Asus is updating its line of small form factor computers with two new Windows desktops, an updated Chromebox, and a new version of its Raspberry Pi-like Tinker Board.
The new Tinker Board S is coming in the first quarter of 2018 for $80, while the rest of the little computers will be available in the first half of the year. Pricing on the other models hasn’t been announced yet.
Asus PN40 mini PC
This little desktop computer measures about 4.5″ x 4.5″ x 1.9″ and weighs a little over 1.5 pounds.
It’s available with Intel Celeron or Pentium Silver (Gemini Lake) processors and it features a USB 3.1 Type-C port as well as full-sized USB ports, an audio jack, and support for VGA or COM ports.
Asus also makes it easy to upgrade the memory and storage thanks to a slide-out bottom panel.
Asus PB40 mini PC
This larger model has room for additional ports, and it also supports optional stackable modules including optical disc drives.
Asus offers a fanless model with an Intel Celeron processor, or a higher-performance (but not fanless) version with a Pentium Silver chip.
Asus Tinker Board S
The original Asus Tinker Board featuring a Rockchip RK3288 processor and 2GB of RAM went on sale last year.
The new model looks… almost exactly the same. As far as I can tell one key difference is that the Tinker Board S has 16GB of eMMC storage, while the original version relied on a microSD card for storage.
It also looks like there’s a new heat sink.
Hopefully I’ll find out more about the new model when I visit with Asus this week.
Asus Chromebox 3
The latest Asus Chromebox is features an 8th-gen Intel Core processor, DDR-2400 memory, USB 3.1 Type-C, 802.11ac WiFi, and Gigabit Ethernet.
It also has DIsplayPort and HDMI ports, support for 4K video, and support for the Google Play Store and Android apps.
Intel, release some news about June Canyon NUCs already! They were supposed to be released earlier than “Hades Canyon” :/