UK retailer Cloudsto is adding a new small form-factor, low power Linux PC to its lineup. The Cloudsto EVO is a palm-sized computer with an ARM Cortex-A9 quad-core processor and Ubuntu 12.10 software.

While this isn’t exactly the first ARM mini PC to ship with Linux, it’s one of the few to feature a VGA port instead of HDMI, support for a range of typical PC display resolutions, and an Ethernet jack, all of which are designed to help you treat the system like a fully functional (if somewhat slow) PC.

Cloudsto is selling the EVO for £94.99 and up. That’s about $160 US.

Cloudsto Evo

For the most part the hardware is what you’d expect from a cheap Android TV box. The Cloudsto EVO features a 1.6 GHz Rockchip RK3188 processor with ARM Mali-400 graphics, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, and a microSD card slot as well as 802.11b/g/n WiFi.

But the box has 3 full-sized USB ports which you can use for attaching storage devices or other peripherals, 3.5mm stereo input and output jacks, and support for VGA monitors with display resolutions ranging from 1024 x 768 to 1920 x 1080.

cloudsto evo_02

The company also plans to offer models with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of built-in storage.

While the RK3188 chip is reasonably fast for an ARM-based processor, it’s using technology that’s a few years old at this point… and this system is going to be significantly slower than most Linux computers with recent Intel chips. But it’s also relatively inexpensive and consumes just 2 to 5 watts of power.

It could be used for digital signage, point-of-sales-systems, kiosks, or thin clients, among other things. Or you could use it for light desktop or home server applications.

Update: If the box looks familiar, that’s because the Cloudsto Evo is a variation of the Giayee P105 Android/Ubuntu box which was first unveiled a few months ago.

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15 replies on “Cloudsto EVO is a $160 Linux mini PC with VGA output”

    1. When it comes to Linux, it’s x86 all the way. For this box, Bay Trail would have been a lot better.

      If only ARM vendors opened up their drivers or actually maintained their closed ones for a reasonable period. I’m hoping NVIDIA will at least keep their closed drivers updated now that their SoCs use the same architecture as their desktop/mobile GPUs. They’ve been adding ARM support to their universal closed drivers. Right now the K1isn’t using the universal drivers though.

  2. A new weird fad: Everybody and his brother seems to be building small, weak computers that can do no more than a smartphone…?

    1. Well, there are a lot of smartphone chips around, just working with what’s at hand. And doing no more than a smartphone is actually still doing quite a lot, these days… (but other than for devboard systems like the BBB and RPi, I would personally prefer my low-power Linux boxes to have x86 cpus).

      1. I agree that smartphones are doing quite a lot… but so, I’d rather use a smartphone connecting through USB, Bluetooth or NFC than making some breadbox project with one of these boards…?

  3. Well, I guess this is an alternative to the Chromebox, if you are alright sacrificing performance for more functionality.
    Correct me if I’m wrong, but Ubuntu on ARM chips can still run the same Ubuntu desktop apps, right?

  5. I’m guessing graphics are still gimped due to driver issues, or had that been rectified?

    1. Some folks get more usability from the older ports.
      There are only a ton of other HDMI connectored systems to choose from so your indignation is misplaced.

    2. The last I looked the majority of the PC monitors still being sold only have VGA connectors. It seems to me that there is room in the marketplace for a mini pc that addresses that reality.

    3. Yeah it’s old tech but it’s cheap. My little brother has a 15 inch 4:3 flat panel in his room that only has VGA. This would work well for someone like him who just wants something to browse and watch videos on and stuff.

  7. Why Acer can make a 200 USD Intel Chromebook and nobody is making the 100 or 150 USD Intel SoC chromebox or GNUbox, – not screen not keyboard not battery not SDD – plus HDD and 4 Gb of RAM

    I am sure much better an a best sell than this one

  8. Typo, “it’s one of the first to feature a VGA port instead of Ethernet,”

    I think you mean it has VGA instead of HDMI, otherwise that’s a crazy choice 😛

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