The ECS LIVA is a tiny desktop computer with an Intel Bay Trail processor, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage. First announced in March, the LIVA PC kit is now available for purchase for $180.

ecs liva_04

For that price you get a fully-functional desktop PC in a 4.6″ x 2.8″ x 2.2″ package. What you don’t get is an operating system. You’ll need to install your own, but the system should support Windows, Ubuntu, or other GNU/Linux operating systems.

The ECS LIVA has Gigabit Ethernet and features an 802.11n WiFi + Bluetooth 4.0 wireless card, an audio jack, a USB 2.0 port, and a USB 3.0 port as well as a micro USB port for power — you can even power the system from a 5V, 3A portable power pack… sort of like the type of portable battery you might use to recharge a smartphone on the go.

There are HDMI and VGA ports and the system uses passive cooling, so there’s no noisy fan.

While there aren’t details about which Bay Trail-M processor the LIVA uses on the ECS website, Mobile Geeks caught up with the company at Computex this week, and report that the computer features a 4.3 Watt Intel Celeron N2807 dual-core chip.

The RAM and storage are soldered to the tiny motherboard, but the kit is designed to be easy to disassemble if you want to get at the insides to replace the wireless card, for example.

ECS offers the whole system as a system which you put together yourself… but as the video below shows, the process should take just a few minutes.

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10 replies on “ECS LIVA mini PC kit with Bay Trail now available for $180”

  1. I’m running ubuntu+xbmc on a asus chromebox. 4 USB3 ports with DP and HDMI. Does everything perfectly, but can’t suspend. It was $180 too. I don’t use the suspend feature as it only draws 5W in idle.

    1. 1) Ubuntu doesn’t support HD capture. Not for game capture but for HD Cable box/DirecTV it is needed.

      In fact TV Tuner support in Linux is quite poor, mainly only support comes from HomeRun, which is fine if you want OTA, but we have DirecTV not cable.

      2) YouTube add-on for XBMC needs constant fiddling with because Google changes the code which causes login to fail. Last time it was my fault, I had an issue with my internet connection and thought it was something with XBMC so I logged off and tried to log back in and have thus far been unable too.

      3) Beyond that, my other main use for XBMC was archived shows/movies but that’s becoming less and less important as streaming is becoming more mainstream, no need to archive locally unless its rare when it’s already in the cloud.

      I also don’t like the fact that I can’t play game iso’s located on my server, I have to local to the machine. Not a problem inside Windows, but the other options are lacking severely though I have flirted with putting Hyperspin on my HTPC. PS1 iso take up space, NES/SNES/Gensis ROM’s are tiny in comparison not an issue.

      But setup is not easy with Hyperspin and it would only solve the classic gaming side of my HTPC.

      These are the reasons why Windows is still king of media center OS. My PS3 can handle the rest of the streaming if necessary, Super Slim is quiet.

  2. Would have liked it thinner even if that meant making it longer. Fits better in a stereo rack.

  3. Love it! If it’s bigger than my Tronsmart S-89 it isn’t -much- bigger, and seems to be running just 5watts more, yet it’ll run desktop OS! Imma get me one….

  4. all I am thinking is Openelec XBMC…. sleek yet inexpensive..and not a mess of wires coming out from all sides….

  5. “you can even power the system from a 5V, 3A portable power pack… sort of like the type of portable battery you might use to recharge a smartphone on the go.”

    Wow- this puts this thing in devkit territory. Sure, GPIO might not be present like in Gizmosphere/Minnowboard options. But an open x86 platform that you can make portable, for under $200… definitely gets my attention.

    1. Yup, and looks like those devboards are getting it right at last – x86, cases, and most importantly, as modular as we need. Yup I mean the Wifi card; “designed to be easy to disassemble if you want to get at the insides to replace the wireless card”. We all know how crucial that is.
      Craking news this. Had enough of grubbing around for ARM-compat software on some of the other boards.

  6. I think this is really neat and cool since it is so small. It is nice not having to pay for an operating system one does not want. It leaves it open to so many possibilities, like ReactOS, Linux, eComStation, etc.

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