mini pc News - Page 108 of 138 - CNX Software

January 16, 2015January 21, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 53 Comments

Understanding Windows 8.1 Licenses with MeegoPad T01 (and Other Intel Atom Bay Trail mini PCs)

MeegoPad T01 was initially announced as a dual boot Windows 8.1 and Android 4.4 HDMI Stick, and it became quite popular. But as it has recently started shipping, Android is gone, and people who receive it only have Windows 8.1 to play with. Unfortunately, as the review embedded at the end of this post clearly indicates it’s running with a Windows 8.1 trial version that needs to be activated and with an invalid serial number, so it can only be used for 30 days… Normally, I would not be so interested in a Windows 8.1 only device, but since many people seem to have acquired one, it’s probably useful to look into what can be done about the license. So what could you do? There are several options: One person decided to buy a Windows 8.1 License. Cost? $119.99 + $7.20 for tax for a grand total of $127.19, or […]

January 14, 2015January 14, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 10 Comments

AMD Mullins Powered Compulab Fitlet mini PCs Run Linux Mint or Windows

Finally an alternative to the recent wave of Intel Bay Trail-T mini PCs and sticks thanks to Compulab Fitlet mini PCs powered by AMD Mullins APUs, namely AMD A4 Micro-6400T and E1 Micro-6200T, with Radeon graphics, supporting up to 8GB RAM, mSATA, up to two HDMI port, up to four Gigabit Ethernet ports, and more. There are three Fitlet models: Fitlet-i, Fitlet-X with four Gigabit Ethernet port, and Fitlet-B, the entry-level option. In Q2 2015, a MintBox mini model running Linux Mint will also be released. Fitlet-i specifications: SoC – AMD A4 Micro-6400T 64 bit quad-core processor up to 1.6 GHz with Radeon R3 Graphics (4.5W TDP) System Memory – Up to 8 GB DDR3-1333 (1x SODIMM) Storage – mSATA up to 1 TB (SATA 3.0), power eSATA (5V), and micro-SD slot (SDXC support, rate 25 MB/s) Video Output – Dual HDMI 1.4a up to 1920×1200@60Hz Audio I/O – HDMI, S/PDIF […]

January 8, 2015January 8, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

PC Partner N258N1-F is a Linux mini PC Powered by Nvidia Tegra K1 Processor

Nvidia has done a great job porting Linux to their Tegra K1, and it’s one of the only ARM processor with a GPU supporting OpenGL, which helps a great deal with Unity for example. Nexus 9 supports Ubuntu (somewhat), and platforms like Jetson TK1 board are suitable to developers, but as I and others wondered why nobody ever made a Tegra K1 mini PC, I’ve been informed that such device existed already with PC Partner’s N258N1-F mini PC. N258N1-F technical specifications: SoC – Nvidia Tegra K1 quad-core ARM Cortex A15r3 processor with Kepler GPU System Memory – 2 GB RAM Storage – 16 GB eMMC + SD card slot Video Output – HDMI up to 3840×2160 @ 30Hz, 4096×2160 @ 24Hz or 3200×2000 @ 60 Hz Audio I/O – HDMI, headphone jack, and microphone jack Connectivity – Gigabit Ethernet and Wi-Fi (with external antenna connector) USB – 2x USB 2.0 […]

January 7, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 12 Comments

Intel Compute Stick HDMI TV Dongle Runs Windows or Ubuntu for as Low as $89

People got really interested in low cost small factor Intel devices at the end of the year, and one of my article about MeegoPad T01, an HDMI TV Stick powered by an Intel Atom Z3735F processor, even made it to the top 10 posts of 2014 on this blog. But instead of simply relying on partners, Intel had decided to enter the fray with Intel Compute Stick that will run Windows or Ubuntu on an Atom Bay Trail processor. There will actually be two versions of the hardware one for Windows 8.1 with Bing with 2GB RAM, and 32GB storage, and one for Linux with 1GB RAM, and 8G Storage. Intel Compute Stick preliminary specifications: SoC – Unnamed Intel Atom “Bay Trail” processor System Memory – 2 GB RAM (Windows) or 1 GB RAM (Linux) Storage – 32 GB eMMC (Windows) or 8 GB eMMC (Linux) + micro SD slot […]

January 6, 2015January 6, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 15 Comments

ECS LIVA X Bay Trail Mini PCs Support Up to 4GB RAM, Windows and Linux OS

ECS LIVA was on of the first Bay Trail mini PC available on the market, and included both memory and storage. Elitegroup Computer System (ECS) has now officially announced an upgrade at CES 2015 with ECS LIVA X, another Bay Trail-M/I mini PC with up to 4GB, and 64GB storage. LIVA X specifications: SoC – Intel Bay Trail-M / I SoC up to 2.25 GHz. The M version is most probably featuring a dual core Celeron N2808 processor. System Memory – 2 or 4GB DDR3L Storage – 32 or 64GB eMMC + mSATA for SSD. 64Mb SPI Flash ROM with AMI BIOS. Video Output – 1x HDMI, 1x VGA. Dual independent displays supported. Audio – 1x audio combo jack (LIne In and Mic IN); Realtek ALC283 HD codec Connectivity 1x Gigabit Ethernet (Realtek RTL8111G) 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 USB – 1x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0 […]

January 5, 2015January 6, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 4 Comments

Crowdfunding Report for 2014 on CNX Software Blog

Following up on my 2013 Crowdfunding Report, I’ve gone through all 55 Kickstarter and Indiegogo crowdunding projects featured on CNX Software between December 2013 and November 2014 (inclusive) to see how well they fared. The table below sort projects chronologically as they were published on this very blog. Date Project Crowdfunding Site Funded? Pledged amount / Goal Expected Delivery Actual Delivery Comments 2. Dec. 2013 Micro Python Kickstarter Yes 97,803 GBP / 15,000 GBP 03/2014 04/2014 Available @ https://micropython.org/store/#/store 5. Dec. 2013 Plugaway Kickstarter Yes $162,835 AUD / $50,000 AUD 04/2014 – People upset because of lack of updates. Project might be dead, and backers lost their money 6. Dec. 2013 AIRTAME Indiegogo Yes $1,268,332 / $160,000 05/2014 12/2014 People have started received the beta versions, after a massive 8-month delay 7. Dec. 2013 Crystal Board Kickstarter No $14,574 / $200,000 04/2014 – The project appears to be dead 10. […]

January 2, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 21 Comments

What Do You Do with Your Old Devices and Boards?

New and faster processors and products come out regularly, and prices have come down so much that people are likely to discard old devices, or let them collect dust, as new devices can be bought for half the price you bought your now sluggish single or dual core mini PC, remember CX-01?, last year or two. However, people may not like to through perfectly usable product by principle, while others may be concerned by the pollution effects of our consumerism, and craze for the latest gadgets. There must surely things that can be done instead of simply trashing old devices. I’ll give some ideas mostly for mini PCs, but since a group of person is smarter than one only, I’m sure I get some interesting input. Give your old devices to friends of family. Downside: they may never used it themselves either. Sell your device on Ebay or other websites. […]

January 2, 2015January 4, 2015 by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 26 Comments

Pipo X7 Intel Atom Z3736 based Mini PC Sells for $90

Pipo X7 is yet another mini PC powered by Intel Atom Z3735 / Z3736 quad core processor running Windows 8.1 with Bing, and since it’s now pretty clear all these device should run Ubuntu or other Linux desktop distributions with full GPU support, they’ll gather more interest from Linux users, especially given this mini PC with 2GB and 32GB storage can be pre-ordered for $89.98 on GearBest with PX7CN or PipoX7LM coupon, making it more interesting price-wise than MeegoPad T01, especially since it comes with an Ethernet port, and (probably) an Intel Atom Z3736 processor with a higher burst frequency (2.16 GHz vs 1.83 GHz) Since GearBest has done a pretty poor job at listing the specs for this item, I got the full technical details from GeekBuying, with some errors as well, but still better: SoC – Intel Atom Bay Trail Z3736F up to 2.16 GHz with Intel HD graphics […]