One of the most affordable ways to get your hands on a Windows on ARM computer is to spend $219 on a Qualcomm Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows. For that price, you get a compact Windows desktop computer with 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c processor.

But now there’s another option that costs a little more, but which offers more options including optional support for 4G LTE as well as extra memory and storage.

The Apcsilmic Dot 1 Mini PC is a small desktop computer with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c chip that powers the Snapdragon Dev Kit that launched late last year. But the Apcsilmic model is available with up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Prices range from $229 to $309 depending on the configuration:

ModelPrice
4GB / 64GB WiFi-only$229
6GB / 128GB WiFi-only$249
6GB / 128GB WiFi + 4G$269
8GB / 256GB WiFi-only$289
8GB / 256GB WiFi + 4G$309

Note that some models are currently out of stock, and there doesn’t even seem to be a price listed for a 4GB / 64GB WiFi + 4G configuration at the moment.

Each version of the Dot 1 Mini PC features two HDMI ports, two USB 2.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet jack, support for WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1, and 3.5mm mic and line jacks. Apcsilmic says the Dot 1 Mini PC can support up to two 2K displays.

The little computer is passively cooled, which means there’s no fan or other moving parts to generate noise. And while it’s likely that most folks looking to pick up a cheap Windows on ARM desktop at this point are probably looking for a development platform, Apcsilmic notes that the system could also be used for “freelance work, watching your favorite movies, streaming, games or you name it.”

One thing to keep in mind though is that while the little computer comes with Windows 11 pre-installed, it’s an unlicensed version of Windows. If you want to activate a Windows license you’ll need to pay another $100 to Microsoft or Apcsilmic.

Update: The Apcsilmic website has been updated to state that the computer comes with Windows 11 Pro pre-installed and activated. There’s been no change to the pricing.  

via Windows Central

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14 replies on “Apcsilmic Dot 1 Mini is a compact Windows on ARM desktop for $229 and up (with optional 4G LTE)”

  1. Hey there, Apcsilmic has taken into consideration that some users did not want to spend those extra bucks on purchasing a license of Windows. Dot 1 now comes with pre-installed and activated Windows 11. For confirmation, you can check out FAQs on the Apcsilmic website where this information is updated https://www.apcsilmic.com/. Have a good time running Windows on Arm 🙂

    1. There isn’t anything that would work on this hardware and the experience would be significantly worse compared to windows 11 due to lack of hardware acceleration for video, Adreno GPU drivers and x86 software translation to Arm on linux is still in early stages.

  3. Honestly, I just want the Windows 11 ARM license for $100, I don’t think that’s possible

    1. Hi Jerry. Windows RT was an operating system, just like Win10, and Win11 for ARM are their own separate operating systems. Hope that answers your question.

  5. If only it was possible to use something like this for development.

    The last I looked into it, Microsoft still hadn’t released any tools for developing on an ARM machine. Specifically, there aren’t any compilers. It seems Microsoft expects people to use an x86 machine.

    My guess is that this is reason 3rd party development of software on Windows on ARM seems so stagnant.

    1. That’s a bummer. There are compilers, since 2017, but as you noted, it’s not recommended to run VS on ARM(64) directly. I had to go find the info on MS’ site, as I just couldn’t imagine that’s true. I absolutely believe now that’s not only the reason 3rd party is so bad, but WinARM itself.

      1. Yeah I’m a little confused about why Microsoft seems to be so careless about it. Microsoft has been trying and failing to bring Windows to ARM powered PCs since Windows RT 8, and they don’t even seem like they’re trying to learn from their mistakes.

        It’s like they’re oblivious to the idea of attracting developers to a platform. Windows RT failed because nobody wanted to develop apps for it.

        Here we are, 11 years (and 3 versions of ARM Windows) later, and Microsoft still hasn’t taken the smallest steps to attract developers.

  6. I’ve been wanting exactly this. The Windows on Raspberry Pi project is stalled at GPU support, and mostly never works when a new Preview rolls out(cuz it’s a free community sourced thing). So this would be exactly what I want. Something to test just how bad Windows on ARM is, to perhaps watch it evolve, as it must do.

      1. Thanks, that looks like a great deal! Only $230 with a 14″ screen, a legal version of MS 11, 128 GB storage and 1-year of MS 365.

Comments are closed.