The Trim Slice computer from CompuLab is a miniature desktop PC with a 1 GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core processor, 4 USB ports, HDMI output, an SD card slot and a microSD card slot and an optional WiFi adapter. The computer users just 6W of power or less and sells for $280. But what you don’t get for that price is a hard drive.
When the Trim Slice originally went on sale a few months ago the idea was that you would add an SD card or USB storage device yourself. But now the company is offering the Trim Slice H250 — a model with a 250GB hard drive and Ubuntu Linux operating system preloaded for $319.
The Trim Slice H250 also features 1GB of RAM, 802.11n WiFi, and  Bluetooth dongle. It has a DVI port in addition to HDMI output. and S/PDIF 5.1 audio output.
The hard drive model is a little bulkier than the diskless version, but it’s still pretty tiny for a desktop computer, measuring 5.1″ x 3.7″ x 0.98″. The diskless model measures 5.1″ x 3.7″ x 0.6″.
I’m debating between this and just upgrading my cell phone more often. Â My current phone can be plugged into a monitor and bluetooth keyboard/mouse for decent desktop usage. Â However if the prices of devices like the trim slice drop to $99, then I may just use that and not upgrade my cell phone so often.
Chrome OS will be perfect, especially if Android 4.0 gets a version of Chrome OS.
I like the concept. Â I would think these would do well as HTPCs.
It looks like you can also get one with an empty drive bay, and drop your own drive (such as a SSD) into it. Â This seems to me like the modern equivalent of the old “home computers”, such as Atari and Commodore used to sell. Â I wonder if such a thing could still be viable?