Zotac just announced a new model - the Pico. Unlike most of their other models like Nano etc, this one comes fully built up with an Atom quad core processor, 2GB RAM.
It is also completely silent (fanless), is about as big as a pack of cards or a cellphone, comes with 32GB SSD (upgradable to 128GB via microSDXC), and even comes with Windows 8.1 Bing preinstalled.
The absolutely stunner is the price - this little baby costs $200 (and releases next month).
I was completely intrigued by this device. It could be the perfect audio server or even HTPC... okay, maybe a light-weight HTPC considering the storage limitation. However, that can be easily expanded via an SDXC card and it does offer 3 USB ports. It also has an HDMI out, and the current gen Atom quadcore should be able to render 1080p reasonably well.
I've always been interested by devices like these, and I think it is the wave of the future. I also have an ARM/Android equivalent - the Minix Neo X5 - and it is brilliant at what it does - but the platform is still hamstrung by lack of driver and software support - something x86 still excels in. For example, there is still no Squeezebox Server port to Android.
But this little baby is a fullblown x86 desktop with hardly any limitations/tradeoffs, is completely silent, powerful enough to do 1080p (i think), comes with Windows preinstalled, and costs a measly $200! One would find it incredibly hard to hand assemble an absolute budget end HTPC or audio server at this price point.
Edit: Found some more details about the CPU and GPU's capabilities. It does indeed support 1080p (also supports 1440p), DirectX11, and is basically a cut-down version of Intel HD graphics found on the Core series (same capabilities, lesser execution units). It has full hardware acceleration for H264. CPU performance is equal and mostly better than AMD A4 Kabini (especially multi-threaded performance) - although Kabini's GPU performance is significantly better.
This is obviously not a gaming machine and it would be ridiculous to expect that from this small a device - although it would still play simple or older games reasonably well. However, it is still a quad core processor with hardware support for 1080p - and I don't think it should have issues with either audio or video (caveat: not sure about high end HTPC features).
It is also completely silent (fanless), is about as big as a pack of cards or a cellphone, comes with 32GB SSD (upgradable to 128GB via microSDXC), and even comes with Windows 8.1 Bing preinstalled.
The absolutely stunner is the price - this little baby costs $200 (and releases next month).
I was completely intrigued by this device. It could be the perfect audio server or even HTPC... okay, maybe a light-weight HTPC considering the storage limitation. However, that can be easily expanded via an SDXC card and it does offer 3 USB ports. It also has an HDMI out, and the current gen Atom quadcore should be able to render 1080p reasonably well.
I've always been interested by devices like these, and I think it is the wave of the future. I also have an ARM/Android equivalent - the Minix Neo X5 - and it is brilliant at what it does - but the platform is still hamstrung by lack of driver and software support - something x86 still excels in. For example, there is still no Squeezebox Server port to Android.
But this little baby is a fullblown x86 desktop with hardly any limitations/tradeoffs, is completely silent, powerful enough to do 1080p (i think), comes with Windows preinstalled, and costs a measly $200! One would find it incredibly hard to hand assemble an absolute budget end HTPC or audio server at this price point.
Edit: Found some more details about the CPU and GPU's capabilities. It does indeed support 1080p (also supports 1440p), DirectX11, and is basically a cut-down version of Intel HD graphics found on the Core series (same capabilities, lesser execution units). It has full hardware acceleration for H264. CPU performance is equal and mostly better than AMD A4 Kabini (especially multi-threaded performance) - although Kabini's GPU performance is significantly better.
This is obviously not a gaming machine and it would be ridiculous to expect that from this small a device - although it would still play simple or older games reasonably well. However, it is still a quad core processor with hardware support for 1080p - and I don't think it should have issues with either audio or video (caveat: not sure about high end HTPC features).
Last edited:
hyeah:
