After unveiling a new PC-on-a-stick with an Intel Apollo Lake processor and a fanless design at CES in January, Chinese device maker Mele is now selling the new PCG02 Apo.

You can pick up a model with a Celeron N3450 quad-core processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage from Mele’s AliExpress store for $200.

The last I’d heard, Mele was also planning to launch versions with Celeron N3350 dual-core and Pentium N4200 quad-core processors, so we may see a range of models at different price (and performance) points.

CNX-Software also indicates that Mele may drop the price for the Celeron N3450 model to $180 soon.

Anyway, what’s interesting about this device is that it’s basically a full-fledged Windows 10 computer that you can plug directly into the HDMI port of a TV or monitor. It has supports HDMI 1.4b for up to 4K/30fps video and has a 3.5mm audio jack, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2, and two USB 3.0 ports. There’s also a micro USB port for power.

The whole thing measures about 5.9″ x 2.1″ x 0.65″ and weighs about 5 ounces, which makes it one of the biggest PC sticks I’ve seen. But the chunky design allows for a full-sized Ethernet jack, a 6 watt processor, and passive cooling for silent operation.

If you’re waiting for fanless mini PCs with Intel Gemini Lake processors (the follow-up to Apollo Lake), those are on the way too.

Mele showed off a few different models at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, but they’re all more traditional mini PC boxes rather than PC-on-a-stick devices.

 

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8 replies on “Mele’s fanless Apollo Lake PC stick now available for under $200”

  1. How can it be a ‘full fledged Windows 10 computer’ with only 32gb of storage? That barely leaves 10gb of free space for user data.

      1. To be fair, there is something to be said about the other person’s complaint. Some of the updates that have come down the pipes for Windows 10 require up to 20GB of free space in order to download and install. With a device like this, that’s very tough to do.

        There are workarounds, but they involve configuring Windows to download updates to an external hard drive. Possible, but hardly ideal.

        1. For that reason I’ll never again buy another Windows device without 64GB of built in storage.

  2. Wow! It is almost a shame I am not in the market for something like this. it hits all the “must haves” for this type of device. Kudos to Mele for making this device.

  4. I’m very, very glad to see these appearing in the wild. I love seeing that companies are making devices like this.

    I’ve been looking into various single-board computers for potential use as an HTPC. While many of them can be had for a lower cost (Raspberry Pi and its many competitors for instance), the lower cost also comes with a lot of trade-offs. The various alternatives tend to have very limited software availability, performance issues (especially when considering things like HEVC encodes or 1080p+ resolutions), and other trade-offs. This device seems like it could be in a sweet spot regarding “Just Works” ease-of-use, rugged / noiseless design, and high performance. One of the only questions left is whether the cost fits your budget.

    Thanks for letting us know that this computer is now available!

  5. I want one so that I can playback 10 bit h265 videos. Would pair well with a project as well as being a print server of sorts.

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