As expected, Zotac is showing off its latest tiny desktop computers in Taiwan this week, and the smallest of the bunch if a new model called the Zotac ZBOX PI225.
How small is it? Smaller than a typical 2.5 inch hard drive.
Measuring 95mm a 60mm x 8mm (3.7″ x 2.3″ x 0.3″), the little computer is a bit larger than a Raspberry Pi. But it packs a quad-core x86 processor with support for 4K video playback, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of eMMC storage, and a fanless case.
The PI225 features an Intel Celeron N3350 dual-core Apollo Lake processor with Intel HD 500 Gen 9 graphics and the system is expected to ship with Windows 10 64-bit software.
The little computer has two USB 3.0 Type-C ports, a microSDXC card reader, a micro USB port (for power), and 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2.
While there’s no dedicated HDMI output, the USB ports are DisplayPort compatible, so you can use either one to connect an external display, keyboard, storage, USB hub, or other peripherals.
Zotac hasn’t announced the price or release date for the PI225 yet.
Update: WinFuture has posted some more pictures showing the ZBOX PI225 from almost every angle.
via @rquandt, Tom’s Hardware, geeknetic, and hermitage akhiabara
I think that is neat. It would be neat to try different operating systems on it; like ReactOS or ArcaOS (an updated version of OS/2 – eCS that is at 5.0).
It’s unclear what the processor is, one line says the PI225 has a quad-core chip, then there’s a mention of a dual-core Celeron based on the Apollo Lake architecture.
Why did they use micro-USB to power the device? Why not a 3rd USB type C port and any of the 3 ports can power it?
Will there be a thicker version that has a GbE port?
Ya, I’m interested in the larger but still small PI335 which has an Ethernet port.
https://www.pcper.com/news/Systems/Computex-2017-Zotac-ZBOX-Pico-PI225-PI335-Tiny-PCs
That PI335 is interesting.
This looks interesting to me as an alternative to a small but powerful server for home automation using something like OpenHAB or Home Assistant.
Does this thing have a quad-core or dual-core processor. In the article, you say quad-core but later say it is a N3350 which is dual-core.
EXACTLY my thought.
I have been looking for just such a product to OEM for a product we want to release. But I really hope they can keep the price below US100 so we can sell for an acceptable price point. It does not need to be powerful, it just needs to be low cost enough and run Linux (Debian-based, please.)