Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on MeLE PCG02 GLK Fanless PC Stick Comes with 10W Celeron J4105 Processor, Gigabit Ethernet

MeLE PCG02 GLK Fanless PC Stick Comes with 10W Celeron J4105 Processor, Gigabit Ethernet

Back in 2018, MeLE unveiled PCG02 Apo TV stick with a 6W Intel Celeron N3450 quad-core Apollo Lake processor, 4GB RAM, 32GB storage, HDMI output, USB 3.0 ports, and an unusual Gigabit Ethernet port for this form factor. The company is back with an upgraded model as MeLE PCG02 GLK PC stick is based on the same design but with a more powerful Intel Celeron J4105 Gemini Lake processor with a 10W TDP. The design is fanless, so it will be interesting to find out how well they handle cooling. MeLE PCG02 GLK specifications with upgrades in bold: SoC – Intel Celeron J4105 quad-core processor @ 1.50 / 2.50 GHz (Turbo) with 12EU Intel UHD Graphics 600; 10W TDP System Memory – 4 GB LPDDR4 Storage – 64GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 male port up to 4K @ 60 Hz Audio – Via HDMI, and 3.5mm audio combo jack Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 3 Comments on MeLE PCG02 GML (Gemini Lake) Fanless TV Stick Coming in June for $180 and Up

MeLE PCG02 GML (Gemini Lake) Fanless TV Stick Coming in June for $180 and Up

MeLE launched PCG02 Apo HDMI TV Stick based on Intel Celeron N3450 Apollo Lake processor and featuring a Gigabit Ethernet port last month. The company is now showcasing the product at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, and promoting their next generation TV stick based on the same design, but instead powered by Intel Celeron N4000 or N4100 Gemini Lake processor. MeLE PCG02 GML (PCHD26 GML3) specifications: SoC Intel Celeron N4000 dual core Gemini Lake processor @ 1.1 – 2.4 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 600; 6W TDP Intel Celeron N4100 quad core Gemini Lake processor @ 1.1 – 2.2 GHz with Intel UHD Graphics 600; 6W TDP System Memory – 2GB, 4GB or 6GB LPDDR3 Storage – 32GB eMMC flash, micro SD card slot Video Output – HDMI 2.0 up to 4K @ 60 Hz Audio Output – HDMI, 3.5mm earphone jack Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, dual band WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2 USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports Misc – Power […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 6 Comments on MeLE PCG02 Apo HDMI TV Stick Comes with Gigabit Ethernet, Intel Celeron N3450 Apollo Lake Processor

MeLE PCG02 Apo HDMI TV Stick Comes with Gigabit Ethernet, Intel Celeron N3450 Apollo Lake Processor

MeLE-PCG02-Apo-1

MeLE PCG02 was introduced in 2015 with an Intel Atom Z3735F Bay Trail processor, and was one of the rare Windows TV sticks to include an Ethernet port. Later on, the company also launched PCG02U model with Ubuntu 14.04 instead. The company has now launched an upgraded version – PCG02 Apo – featuring an Intel Celeron N3450 quad core Apollo Lake processor,  4GB RAM, 32GB storage, as well as Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11ac WiFi connectivity. MeLE PCG02 Apo TV Stick specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron N3450 quad core processor @ 1.1 GHz / 2.2 GHz with 12 EU Intel HD graphics 500 @ 200 MHz / 700 MHz; 6W TDP System Memory – 4 GB LPDDR3 Storage – 32 GB eMMC flash + micro SD slot Video Output – HDMI 1.4 male port up to 4K @ 30 Hz Audio – Via HDMI, and 3.5mm audio combo jack Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet, Dual band 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.2 […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 25 Comments on MeLE A1000 TV Box is Back! Cost: $29.99 Shipped

MeLE A1000 TV Box is Back! Cost: $29.99 Shipped

MeLE A1000 is an Android TV box powered by Allwinner A10 Arm Cortex A8 processor that was launched in 2012 with Android 2.3, and was featured prominently on this blog, as arm-netbook then linux-sunxi community was working on porting Linux to the platform at that time. I discovered the device after the launch of the first Raspberry Pi board, and its subsequent unavailability due to extreme demand, and was looking for an alternative which became MeLE A1000, since there was an active around the box that included a real SATA port as a bonus. Why am I writing about this today? Because the TV box just showed up in GeekBuying new arrivals feed for $29.99. The device’s appearance has not changed, and the hardware specifications are the same too: SoC – Allwinner A10 Arm Cortex A8 processor with Mali-400 GPU System Memory – 512MB DDR3 RAM Storage – 4GB NAND flash, SD card slot, external SATA slot Video Output – […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments on MeLE PCG63-APL4 Fanless Gemini Lake Mini PC To Launch in Q2 2018

MeLE PCG63-APL4 Fanless Gemini Lake Mini PC To Launch in Q2 2018

Gemini Lake mini PCs are being announced at CES 2018, and we can expect them to sell in Q2 2018 for a price similar to Apollo Lake models all other features being equal. We’ve already seen ZOTAC ZBOX PI226 & PI336, ASUS unveiled their PN40 mini PC with few details, and of course Intel’s own GLK NUCs should be brought to market soon enough. MeLE has made some decent Apollo Lake mini PCs in the past year with their PCG35 Apo and PCG03 Apo models, so it’s no surprise the company is now showcasing their upcoming PCG63-APL4 based on Gemini Lake processors at CES 2018.MeLE PCG63-APL4 specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Celeron J4005 dual core Gemini Lake processor up to 2.0/2.7 GHz with 12EU Intel UHD Graphics 600 @ up to 700 MHz; 10W TDP Intel Celeron J4105 quad core Gemini Lake processor up to 1.5/2.5 GHz with 12EU Intel UHD Graphics 600 @ up to 750 MHz; […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 68 Comments on Linux Benchmarks – Intel J3455 Apollo Lake vs Z3735F Bay Trail vs RK3399 and Other ARM Platforms

Linux Benchmarks – Intel J3455 Apollo Lake vs Z3735F Bay Trail vs RK3399 and Other ARM Platforms

Since I’ve just installed Ubuntu 17.10 on MeLE PCG35 Apo, I decided I should also run some benchmarks comparing with other ARM and x86 Linux platforms I’ve tested in the past.I was particularly interested to compare the performance of Intel Apollo Lake processors (Celeron J3455 in this case) against higher end ARM processors like Rockchip RK3399 (2x A72, 4x A53) since systems have a similar price (~$150+), as well as against the older Bay Trail processor to see the progress achieved over the last 2 to 3 years. To do so, I used Phoronix Benchmark Suite against Videostrong VS-RK3399 results (RK3399 development board):

The benchmark first issued a warning about “powersave” governor, but I still went ahead, and once completed I change it to “performance” governor:

…and ran the tests again. All results are available on OpenBenchmarking. Let’s address the governor results first. cpufreq-info reports that powersave governor can also switch between 800 MHz and 2.30 GHz (turbo […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments on MeLE PCG35 Apo Apollo Lake Mini PC Review – Part 3: Ubuntu 17.10

MeLE PCG35 Apo Apollo Lake Mini PC Review – Part 3: Ubuntu 17.10

I completed the review of MeLE PCG35 Apo with Windows 10 Home a few days ago, and as promised, I’ve now installed the freshly released Ubuntu 17.10 in the Intel Celeron J3455 “Apollo Lake” mini PC. I’ll start by shortly explaining the step to install Ubuntu 17.10 in the M.2 slot, although you could also install it to the internal eMMC flash replacing Windows 10, then show what works and what does, and finally include a video reproducing the tests I usually do in Windows 10. How to Install Linux in MeLE PCG35 Apo This partially follows the procedure I used to run (not install) Ubuntu 16.04 on MeLE PCG03 Apo mini PC. First you’ll need to download the ISO of your choice (ubuntu-17.10-desktop-am64.iso in my case), and prepare a bootable USB flash drive with the software of your choice be it Rufus, Startup Disk Creator or others. I did mine with Startup Disk Creator in my Ubuntu 16.04 computer […]

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Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments on MeLE PCG35 Apo Mini PC Review – Part 2: Windows 10 Home

MeLE PCG35 Apo Mini PC Review – Part 2: Windows 10 Home

Laptops and mini PCs powered by the new generation of Intel Gemini Lake processors are coming soon, but companies are still launching Apollo Lake based products with various features. MeLE PCG35 Apo mini PC is one of them, and what makes it interesting compared to most of the competition is support for 80mm M.2 SSDs and 2.5″ SATA drives, on top of featuring a Celeron J3455 processor, one of the most powerful of the family. I took photos of the mini PC, accessories, and internal design in the first part of the review, so I’ll report about my experience with Windows 10 Home, explain how to manage the different drives, and test stability under load. MeLE PCG35 Apo Setup, Drives Configuration, Display Settings Last time, I’ve showed how to install an M.2 SSD and 2.5″ SATA hard drive inside MeLE PCG35 Apo, so I just have to connect a few cables (HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, Power) and USB peripherals with USB […]

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