Atom X3/X5/X7 Windows device discussion thread

[you2]

Quite frankly the unit has to be either pocketable or nearly free to consider a celeron. It isn't just about price Kaido, the celeron is really crappy processor. So while I disagree with your comment in general with regards to the price of the components, the point is that if you are going to spend that much $$$$$$ you should at least get something usable. When we talk about $150 celeron, sure we are not getting something any more useful than the box you spec'ed for $400 but at least it was cheap !!!!. Throwing $$$ into a box with a celeron is like tossing it in the garbage disposal. Sure you make that mistake once or twice a life time but at least it was only penny or nickle; not several hundred dollar bills you were saving for an I3.

 

[Kaido]

Quite frankly the unit has to be either pocketable or nearly free to consider a celeron. It isn't just about price Kaido, the celeron is really crappy processor. So while I disagree with your comment in general with regards to the price of the components, the point is that if you are going to spend that much $$$$$$ you should at least get something usable. When we talk about $150 celeron, sure we are not getting something any more useful than the box you spec'ed for $400 but at least it was cheap !!!!. Throwing $$$ into a box with a celeron is like tossing it in the garbage disposal. Sure you make that mistake once or twice a life time but at least it was only penny or nickle; not several hundred dollar bills you were saving for an I3.

The Celeron really is a pretty crappy processor & pegs all of the cores when doing virtually anything, but it's fine for your average office user. Again, I think the price difference is mostly mental - I'd love to know where else I can buy a turnkey, passively-cooled PC for $400 that is the size of a coaster & can run dual monitors. The closest I know of is the Broadwell HP Pavilion 300-240 (the $249 successor to the much better-priced $179 HP Stream Mini), although that has a fan & vent, comes with half the RAM & a quarter of the SSD storage, and runs at 45 watts vs. the NGC-1's 11 watts, so it's not quite comparable.

But to your point...if you're going to be paying four hundred bucks, you'd really expect to get a better CPU. So in that light, in order to explain the pricing, I think we have to look at the NGC-1 as kind of a niche product: if you want a pre-built, dual-monitor capable, fanless Celeron system, then you will have to pay a premium. Otherwise, other great options exist, like the Dell Inspiron 3050, which uses the J1800 Bay Trail Celeron & is currently only $149 at Walmart. I'd hope that the NGC-1's price will come down over time, but since the Z64's price pretty much never budged ($159 for as long as I've been buying them), I dunno if it will. Hopefully we'll see some X5 & X7 boxes that have dual-monitor output for cheap...

 

[TeknoBug]

Those Core M's are surfacing in small formfactor systems and shouldn't cost anymore than $400 USD, that's the one you'd want instead of a N3150.

 

[Kaido]

Those Core M's are surfacing in small formfactor systems and shouldn't cost anymore than $400 USD, that's the one you'd want instead of a N3150.

Yeah, I'm hoping to see more devices with the Core M chip inside. ECS has a minibox in their LIVA line that sports a Core M & dual HDMI outputs, but it costs $600 at the moment:

http://www.amazon.com/ECS-Mini-Kit-Components-95-792-KJ8010/dp/B016W2WWW8

 

[Kaido]

Some upgrades to the $200 Kangaroo Pro:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883722004

Summary:

* The Pro is basically an add-on dock to the originally Kangaroo (includes a Kangaroo)
* Ethernet (10/100)
* VGA connection (useful for older monitors & projectors)
* 3.5mm audio jack (headphones & speakers)
* iOS app now iPhone-compatible (previously only for iPad; allows it to act as a screen)

Very slick. This is now the perfect drop-in replacement for replacing an old computer for your grandma (while keeping her existing monitor & speakers) or a small conference room, thanks to the VGA & Minijack ports.

 

[Kaido]

Intel Ditches SoFIA, Broxton Atom Chips:

http://www.pcmag.com/news/344183/intel-ditches-sofia-broxton-atom-chips

http://www.anandtech.com/show/10288/intel-broxton-sofia-smartphone-socs-cancelled

Wonder what this means for Atom chips in general; more M5-on-a-stick computers? As of last month, Intel was talking about Apollo Lake SoC's that use the Goldmont x86 microarchitecture that is based on the Atom, so maybe they're only cutting phone & tablet chips.

Intel Unveils New Low-Cost PC Platform: Apollo Lake with 14nm Goldmont Cores:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/10256/intel-unveils-apollo-lake-14nm-goldmont

The Apollo Lake system-on-chips for PCs are based on the new Atom-based x86 microarchitecture, named Goldmont, as well as a new graphics core that features Intel’s ninth-generation architecture (Gen9) which is currently used in Skylake processors. Intel claims that due to microarchitectural enhancements the new SoCs will be faster in general-purpose tasks, but at this stage Intel has not quantified the improvements. The new graphics core is listed as being more powerful (most likely due to both better architecture and a higher count of execution units), but will also integrate more codecs, enabling hardware-accelerated playback of 4K video from hardware decoding of HEVC and VP9 codecs. The SoCs will support dual-channel DDR4, DDR3L and LPDDR3/4 memory, which will help PC makers to choose DRAM based on performance and costs. As for storage, the Apollo Lake will support traditional SATA drives, PCIe x4 drives and eMMC 5.0 options to appeal to all types of form-factors. When it comes to I/O, Intel proposes to use USB Type-C along with wireless technologies with Apollo Lake-powered systems.

The good news is that the reference design has a 1080p touchscreen, 4 gigs of RAM, and a 64gb eMMC, which is what I feel should really be the minimum specs for a low-end computer these days, especially considering you can get a 4K i7 2-in-1 from Toshiba for under $900 right now.

 

[Kaido]

Beelink launches BT7 mini PC with Atom x7, 4GB of RAM:

http://liliputing.com/2016/05/beelink-launches-bt7-mini-pc-atom-x7-4gb-ram.html

* Beelink BT7 (shipped from China via AliExpress, GearBest, etc.)
* $170 to $250 depending on config
* Windows 10 Home
* Atom X7-Z8700 CPU
* 4GB DDR3-1600 RAM
* SSD storage: 64gb, 128gb, 320gb
* Gigabit Ethernet + dual-band 802.11b/g/n + BT 4.0
* (3) USB 3.0 ports
* 3.5mm headphone jack
* HDMI port
* 4.7" x 4.7" (0.9" high)
* Aluminum case

$250 for an Atom X7 with 4 gigs of RAM & a 320gb SSD? Yes please!

 

[Kaido]

Got ahold of a second-gen PC stick, the Intel Compute Stick sporting an Atom X5. $129 with 32-bit Windows 10 pre-installed:

https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Compute-Computer-processor-BOXSTK1AW32SC/dp/B01AZC4NHS

Features a 1.4ghz quad-core Atom X5, 2GB RAM, 32gb eMMC, MicroSD slot, USB 2.0 port & USB 3.0 port, A/C adapter. It does get toasty, but it has a teeny tiny little fan in there to cool things down. Also includes an HDMI extender if you can't fit the whole stick behind your TV or monitor. Seems zippier than my similarly-spec'd $99 Kangaroo PC, might have a slightly faster eMMC SSD. For size reference, here is the X5 Compute Stick on top of a portable 4TB portable USB drive ($119, if you can believe it!) & a Logitech nano USB receiver:

 

[you2]

I woudl thinik the intel stick is crippled with 2GB of ram; butthe one above with 4GB seems more reasonable.

 

[Kaido]

I woudl thinik the intel stick is crippled with 2GB of ram; butthe one above with 4GB seems more reasonable.

I have a Beelink with 4 gigs (and a 64gb eMMC) coming in, so I'm curious to compare performance (especially with the Atom X7 vs. the X5). The X5 Compute Stick is definitely not a powerhouse. Eventually it will be...another generation or two...

 

[JWade]

I was thinking on getting the following, any thoughts? I like the size and shape of it, not too fond of flat boxes.

http://www.geekbuying.com/item/ECDREAM-V6W-Z8300-4G-64G-2-0MP-Camera-MINI-PC-370265.html

 

[Kaido]

I was thinking on getting the following, any thoughts? I like the size and shape of it, not too fond of flat boxes.

http://www.geekbuying.com/item/ECDREAM-V6W-Z8300-4G-64G-2-0MP-Camera-MINI-PC-370265.html

Wow, that's pretty neat! Nice price too, considering a standalone Win10 license is $99...