ODYSSEY-X86J4105800 SBC Combines Intel Gemini Lake SoC and Arduino Compatible MCU

ODYSSEY-X86J4105864

Would it be good to have an all-in-one Windows platform used to both develop Arduino code and run that code to control I/O of your project? Or alternatively, have a single board computer capable of video processing and real-time I/Os? That platform already exists. UDOO X86 II SBC features an Intel Braswell processor combined with an Arduino Leonardo compatible Microchip ATmega32U4 MCU. But there’s now another, more powerful option courtesy of Seeed Studio with the oddly named ODYSSEY-X86J4105800 SBC equipped with an Intel Celeron J4105 quad-core Gemini Lake processor to run Windows 10 or Linux distributions, and a Microchip SAMD21 ARM Cortex-M0+ microcontroller compatible with Arduino Zero. ODYSSEY-X86J4105800 SBC specifications: SoC – Intel Celeron J4105 quad-core processor @ 1.5/2.5 GHz (Turbo) with 12EU Intel UHD Graphics 600 @ 250-750 MHz; 10W TDP System Memory – 8GB LPDDR4 RAM Storage Optional 64GB eMMC flash (fitted to ODYSSEY-X86J4105864 model), 1x SATA III data […]

GIGABYTE Unveils Four BRIX Comet Lake-U mini PC’s

GIGABYTE BRIX Comet Lake Mini PC

Intel unveiled Intel Comet Lake processors last summer with two sub-family namely the 15W Comet Lake-U processors and the lower power 7W Comet Lake-Y processors. We’ve found the latter in products such as OneMix 3 Pro mini laptop, and the former in some System76 Linux laptops. But so far, I had not really paid attention to Comet Lake mini PCs. There have been a few announcements at CES 2020 with Asus “Mini PC PN62“, ECS Liva Z3 Plus,  ZOTAC MI662 nano and a few others all based on Intel Comet Lake-U processors. GIGABYTE has also unveiled four Comet Lake mini PC’s with the following key features and specifications: SoC BRIX BRi3H-10110 – Intel Core i3-10110U dual-core/quad-thread processor @ 2.1/4.2 GHz (Turbo) with 23EU Intel UHD Graphics; 15W TDP BRIX BRi5H-10210 – Intel Core i5-10210U quad-core/octa-thread processor @ 1.6/4.2 GHz (Turbo) with 24EU Intel UHD Graphics; 15W TDP BRIX BRi7H-10510 – […]

Beelink Gemini T45 Pentium N4200 Mini PC Review

Beelink T45-Pentium N4200 Mini PC Review

No sooner had I written ‘Beelink T45 Review with Windows and Linux, and Tweaking BIOS Power Limits’ than Beelink announce they wouldn’t in fact sell that configuration but an ‘updated’ version. And it is significantly different because this new version is now actively cooled and uses an Apollo Lake N4200 processor. It also still has the same name: the Beelink Gemini T45. I’ve now reviewed this new version and you may experience déjà vu on reading the following as in keeping with Beelink’s philosophy I’ve basically reused the same text as before and just updated where appropriate. Beelink have further extended their ‘Gemini’ range of mini PCs by adding the T45. This is an actively cooled mini PC that uses the slightly older Apollo Lake Intel Pentium N4200 CPU which is a quad-core 4-thread 1.10 GHz processor boosting to 2.50 GHz with Intel’s HD Graphics 505. The T45 is a […]

NEXCOM In-vehicle Computers Enable 24/7 Monitoring of Trains, Buses, and Trucks

NEXCOM nROK 6222

Taiwan based NEXCOM has introduced two new mobile computing solutions specifically designed for transportation with nROK 6222/VTC 6222 Intel Apollo Lake computers enabling 24/7 monitoring of trains, buses, trucks, and other vehicles. The computers come with five Ethernet ports, including four PoE enable, in order to connect IP cameras, and two HDMI output, one VGA output to let drivers monitor the front and back of the vehicle, and passengers view travel-related or other information. NEXCOM nROK 6222/VTC 6222 key features and specifications: SoC – Intel Atom x7-E3950 quad-core Apollo Lake processor clocked at 1.6 GHz / 2.0GHz with Intel HD Graphics 505 System Memory – 4GB DDR3L 1866 SO-DIMM (default) up to 8GB Storage –  2x 2.5″ SATA 3.0 SSD up to 15mm thick, SD card slot, internal USB DOM Video Output – VGA, 2 x HDMI Connectivity nROK 6222 – 1x Gigabit Ethernet (M12) port, 4x Ethernet (M12) ports […]

ECS Unveils LIVA Q1L Mini PC with Dual Gigabit Ethernet, LIVA Q1D with HDMI & DisplayPort

LIVA Q1D

ECS introduces one of the smallest Intel mini PCs with LIVA Q Apollo Lake mini PC in 2017, followed by LIVA Q2 Gemini Lake micro PC the following year both just 70x70x31~33mm in size. Ian reviewed LIVA Q2 Micro PC with Windows 10 and Ubuntu 18.10 last year, and he was impressed with the performance considering the form factor, with the mini PC being perfectly suitable for browsing the web, home or office use, or as a digital signage solution. ECS has now updated its original LIVA Q model with the same processor options, but with LIVA Q1L offering two Gigabit Ethernet ports and one HDMI output, while LIVA Q1D comes with two video outputs (HDMI and DisplayPort) and a single Ethernet port. ECS LIVA Q1L/Q1D specifications: SoC (one or the other) Intel Apollo Lake Pentium N4200 quad-core processor @ 1.1 / 2.5 GHz with 18EU Intel HD graphics; 6W […]

Zotac Reveals Two 15W AMD Ryzen 3 Mini PC’s: ZBOX MA621 and CA621 Nano

Zotac ZBOX Makes a Run At AMD Ryzen Based Mini PCs Zotac, the mini PC manufacturer, has announced two new additions to its long-standing line up of small form-factor computers. The newest additions are the ZBOX MA621 Nano and the ZBOX CA621 Nano. The Nano’s are both housed in enclosures nearly identical to the previous Zotac offerings. Background on ZBOX Launching an AMD mini PC is not a first for ZOTAC, but the last time they unveiled  AMD based mini PCs was in 2014. Where The Mini-PCs Will Be Presented The offerings, which will be unveiled at the 2020 CES in Los Vegas, later this year, were announced from Hong Kong a few days ago. Both of the ZBOX computers run AMD Ryzen 3 CPUs. Two Cooling Solutions The ZBOX CA621 Nano is passively cooled for silent running, while the MA621 Nano is actively cooled. The differences in size are […]

Beelink BT4 Mini PC Review – Slow, Buggy, Fan-cooled, and Overheating

Beelink T4 Review

Intel’s low-cost chip shortage has been so bad that Beelink has had to demothball some Atom chips when creating their new mini PC the Beelink BT4. This is one of the cheapest new mini PCs recently launched and uses the somewhat now old Cherry Trail Intel Atom x5-Z8500 CPU which was launched at the start of 2015 and is a quad-core 4-thread 1.44 GHz processor boosting to 2.24 GHz with Intel’s HD Graphics. The BT4 is the same form factor as the more recent Beelink mini PCs being a half-thick ‘NUC’ style device physically consisting of a 120 x 120 x 22 mm (4.72 x 4.72 x 0.87 inches) plastic rectangular case. This is not a passive device as it contains a small fan that stays on after the device has been shut down. The front panel has only a blue ‘power’ LED and the rear panel includes the power […]

Zidoo M9 Mini PC Review – Part 1: Unboxing & Teardown

Zidoo M9 Review

Over the years, Zidoo has made TV boxes for the consumer market, and digital signage players for businesses. The recently announced Zidoo M9 aims at both markets, plus other applications such as IoT, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Zidoo M9 is either sold as a board or a complete TV box reference design with a case, as it exposes all the usual ports of a TV with HDMI, USB, and Ethernet. But you can do more with internal connectors for cameras, PCIe interfaces, SIM card slot, MPI DSI and eDP connectors, and so on. The company has sent me a review sample, so let’s first check out the accessories provided with the box, and have a look into the hardware design today, before testing the Android firmware in the second part of the review. Zidoo M9 Unboxing The package makes it clear Zidoo M9 “mini PC” looks like a TV box, […]