J4125 / N5105 mini PC with an ultra-compact form factor

MeLE PCG02 Pro review

MeLE has launched a new ‘stick’ mini PC called the PCG02 Pro. It comes in two models featuring either a mobile Gemini Lake Refresh or a Jasper Lake processor. Both models appear physically similar however the memory, WiFi, Bluetooth, and USB ports differ plus only the lower-powered model includes an M.2 NVMe or SATA slot. MeLE kindly sent both models for review and I’ve looked at the performance running both Windows and Ubuntu. MeLE PCG02 Pro hardware overview The MeLE PCG02 Pro physically consists of a 146 x 61 x 20mm (5.75 x 2.40 x 0.79 inches) rectangular plastic case that ‘wraps’ around a plastic inner frame. The outside of the case has a knurled or cross-hatched pattern (engineered to provide high thermal conductivity) and the inner frame has the WiFi antennas glued to it. As passively cooled mini PCs, the first model known as the PCG02 Pro J4125 uses […]

MeLE PCG02 Pro mini PC stick supports M.2 NVMe or SATA SSD

MeLE PCG02 Pro mini PC Stick

MeLE PCG02 Pro is a mini PC stick / PC-on-a-stick powered by either an Intel Celeron J4125 Gemini Lake processor or a more recent Celeron N5105 Jasper Lake processor, with support for M.2 NVMe/SSD storage, but only for the Gemini Lake model. The computer is also equipped with 8GB LPDDR4 memory, 128GB to 512GB eMMC flash, two HDMI 2.0 ports capable of driving two independent displays, a Gigabit Ethernet port, WiFi 5 or 6 connectivity, and more.   MeLE PCG02 Pro specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor @ 2.0 / 2.7 GHz (Boost) with 12EU Intel UHD 600 graphics @ 250 / 750 MHz; 10W TDP Intel Celeron N5105 quad-core Jasper Lake processor @ 2.0 / 2.9 GHz (Boost) with 24EU Intel UHD 605 graphics @ 450 / 800 MHz; 10W TDP System Memory & Storage MeLE PCG02 Pro (J4125) 8GB LPDDR4-2133 […]

Odyssey Blue mini PC bundle ships with Frigate open-source NVR, Coral USB AI accelerator

Frigate NVR Odyssey Blue mini PC

Odyssey Blue mini PC based on the ODYSSEY-X86J4125 SBC is now offered as part of a bundle with Frigate open-source NVR platform with support for real-time local object detection, and an Coral USB AI accelerator. The Odyssey Blue mini PC is equipped with an Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor, 8GB RAM, and a 128GB SSD preloaded with an unnamed Linux OS (probably Debian 11) and Frigate Docker container. The solution can run over object detection at 100+ FPS when equipped with a Coral USB accelerator. Since the hardware is not exactly new, and we’ve covered it in detail in the past, even reviewing the earlier generation SBC with Celeron J4105 processor and Re_Computer enclosure, I’ll focus on the software, namely Frigate NVR in this post. Frigate is an open-source NVR program designed for Home Assistant with AI-powered object detection that runs as a Docker container and uses […]

GOLE1 Pro mini PC comes with 5.5-inch touch screen display, Gemini Lake processor (Crowdfunding)

GOLE1 was quite a unique mini PC when it launched in 2016 as it included a 5-inch touchscreen display. HIGOLE is now back with the GOLE1 Pro based on a similar design, but a slightly larger 5.5-inch touchscreen display, and much better specs suitable for 2022’s software and entry-level use cases. The Atom x5-Z8300 “Cherry Trail” processor found in the original device gives way to an Intel Celeron N4200 or J4125 Gemini Lake processor, and the GOLE1 Pro mini PC, which the company sometimes also calls “HIGOLE PC 2022”, comes with up to 8GB LPDDR4X, a 128GB SSD, Gigabit Ethernet, WiFI 6 or 5, four USB 3.0 ports, and more. GOLE1 Pro specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core processor @ 2.00 GHz / 2.70 GHz (Turbo) / 2.4 GHz (Turbo all cores) with 12EU Intel UHD Graphics 600 @ 250 MHz / 750 MHz (Turbo); 10W […]

Compact fanless firewall appliance offers 6x 2.5GbE ports for $230 and up

Firewall appliance 6x 2.5GbE ports

KingNovy has introduced a small fanless firewall appliance powered by an Intel Celeron J4125 Gemini Lake Refresh processor, equipped with six 2.5GbE ports through Intel i225-V Rev 3 Ethernet controllers, and selling for as low as $230 for the barebone model. The system supports up to 32GB RAM, mSATA and 2.5-inch SATA storage, features HDMI output and four USB 3.0/2.0 ports, plus an RJ45 console port, and is said to work with pfSense 2.5.x, OPNsense 22.1, OpenWrt, ROS7, ESXI, Proxmox, CentOS, and more. Specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4125 quad-core Gemini Lake Refresh processor @ 2.0 / 2.7 GHz (Turbo) / 2.4 GHz (Turbo all cores) with Intel UHD Graphics 600 @ 250/750 MHz; 10W TDP System Memory – Dual-channel Memory DDR4 (2400MHz) supporting up to 32GB RAM in total Storage – 1x mSATA socket, 2.5-inch SATA bay for SSD or HDD Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K […]

Hardware security flaw impacts Intel Apollo Lake & Gemini Lake processors

Hardware security flaw intel-atom, celeron, pentium Apollo Lake, Gemini Lake

A few years go the Spectre and Meltdown hardware security vulnerabilities impacted a wide range of processors from Intel, AMD, Arm, and others. But a newly discovered hardware security flaw impacts specifically the Atom, Celeron, and Pentium from the Apollo Lake, Gemini Lake, Denverton … low-power processors we often feature on CNX Software. Researchers have managed to activate test or debug logic at runtime for some low-power Intel processors, which they could use to escalate privilege, retrieve the “fuse encryption key” aka “chipset key fuse” unique to each processor, and access encrypted data. Most people do not need to panic though, as the hack would require physical access to the machine, and Intel says it is releasing firmware updates to mitigate the vulnerability. High-value targets should care though as the hack only takes 10 minutes, and if a laptop is stolen or lost, a skilled attacker should be able to […]

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