The smallest computers and motherboard that do the job well (Topic)

In the world of electronic and digital devices, it is difficult to surprise with anything these days. More recently, many were happy to own a push-button telephone. Nowadays, the presence of an advanced smartphone or, for example, a gadget with a sub-screen fingerprint scanner is no longer delighted.

The dimensions of the front camera or its absence on the front panel of the device will also surprise few people. There are many such products on sale from different manufacturers.

As for computers and their equipment, everything is simple here. Gradually, tablets and laptops survive their stationary counterparts. But even here there is a place for interesting projects.

Recently, a Canadian enthusiast developed software for use in case of the apocalypse. You can also remember the creation of the Mac Pro workstation by Apple engineers. It has a processor with 28 cores and 1.5 TB of RAM.

This is interesting, but readers won't remember this for a long time. Surely soon Yabloko or specialists from another company will come up with something new, more supernatural.

Our portal also wants to contribute a little to the world of the unusual. In this round-up, we'll cover surprisingly small but workable PCs and motherboards.

Computer cube

Recently, an exhibition of electronics products was held in Hong Kong. It was attended by developers of this type of goods from all over the world. Most of all there were representatives from the Middle Kingdom. One of them is the little-known company iLife.

A large crowd of journalists and experts was observed near the stand of this company. Everything that happens is easy to explain. iLife introduced two small computers.

One of them, called Chuwi MiniBook, was announced earlier, and the second was shown by the Chinese for the first time. This is the iLife MP8 Micro PC, a personal computer the size of a Rubik's cube. Despite this, it is equipped with an x86 chipset and Windows 10 software.

The prospects for this device are not yet clear. It is possible that its name will change after the start of sales.

The exact dimensions of the product are not reported, but it is known that it is almost four times smaller than a mini PC. For example, such as Intel NUC.

Despite the diminutive size, the computer equipment is powerful enough. All of its hardware "hardware" is run by a quad-core Intel Celeron N4100 Gemini Lake processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal memory. A small cooler is installed for cooling.

The rear panel of the system unit received three ports: one USB Type-C and two USB 3.0. There is also a microSD reader. For cards of this format, there is a card reader on the side and a 3.5 mm audio jack. From the front, only the power button looks at the user.

The MP8 Micro PC has two manufacturing options. Its body can be made of metal or plastic. In the first case, the ventilation holes are placed on the sides, and in the second - on top.

Pricing for this gadget has yet to be announced.

Not an expensive computer that is no bigger than a matchbox

This unit is called Rock Pi S by Radxa. It costs less than $ 10 and has a square-shaped motherboard. Here each side is 38 mm long.

This PC is quite efficient and functional, but with a few reservations. It will appeal to those who might ditch the GPU, DisplayPort, and HDMI.

Radxa's Rock Pi S was shown for the first time this summer. In the simplest configuration, he received only 256 MB of RAM. There are more advanced versions of the equipment. It has 512 MB of RAM and 8 GB of flash memory. The device also has a microSD card reader, two USB 2.0 ports (Type-A and Type-C), eight 26-pin connectors for various functions.

The machine supports Wi-Fi 802.11b / g / n and Bluetooth 4.0. The manufacturer notes that a person who knows what to do with a device without a monitor can become the owner of this computer. Its technical capabilities allow you to connect the device to a 3.5-inch Waveshare LCD display.

There is no 2D or 3D accelerator here, so you shouldn't expect anything significant from the gadget in terms of graphics capabilities. The creators say that this is just a mini-PC for developers, enthusiasts and ordinary users who want to experience its capabilities in the real conditions of our life.

Gigabyte Motherboard

Gigabyte has released a new motherboard - GA-PICO3350, with dimensions 72 x 100mm. This is the smallest device in its class, equipped with two slots: DDR3L SODIMM for laptop memory and mSATA / mini PCIe. The latter allows you to connect a disk.

In theory, GA-PICO3350 can be used in the hardware of any PC, but you shouldn't expect high performance from it. This is the “fault” of the Intel Celeron N3350 chipset, which received only two cores. It has mediocre performance.

Experts suggest that this board will be more popular not with PC users, but with developers of smart home systems. Its modest external parameters will be required here.

The developers explain that the system supports Windows 10 and Linux 64-bit software.

The cost of GA-PICO3350 is still unknown, but experts predict that the price for it is unlikely to exceed the mark of $ 300 US. When the sale will begin, it is not announced.

The Topic of Article: The smallest computers and motherboard that do the job well.
Author: Jake Pinkman